Well it’s February. For those of you who made your New Year’s resolutions, it’s a good time to see how you’re doing with them.
It’s about 6 weeks in. How’s it going? Are you on track? Staying on purpose?
This week I had a few conversations with actors regarding keeping themselves inspired, and keeping their passion going. I was reminded of what a casting director once told me and how simple and true it is. Very simply she said, “I tell actors two things, keep busy and do something outside of acting to have a life”. It was simple, straightforward, and specific.
KEEP BUSY. That means keep working, create work for yourself, and don’t wait for your phone to ring. Do theater, take class, put something up on YouTube, make tapes of yourself, get together with other actors and read plays, join in a collaborative workshop where you can resource yourself with others and create. Join a theater company, a writers workshop, go to open mike nights, and “Don’t let the clay dry!”
DO SOMETHING APART FROM ACTING. The second part means get involved in something else to balance yourself. Meaning – get a life! Have a hobby, other interests, a healthy distraction and passion that feeds you. Volunteer, teach, take a sport, join a cause, take a class that’s outside your own box, something that is fun and gets you out of yourself. Getting away from your work on some regular schedule will keep you alive, and will feed you so when you come back, you’ll stay fresh. Many actors ”burn out” because this is all they do and eventually, it can get to them. You need some balance.
Sounds simple enough, yet many actors become bitter and burned out. Check yourself, your life, your choices, and take a look.
These words are simple and make such sense. It’s just what I needed to hear today as well.