STOP PLAYING BY DUMB RULES
Everyone in our industry is playing by imaginary rules
But the godmother of acting
Eleonora Duse
The young Italian actress who inspired Stanislavsky to make his System
Famously said “every actor has to find their own way”
So for professional actors who have accepted that no job is coming to save them
They get to start finding their own way
And how we can do that
Is to start playing by their own rules
What do I mean by rules?
There are facts, there is faith, and somewhere in-between those two
Are belief systems
Otherwise known as BS
I’ve frustratingly spent thousands of hours over the last decade helping professional actors dismantle dumb BS installed by lazy teachers
Three examples that I think do the most damage.
ONE
“This industry is competitive - You have to compete with other actors”.
Dumb rule. What would your career look like if you believed there was no such thing as competition? How would you show up on set, at auditions, in meetings? how would you start to behave as an artist?
TWO
“You have to suffer in order to make great art”.
Dumb & dangerous rule. I have been working with an actress for two years now who in that time went from 2 small guesties to recently leading a big budget feature film. We were having a chat in the sun yesterday and she said to me “Mike I had no idea it was allowed to be this easy and fun, I almost feel guilty”. Great! Her body is starting to play by new rules!
THREE
“If you’re an artist, you will be poor”.
Dumb rule!!! Met an incredible actor, not super famous, but just seemed so free from weight or concerns. He told me that his father use to tell him as a child “there is nothing but money in art”. My god - imagine what acting would look like if I started playing by that rule!?
Now, how do you know which rules you want to start installing?
Simple
Which ones give you goosebumps?
I remember One of Australia’s most successful actors telling me “why would I learn lines unless I was getting paid to do so?” and that lit me In fire. so I thought…mmmmm I’ll steal that. Suddenly I stopped hating auditioning so much because I wasn’t spending days learning lines instead of enjoying my damn life. Which of course resulted in way more work.
Point Is - Throw bricks at dumb rules x
Hope this helps
X