Better Question

Why can’t I get acting work?

Why won’t they cast me?

Why don’t they want me?

Let’s ask a better question

How do I build myself into the most desirable actor possible?

Mmm

Curious 

What do I think makes a desirable actor?

Someone who…

Gives generous, meaningful work 

Takes care of the story 

Puts the work before their ego

Is competent 

Knows their lines

Has done their prep

Practices their craft

Continues to learn and grow

Actually enjoys what they do

Plays!

Laughs!

Is willing to look like a fool

Is kind

Is supportive

Is grateful 

Is honest, even when uncomfortable 

Says “hello” with love

Treats others with compassion and respect

Takes care of their timezone 

Slows down in order to go further 

Turns it on when they need to

Turns it off when they need to

Breathes and smiles under pressure

Is able to find comfort in the chaos

Allows space for silence

Works to maintain healthy relationships 

Is able to find balance

Obeys nature

Follows their curiosity 

Listens to their body 

Let’s their body lead

Takes responsibility

Is willing to make short term sacrifices for long term gains

Is willing to say “yes”

Is willing to say “no”

Is willing to say “maybe”

Is kind to themselves 

Accepts they made a mistake and moves forward

Owns what they really want

Is willing to have the difficult conversations 

Bends rather than breaks

Rocks up on time

And says “thank you” with love

Build this…

Build this and the work will come

Hope this helps

X 

Surrender

You are the most valuable currency you have in this industry 

Not who you think you should be

Therefore

Surrender

What do I mean by surrender?

Accept where you actually are

And give up on where you think or feel you should be

Give yourself permission to be here now

It’s not good, bad, right or wrong 

It’s simply where you are

And that’s okay

Actually

It’s more than okay 

It’s the most generous thing you can give.

In many artistic fields

The work is moving away from people who can “perform good”

To human beings who are able to surrender 

Curious

Hope this helps

X

Drop the Guard

Once upon a time

I auditioned for a BBC series

At the time, I had longish hair

Six months later…

I got cast and had 6 days to make it to New Zealand with a polished Scottish accent

I rocked up with a recently shaved head.

This is around the time I discovered that my hairline was “maturing”

And shaving my head made that blatantly obvious

I felt really scared of how I would look on screen

But also

When I read the book for the show

So much was written about the character's “long flowing locks of dark black hair”

I just…

Felt a bit stupid

I got on the phone with a wonderful acting coach

Who deals with this kind of stuff all the time - artists dealing with decisions whilst managing the powers above them.

He said

“Mike, regardless of what’s going to happen with all the external stuff - the accent, the costumes, the hair - let’s just focus on giving your character a great heart…

Make that real and the audience won’t care how you look”

This really helped me in that moment

It gave me a clear and meaningful place to steer my focus

I then went to my design meeting...

“Hey Mike

Let’s try some moustaches on you”

My heart dropped as I saw the tray of hairy monstrosities

Moustaches!?

I’m filming in 3 days and they want me to have a massive Quintin Tarantino Moustache!?

Ugh

I took a big breath

“Hey, Sarah”

“Yes, hun?”

She gently put her hands on my shoulders

knowing something was up

“I’m just feeling a bit scared right now…

My hairline, this moustache…

I just… kind of feel… ugly

And not really inline with the character at all

And I’m just nervous about looking silly”

She put down the tray of large moustaches and sat in the chair next to me...

“Mike, let’s have chat”

So we did

We had an honest conversation

We breathed lot’s and were patient in hearing the others points of view

We both had jobs

And we both wanted to do our jobs well

So

We moved forward together

We covered my hairline with some magic stuff

We chose a moustache we both liked

And I got to pick my favourite hat which I got to wear in ALL the outdoor scenes :)

What’s my point?

Well

Where did things turn around?

In the moment I dropped my guard

The moment I spoke up and voiced my fears to the person standing in front of me

I cannot tell you the amount of stories I have which went in the opposite direction to this

Because of one simple reason

I kept trying to protect myself

As opposed to dropping my guard and speaking my truth

I use to think strength was about me shutting up in these moments

Grinding through

Handling it internally

Now?

I think, sometimes, the bravest thing I can do

Is drop my shoulders

Take a breath

Look at the person in front of me in the eyes

And say

“Hey, I’m struggling a bit”

Sending hugs

X

Who’s Advice to Listen to?

I use to train Jiu Jitsu with someone

Let’s call them “Mr. Helper”

Mr. Helper is a big sweetie

But every time we trained together

I felt a bit icky

There was a lack of harmony

My body felt heavy

Forceful

And there was a general sense of frustration

Why?

Well

What I began to notice

Was that Mr. Helper

Would tell me what to do

A lot

Advice advice advice

Now

Advice can be lovely

But there was something interesting going on

It wasn’t necessarily the advice that was being given

It was more so the factors around the advice

Here were some things I noticed

He would give me advice before I had even tried the movement for myself

He would give advice, and then give advice again, without letting me take the initial advice and try to apply it for myself

He would give me advice which I noticed was quite sloppy and unclear

And lastly

When we actually did rounds of sparring

I would tap him out

Multiple times

Quite easily

(Side note - I’m not the greatest at jiu jitsu, so this is saying a bit)

My point is… the advice he was continually giving me, he wasn’t actually able to apply himself

This was a big moment for me

I noticed it

Took a breath

And smiled

What a wonderful human being

Mr. Helper

Always trying to help!

Bloody kind and considerate

Clearly, he had some wonderful intentions

Just didn’t necessarily find the best way to go about it

But it brings up the question…

And this is, I believe, a bloody important question

Who’s advice do I listen to?

How do I know when to take someone’s direction?

In my 19 years of acting

I’ve heard so much conflicting advice in our industry

Over and over again

“Never have a plan B”

Vs

“Oh, you always have a plan B”

“Say yes to everything”

Vs

“Oh, no, you have to learn to say no”

Ugh

Exhausting

So…

Here is my advice

On taking advice

Lol

Okay

When someone gives me advice

I want to do one thing

Look at them…

I mean really look at them

Zoom out and see the person standing in front of me

Let me explain

Firstly

Are they listening to me?

Two ears

One mouth

If they are listening to me more than talking & telling me what to do

That’s a possible green light

Do I feel heard?

Do I feel understood?

Or

Is this ratio out of sync?

Do I feel like they are trying to fix me,

Before knowing me or my context?

Secondly

Craft

Do I respect their craftsmanship?

What do I mean by craftsmanship?

Well

What is their work like?

Do they have a skillset with some key ingredients

Namely

Growth Mindset - Are they curious? Or are they operating from a fixed place (where things are good, bad, right, or wrong)?

Responsibility - Do they take responsibility for the things they can control? And let go of the things they can’t?

Obey Nature - Do they listen to their body? Trust their instincts? Let their body lead? Are they willing to go slow?

Sacrifice - Are they generous? Do they give a piece of themselves through their craft?

Compassion - Do they believe in themselves enough to be able to be trust themselves, to be kind to themselves when the pressure is on?

So

Craftsmanship

Are they good at contributing something to this earth through their skillset?

I have taken more advice from blacksmiths, Jiu Jitsu fighters, swimmers and farmers

Than I have from acting teachers

Because I see a level of respect and care for their craft

Because I see how much they put into giving something back to society through their work

This is another possible green light

Thirdly

Results

Do they actually get results?

Meaning

Do they convert their words and ideas into action which allows them to work within reality

As opposed to just talking

Having cool things to say

But not being able to actually apply it in society themselves.

Results

Another possible green light

And finally

(& this is probably the most important)

The body check

How does my body feel when I’m around them?

Do I feel de-energised?

A sense of force, pushing, heaviness, closing off

Or

Do I feel energised?

A sense of expansion, light, love, honesty, openess

A feeling of trust?

The body knows (thanks Angie)

The body…. Knows

One last thing…

Did I ask?

Did I actually ask for guidance, advice, direction?

Or…

Is this maybe more about them, then it is about me?

Curious

So

If one or more of these boxes are being being ticked

I might take their little gem

And go see if I can apply it :)

If none of these boxes are being ticked

I might simply take a breath

Say “thank you”

And kindly move on.

Oh

Wait

One more last thing

(Just to flip this all on it’s head)

Sometimes

The best advice

Can come from the least likely of places

Like Mr. Helper

He created a response in me which led me on a path of clarity and direction

These days

I actually love training with him

He tells me what to do

And I get my little reminder to keep being careful about who’s advice I’m listening to

So I guess

In the end

He did actually help :)

Sending hugs

X

Actor’s DIY Kit

One

Identify & accept your secret sauce. What is the most generous thing you can give to the audience that no one else can? (Hint: Inner Child)

Two

Define somewhat of a harbour. Be clear & honest about what you really want.

Three

Clarify how you would behave in order to allow what you really want to come to you… then try behave that way.

Four

Create a process for responding to pressure with compassion… practice it often.

Five

Practice in a way which allows for you to actually get better.

Six

Clarify your process for opportunities. How do you give the work you really want to give, when it actually counts?

Seven

Clarify your game plan process. How do you prepare for your next role so you can give your best when you show up to that job?

Eight

Clarify your game day process. How do you make sure you leave set knowing you gave the work you really wanted to give?

Nine

Clarify your process for waiting. How do you live the way you really want to, regardless of whether you get the gig or not?

Ten

Accept that you cannot do it alone / by yourself. Therefor, think about who you are choosing to connect with & how.

Eleven

Try. “Fail Gloriously”.

Twelve

Start again.

Hope this helps

X

The Game Plan

Last week I received some news which made me pretty giddy

The dates have officially been locked in for a feature film I’m doing

It’s a nice little “green light”

Time to dip my toe in the water

The director is a genius and added two weeks of rehearsals into the schedule

So right now

I am approximately 12 weeks away from being on the floor

12 weeks

Now…

What to do with that time?

How do I prep in a way which will allow me to sustainably give my best in 12 weeks time?

What do I need to do…

To get where I need to get…

So I can give what I need to give?

I want to be carefully considerate here

Too little, and I won’t be ready

Too much, and I will begin from a place of exhaustion

When I was 25 I was cast in the lead role at the Sydney Opera House nine months in advance

I wrote down a plan

I would spend 2 hours every day in the garage working on the role

For nine months…

You can guess what happened

Not fun

Not helpful

And definitely not sustainable 

So 

Let's have a think

To begin

We start at the end

How do I want to feel when I put my head on the pillow the night before rehearsals start?

Clear

Open

Connected

Generous

Let’s work backwards from there

Let’s look at the areas I need to take care of in these 12 weeks

One: Life Logistics 

Rent out apartment.

Take care of my health in the lead up.

Make sure I have a great water bottle.

Are my iPod & head phones good to go? 

Share dates with necessary people to decrease chances of conflicts (I have cancelled attending a wedding in LA).

Clarify location details when filming (clarify important nearby details such as groceries, gym & laundry).

Make sure my finances are sufficiently organised to get me up to, and during filming.

Clarify what will be important for me to take with me (as I will be gone from home for 7 weeks).

Etc, Etc

Two: Build a Human (which will honour the script)

Chaos & Order 

Find the balance between building a human being, whilst still honouring the script

A human being?

Well, what makes up a human being?

Brain (Logic)

Heart (Need)

Subconscious (Dreams)

Flesh (Physical body)

Bones (Structure)

Blood (Family history / memories) 

Etc, Etc 

Keep it simple… 

Make a list to help my brain help me:

1. Print & Read Script (two day subconscious read).

2. Commence dream work.

3. Book necessary EA (get great help in order to do great prep).

4. Clarify the point of the story & the role of my character within the story with the director (is my character the protagonist? Or is my character's function to serve the protagonists journey, and what function is that?)

5. Clarify Technicals for each scene (Need, Logic, point of scene, environment, relationships, moment before, dreamwork etc)

6. Clarify Physicals with director (hair, beard, clothes, shoes, finger nails, mannerisms etc)

7. Research - is there anything the director believes is truly important for me to listen to, watch, read, etc in order for me to be this character?)

8. Go play openly :)

I want to keep it energising

I want to make sure I do less than I think I can handle

So at any point…

If I’m feeling overwhelmed

Stop

Breathe 

Go be in nature, look at the horizon, exercise, drink water, hug someone I love, eat watermelon, call a dear friend, dance, play, go for a nice long drive :)

I’m the head of the department for my character

So take care of me in order to give more generous work

Hope this helps

X

Actually Get Results

In 2015

Mel Gibson cut most of my work out of Hacksaw Ridge 

And I felt completely miserable 

In 2017

Jennifer Kent directed me in The Nightingale

And I felt utterly fulfilled

Two years

Two totally different experiences

So, what happened in between 2015 & 2017?

2016 (obviously)

But what happened, specifically, in those 12 months?

Well, A few things…

Let’s discuss two

Time & Focus 

Firstly 

Time

Let’s insert a great quote here from the wizard, John Danaher 

“Think about how much time people waste on any given day 

Between phones, tv, computer games, social media, etc etc 

Things which are literally designed to waste your time

And yet, people devote a third of their waking life to these activities.

If you could just take that wasted time 

And learn skills

Skills which actually help you give the performance you want to, when you want to,

Within a few years…

You could reinvent yourself as an artist.”

Mmm

Now I have an extra third of my waking life back

But what do I now do with those hours?

This brings us to our second point

Focus

But which skills do I focus on?

Enter Pareto’s Principle 

Which suggests that…

In an ocean of acting techniques 

Only a very small percentage

Are truly effective across the board

Okay

So I want to devote almost all of my training, time and resources into those specific techniques 

Which will then, in turn, help me give the work I actually want to, when I want to

And thus… the results will flow.

If you want to get good quickly

Learn where to place your focus

Not just the mental focus on the technique

It’s the techniques themselves

But...

What are the truly important techniques of the craft of screen acting? 

Which ones are actually worth getting good at?

mmm

Curious

Hope this helps

x

The Call of Jealousy

I grew up in Africa

And no

I did not have lions in my back yard

They were at least 20 minutes away

But in order to see them

A tracker had to guide you to them

Sure, you could get lucky

Drive in the reserves and stumble upon them

You could be hanging on the outside of the car window and turn a corner and stumble upon four of them eating a buffalo about 4 yards from the road

(The fastest I’ve ever climbed through a window)

But in most cases

For people really wanting to observe lions in their natural habitat

A tracker is the best bet

But how does a lion tracker know how to find the lions?

Well

They track em

One track at a time

But

How does the tracker know where to start looking for the tracks?

This part I love

They listen

The lion tracker gets up before sunrise

Makes a warm beverage

Sits outside in the darkness

And listens

They wait

And wait

Until it happens…

The call

A deep bellowing

Unmistakable

For a lot of people

It’s the sound from a nightmare

But for lion trackers

This is music

They go still

They use their body as a compass

And they rotate toward the direction they think the sound is coming from.

This is their first step

To listen to the call

And then?

They go.

There is a saying among trackers

“I don’t know where I’m going

But I know how I’m going to get there”

What do they mean?

They know they will get to their destination (wherever that may be)

If they simply follow one track at a time.

A while ago

I was chatting to someone

About how lion tracking relates to acting

Where is our call in the darkness?

Our call to find our first track?

The topic of jealously came up

“Listen to what makes you insanely jealous”

Ooo

What makes me jealous?

Immediately my mind floods with mid-shots and close-ups

Scenes

Characters

Things that I lose sleep over

That I lie awake at night thinking

“God, if I could only give that”…

Sarah Paulson’s 40 second take in The People Vs O.J. Simpson

Ugh

She hits about 19 thoughts in one close-up

The full spectrum of her character is delivered without a single bloody word

Benicio in that monster one take wide-shot from Escape at Dannemora

UGH

Be still my heart

That level of generous performance

That, to me, is worth not sleeping for

It’s worth forgetting to eat for

If I could just squeeze my screen with everything I have when I watch those moments…

I’m going to stop immediately with listing things because I will never actually finish this.

What I’ve found

I think is both eerie

And yet makes complete sense

That the things I took note of years ago

Which made me insanely jealous…

Gave me the direction to find my first tracks

That one shot in The Nightingale

Is eerily close to that shot I have obsessively watched in There will be Blood

That one take in Lost Boy

Is eerily close to that shot I’m addicted to in Boogie Nights

The most exhilarating part about this?

I have no idea where my next track is

The scared & controlling part of me is frustrated by this

The curious & open part of me is exhilarated by not knowing

I have no idea what will make me jealous tomorrow

But I think it might be time to wake up early

Sit outside with a warm beverage

And listen for the call of jealousy

What’s my point?

Listen to the call

Listen to what makes you insanely jealous

And follow it

Hope this helps

x

Dear Graduates

Once upon a time

I was riding a camel

(I still don’t know why)

I was 16 at the time

And the guide up ahead asked me how I was feeling about entering my last few years of high school

I mumbled some kind of sulky teenage response

He turned around and said

“Mate, just put your head down for a couple of years,

It will be over before you know it,

and then you might not have to guide camel rides for the rest of your life”

Mmm

I would actually love to experiment with being a camel ride guide

But I got his point

Regardless if I work my arse off

Or I’m a complete lazy bones

Time will pass

And I will reap whatever I have sown.

Right now

The average 3rd year acting student at drama school

Has half a year left in their studies

The heads are starting to rise

And the finish line is in sight

Some might be desperately trying to escape the confines

Others might be trepidatiously looking over the edge of the nest

Wondering if they will fly

Or fall to a fiery death (bit dramatic)

But the end is near

You have been crammed full of tools and techniques

And had more bizarre experiences than any non-drama-school uni student could possibly imagine (or understand)

But

The majority of the experience has been had

And these last 6 months will be over before you know it

You are doing something you will never have the opportunity to do again

Sure, you can keep going to acting classes in the decades to come

But when else in your life

Will you dedicate 3 full years of your time & energy

To doing things like voice, movement, history of theatre, Alexander technique, improvisation, music, accents, mime, clowning, dance, stunts, etc etc

Consistently

Every day

With incredible facilities

And incredible facilitators?

I’m currently in a library leaning back in my chair

Thinking about those years for me

God

11 years after graduating from NIDA

I would give anything

To just once more

Wake up early

Dress in tight fitting black lycra

And lie down on those cold wooden floors again

(Whilst fighting for a position closest to the gas heater)

If I close my eyes

And take a second to actually place myself in that moment…

I feel tired

I feel over it

I feel ready to leave

Let this be over already…

But when I think about rolling over onto my side

And look at who is around me

What a bloody motley crew of human beings

I see Bri-Bri fighting the balance between complete dedication & getting the giggles

Matty is right there next to her in the trenches

Andrew is playing his guitar

I can hear Kurt thinking “Oh, you know what…”

Dave’s hair is perfect

Katie and Guyman are singing & moving with swag

Morgie smells of delicious banana bread

Gabe is having a complex conversation with Gideon about superheroes

Benedict isn’t here yet - he’s outside smoking with Nadim

Meyne is sketching in his notebook

Rob is drinking coffee (whilst Alan is trying to play some kind of prank on him)

Jenny is doing some kind of interpretive dance that I don’t quite understand

Sam is asking “where’s Branden?”

Harry is busting out notes like a pro

Batch is running a stand up routine

Silvina is figuring out if mercury retrograde is to blame

Michelle is finding someone to hug tightly

On and on

It’s like a weird experimental group of new Sesame Street characters

And it took me far...

Far too long

To realise

That this motley crew...

This is my family

Regardless of where I am in the world

There they are

Shared suffering sure as heck does something to bring a group of humans together

We went through experiences that I will never have the opportunity to do again

No more rockstar exercise

No more animal workshop

No more same time, same place, every, single, day.

I never would’ve thought that once I was out in the industry…

I would be working alongside them on set

Walking in the city protesting with them

Acting in things they had written

Holding sound gear for them in things they were producing

Running lines for their self tapes a decade later

Supporting their petition they started

Being by their side on their wedding day

Having late night phone calls once their new baby was finally asleep

Whispering in that director’s ear to hire them (just so we can hang out in the trailer)

Of course, we were not all the best of friends

We still aren’t

Some speak every day

Others havant spoken in years

But I’m not talking about liking each other

I’m talking about love

The doing part

To celebrate the extraordinary highs

To give flowers at an opening

To give standing ovations, even when the work sucks

To just be quiet and hug when no more words can help.

I was once waiting at a traffic light in my car

I looked to my right

And standing there was someone who I graduated

We hadn’t spoken in years

We looked at each other

In silence

And smiled

For a long moment

Until the light turned green

And we nodded as I drove away

Yep

Those 3 years

We did it

And we did it together

And for that

We will always have a bond

Always.

To the grads…

Look around you

Like it or not

This is your family

This is the group you get to go influence the industry with

So

Take care of each other as you slowly step into this new professional world

Oh… the places you’ll go

x

Peaks & Valleys

Ups and downs, smiles and frowns

I parked my car this morning before heading in to teach the 3rd year actors at NIDA

I gave my phone a little glance before I exited the vehicle

Message received

08:45 - “…forwarding your agent this email I got from xxxx.

They want you for the lead role in their feature film, shooting in xxxxxx, USA”

Oh, cool!

What a way to start the week

Onwards.

I stepped into class and we started again

Focussing on the things we could control

Building unique systems and process to help us technically give the work we want to, when we want to

I noticed myself pacing the room

Slightly angsty

Mmm

We took 5 for a bathroom break

I gave in to my curiosity

I pulled out my phone

Downloaded the email app (I usually don’t have emails accessible on my phone)

And discovered a thread of emails going back and forth

My face at this point was about 4 inches from the screen

09:05 - “interested in Michael for the lead role “XXXX”,  we are shooting in Late July 2022…”

My heart is pounding

09:08 - “Is he available at this time and able to work in the US?”

My breath is shortening

09:10 - “Casting is quite urgent and I'll have to push this to the directors if he's keen.”

Back and forth

Producer to casting to agent, back to casting, back to producer

The details

The glorious details

Lead role. USA. July

Cast

YES

Script

YES

Concept lookbook

OH YES PLEASE YES

And then…

09:13 - “Unfortunately it'd be too tight on this one…”

I stop

My eyelids give up and I let them close

Just like that

It’s gone

Done and dusted

My Monday morning roller coaster lasted approximately 28 minutes

I exit the bathroom

My back hurts

My neck feels heavy

My throat is tight

I step back into the classroom

And we start again

We get back to the important work

The simple, doable things

The setting up of little habits that compound over time

A bunch of things happened outside of my control this morning

A glorious example of the peaks and valleys of this industry all within an hour of time

Those ups will happen

And following them will be the downs

The balance

The reestablishing of order

This too shall pass

I might not be flying to the USA in July…

But I can still focus on giving my all to an audition I have tonight

Or take half an hour to sit on the headland in the rain with binoculars and watch the whales begin their long journey North

Or… simply take an hour to lie on the couch and give myself permission to feel what I’m feeling

To feel the disappointment

The frustration

The hurt

Then take a breath

And get back to it

Onwards

x

How to Serve

Once upon a time

I was on set

With a very well known actor

We were rehearsing a scene

This scene happened to include the inciting incident

The moment which catapults our protagonist onto their journey

The story needs this scenes

Without this scene there is no story

Now

As we were rehearsing

This actor turned to the director and said

“I don’t think I’d actually be that upset in this moment

More just a bit disappointed

Maybe I can rest my hand on his shoulder gently?”

Silence…

The director turned to me with a look of sheer terror on his face

Why?

Because in making that suggestion

The actor revealed something

They revealed they didn’t understand the Point of the Scene (POS)

Let alone the Point of their Character (POC) within the story

Sheep and goats

Amateurs and Professionals

Amateurs do what works for them

Professionals do what works for the story

Amateurs fight for what they want

Professionals fight for what the story needs

So

Know the POS

Know your purpose

Know why your character is in this script

Know why we are all standing around on this set spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next few hours

Trying to film this one scene

There is a reason

A point to it

And if you know what the point of the scene is

You can steer your work toward that

And therefore

You will serve

Serve the scene

Serve the story

Serve your tribe

Allowing directors to take a big, deep, calm breath

And thank god that they hired an actor who is here to give generously

Here to give what actually helps this scene and story

That’s some damn fine generosity right there amigo

But how does one find the POS?

Simple

Generally speaking

Look at the last beat of the scene

The last few lines or last little description

It will be there

Somewhere

It might be obvious

It might be slightly hidden

But it will be there

Whispering to you

“Serve me”

“Be more generous”

To clarify…

How to serve?

Know your place

Know your Point of the Scene (POS)

Know your character’s function in the story

Then go get em Tiger

You generous actor, you!

x

Self Taping

What’s your process today for Self Taping?

Everything between receiving the audition in your inbox till sending it off?

Well

Firstly

Let me define my end state 

I would like self tapes to feel

Easy, Meaningful, and Generous

Now

Let’s build toward that

Prep:

One - Clear yes, no or maybe

Two - Book necessary External Accountability (reader, coach, etc)

Three - Human Moment Prep (6-8 technical questions)

Day Of:

Four - Clear Focus (Set the timer for 45 minutes & write down how I would like to feel at the end of that designated time slot)

Five - Ritual (Breathing exercise and 90 seconds of honesty in front of the lens)

Six - PLAY

Seven - Share the work (Edit & Send)

And if it’s all too much to handle?

I ask the reader to hold an iPad up and I read it for the first time in the take 

My point? Build what works for you

How would you like to feel at the end? 

Then start backwards 

Keep growing

It’s a living process

This will all probably be different tomorrow ;)

x

No One Way

There is an actor that I really love

Ever since I watched him as a kid

I thought we was a technical genius 

A master of his craft.

Last night

I was at a film festival promoting something we shot back in 2020

It was lovely to see my old family again

The group of people who came together during a lockdown to make a movie 

Now…

One of my cast mates in this film

Actually happens to know this actor that I love quite well

So…

I pulled him aside

Picked his brains

And asked for all the goss

I wanted to know the secrets

His decisions on set

His rituals and routines

The subtle things he does before takes so as to  help him release his magic

What did I find out?

“Well… 

He hardly ever knows his lines

In fact

A lot of the time 

He gets a permanent marker 

Writes his difficult lines on some gaffer tape

And sticks it on his mark

So when he forgets his lines during a take

He can just look down

Take a second

Re-group

Say “ah, yes”

And then get back to it…

He says “ah, yes” a lot”.

I laughed

Of course

A lovely reminder

There is no one way to do this gig

Permission to build it your way

Permission to do what works for you

And if writing lines on tape helps you give Oscar winning work?

You do you boo boo!

Hope this helps

Sending hugs

x

Tumbleweed

As always

I have no idea what I’m doing

(I’ve never met anyone who actually does)

I know there’s lots of times I like to pretend I do

Giving me a sense of control

But it doesn’t take much for life to pull that comfortable rug right out from underneath me

And for me to faceplate on the floor of reality

Here’s my reality right now

(As I see it)

Last October & November 

For various reasons 

I declined eight offers for professional acting work

Films, Theatre, Short films, continuing season’s of TV shows

And now

Tumbleweed 

Nada

Silence

Mmm

The peaks and valleys

The ups and downs

The waves of this industry

I’ve been feeling frustrated about this in the passed week

Then I realised 

I love it

I feel like the more my fears are urging me to sprint

The more this world is telling me to think about the marathon

To think about sustainability of my contribution 

I heard a really lovely quote yesterday

“Any time you feel the urge to speed up… slow down” 

To me 

I read this as…

Breathe

Go back to process

What do I love about this craft?

How do I audition my way?

A way which allows me to put my head on the pillow feeling fulfilled & grateful?

What’s actually most important to me? 

Who do I love doing this with?

What’s the easy & honest next step?

I can feel an itch

I want to play 

I want to contribute

I want to use the skill set I’ve been working on 

To give human moments 

To help share meaningful stories 

Mmm

Curious 

A wonderful actor I’m working with just messaged me 

He was feeling the pressure

Then his cat jumped on the table

The presence

The play

The curiosity 

And the pressure “melted away”

This

More of this

More presence 

More play

More curioisty 

:)

Sending hugs

x

Dreamed a Dream

I was in my kitchen

Standing on the ground

I had a horse named Zeus

He was sitting up on the highest shelf 

And no matter how much I tried to coax him

He wouldn’t come down 

Then I woke up

Curious 

For the following questions… 

I will be answering as a chosen symbol from my dream

Which in this case

Will be the horse

I will choose to interpret this any way I want

I get to decide what this means for me

Here we go…

Question One: Who are you?

I am the horse named Zeus 

Question Two: Describe yourself?

I am golden

I am regal

I am stubborn 

Question Three: What is your purpose?

I am here to transport people from one side to another

To transition people through change

Question Four: How are you here to help Michael?

Michael

Look at me 

Up here 

Sitting proudly

I’m above all others

And guess what

I’m sitting on a shelf in a kitchen

Not getting anything done

Not contributing anything worthwhile to this world

Not collaborating with others

No matter what you say

No matter how much people to to coax me to come play

I’m stuck here up in my own world thinking how great I am

This is pride

This is hubris

And what have you learned about hubris?

It comes before the fall

Michael

Be on the ground

Put your feet in the soil

Stand on the earth

Look around you

At the wonderful people around you to connect with 

Go play

Be open

Be grounded 

Be humble

Live

Rather then sitting proudly on a kitchen shelf and slowly turning stale 

Curious

Sending hugs

x

Convert Curiosity

When I was a kid growing up in Africa 

I dreamed about going on adventures.

After school

I would remove my shirt and shoes 

Run outside in my khaki shorts

BB gun and pocket knife by my side

I would make a fire

And proceed to walk through the jungle (my backyard) in search of whatever adventure arose 

I would stalk Vervet monkeys

Munch of mulberries

Maybe even wade into the pond and try catch fish 

(I don’t know how many times those poor goldfish had to deal with me chasing them around) 

This…

This is how I wanted to life to be

This is how I expected it to be

Michael, The Explorer

The next adventure

The next person to learn from

The next track to follow 

No idea where it was going to lead me

But being brave enough to follow my curiosity

Despite the fear and danger of booby traps and lions 

(The booby traps were set by me, and the nearest lions were at least 45 minutes away from where I lived)

But when I woke up as an adult

There was a difference between my expectations and the reality I was living

I still had those dreams, desires of adventure, and urges to follow my curiosity

But I wasn’t acting on them

The gap between those two worlds felt vast

One world of adventure, exhilaration, terror, growth, learning, love, joy, courage

One world of predictability, staleness, boredom 

Don’t get me wrong - I love times of predictability, routine and plateaus

But I wanted the balance

The dichotomy

The plateau juxtaposed with growth

The stillness juxtaposed with action

The concrete juxtaposed with mud 

The order juxtaposed with chaos 

And I was at the point where plateaus felt lonely without the balance of the other side

I munched on this

Sat down with a guide I really trusted

And spoke about the vast gap between those two places

And what I found…

Was that the gap wasn’t as large as I initially though

In fact

It was tiny

A single stepping stone in a small puddle

Or a little jump across a small stream

One little stepping stone

One little thing

One, simple action

Was all I needed to bridge those two worlds

Examples?

Send that message

Write that email

Book those dates in the calendar 

Ask that question

Say that thing out loud

Cross the street

Follow that sign

Let my body lead 

Walk out the door 

What’s my point? 

Convert curiosity into action 

Sending hugs

x

Less Than

I sat down this morning at a cafe

Underneath one of those big trees that produce those itchy-balls in autumn

In my childhood, we use to collect as many as we could

Start playground wars 

And have “itchy-ball fights”

Then go back into the classroom after recess had ended

And proceed to spend the rest of the day scratching ourselves senseless

Agh…

I had a big article planned for today

Was really excited about it too

I was ready to start my Monday with a bang

Wake up early and be super productive

Then I got 2 hours of sleep…

So

Out of respect to the principles of productivity 

I’m going to do less than I think I can handle

Scratch my to-do list from five things down to two

Rest well

And start again tomorrow

I’m pretty proud of this

Six years ago I never would have even considered the idea of doing less

In this kind of moment

I would have wanted to push through

Called myself weak

And tell myself to toughen up

Just get it done

That mindset did actually get me some results

But It just wasn’t sustainable 

And what’s more

When I looked at my heros and mentors

The people who were getting the results I really wanted to work towards

They all seemed to go slower in order to go faster

And do less in order to do more 

So here’s to sustainable performance 

Here’s to doing less than I think I can handle

Sending hugs

x

What Works for You

Q&A: ‘Mike, sometimes I pick up a script and feel overwhelmed with the 1000’s of things I’ve learnt I COULD do with it… I want to keep growing my toolkit and explore new things, but how can I find which specific ‘tools’ are strongest for my process, to use as my foundation?’ - C

Hey C 

Love this

Thank you for clicking “send” 

Something I have noticed 

In working with both graduates and non-graduates

Is a sense of

“I’m not doing enough”

I see this manifesting in unsustainable behaviour 

Trying to do twenty things

But not actually being able to do any of them at a desired level

Which keeps them in a plateau-like state

Never actually improving 

Again

Amateurs do lots. Professionals do less, and do it better.

As someone who finished NIDA with an actual process list of approximately 200 things I believed I had to do in order to give work that I believed was acceptable

(Which of course, was unsustainable, and led to me constantly feeling like I was never doing enough = burnout)

My approach now tends to be the opposite

Do less & do it better

Go look in the mirror (figuratively or literally)

And think about a few things

What kind of career do you really want to have?

What do you actually want to contribute to this industry?

No good, bad, right, wrong

Just see what pops up

Now ask yourself the question

Is what I’m currently doing actually getting me the results I want?

Back in 2016

I sat down and explored when acting was actually meaningful to me

When did it feel like I was at my most generous?

When did It feel like I was actually contributing something meaningful?

When was it worth doing for me?

For me, at that time

It boiled down to the concept of having “honest conversations”

Which led to a very sobering moment 

I had to ask myself the question

Why am a trying to become some fancy character actor

When I can’t even be honest on screen yet? 

I realised the most beneficial thing I could do

Was give up

Start again

But this time

Play the long game

Slow down in order to progress further

Build a strong, simple base

A base that would carry me for the years and decades to come

So

Step one

What are the best experiences you’ve had acting?

The most energising, meaningful, fun, alive experiences

When did you feel most at home?

Step Two

What are the patterns behind those experiences?

What did you do that influenced those experiences?

Keep it simple

Were you honest?

Did you focus on what you could control?

Did you get help from a coach or great rehearsal buddy?

Did you take your time?

Did you listen to music?

Did you have a great sleep the night before?

Did you exercise the morning of?

Did you drink lots of water?

Did you warm up?

Did you have a clear objective?

Did you learn your lines?

Did you focus on your breath?

Did you build your character’s relationships?

Did you build your character’s environment?

Did you have a clear moment before? 

Did you have a little ritual?

Did you understand the purpose of the scene?

Did you understand your characters purpose within the script?

Did you have a Chekovian Psychologiuc Gesture?

Bla bla bla

Etc, etc

Find the patterns

Step Three

Take those patterns, principles, rituals

And distill them

Which ones actually work best for you?

And build off them

Focus on practicing those few things

And focus on practicing them well

If you notice that you’ve had wonderful experiences when you were honest, knew your lines, and had a clear objective

Then practice doing those 3 things well

Do them so well it becomes second nature

Once they are in the body (unconscious competence)

Then think about what simple skill would advance your growth next

One skill at a time

Build that base baby! 

Something I love about non-graduates

Or even non-actors moving into acting

Is that they don’t necessarily know what they should be doing

So their mind isn’t overwhelmed with options 

(like graduates can sometimes be after 3 years of learning hundreds of techniques) 

I have watched professional athletes, Victoria’s Secret models, ARIA award winning musicians

Advance faster in acting because we focussed on only doing a few things well

We focussed on what actually worked for them

(Quality over quantity)

Everyone has patterns and principles behind meaningful & energising moments in their life

The key is to allocate the time and space to discovering and distilling them

Building a foundation which will help you perform well, and your way

No matter the arena!

A strong foundation acts like a tree trunk

It supports all the wonderfully detailed branches and leaves to come

But the priority 

Was giving a tiny seed of intention

All the room to grow well slowly

Some people might think a tree trunk is boring

I think it is the most wonderful, sexy thing in the world

I think it is what influences one’s longevity and quality of work.

Wanting to stay curious, grow and explore is bloody honourable

But if everything you learn stays at a shallow level

What value has this actually brought to your process?

If you were to spend an entire year practicing what actually works best for you

I guarantee

You would progress further than someone who wants to try get good at twenty techniques in 12 months

C

I see myself at 26

Having all the passionate intentions in the world

Having all the willingness to work hard 

But feeling all the frustrations of not actually advancing

Which brings up the question

What is the most generous thing you could do?

Slow down, get better, give more?

Or keep trying to cram 20 shallow techniques in at a time?

My point…

Do what actually works best for you

Sending hugs

x

Trust the Sprouts

There is a great actor I’m working with at the moment

And something else he’s very good at

Is growing plants

So here is a process for growing flowers

(Go with me on this)

Rich, Nutritious soil

Accomodating environment 

Plant Seeds

Feed every day (water & fertiliser)

Monitor & Maintain

Appreciate result 

Start again

mmm

Curious 

Did you see it?

There is a moment here I’m interested in 

Actually there are a bunch

But let’s just focus on one

Feed every day

Why?

If the seeds are under the soil

And are not flowers yet

And all I can see is dirt

Then why feed them every day?

Process + Time

There is trust in a process of growth

And there is time

These two things combined

Equals sprouts

Now

Sprouts are not flowers

So one could just throw out the pot and say “it doesn’t work”

But any caring gardener knows

Sprouts are evidence

Evidence that you are on track

Keep going

Mmm

Curious 

Let’s do the obvious and apply this to acting

Do you have a process of growth you trust enough to be patient with?

And what sprouts do you have which provide evidence that you are on track?

Hope this helps

x

Hermit Crabs

I’ve been staring at pictures of hermit crabs this past week

I forgot some really basic info about them that was common knowledge when I was a curious kid

When the hermit crab out grows it’s shell

It moves to a larger one

Damn nature 

Awesome

However 

This is an incredibly vulnerable time for the crab

Because in order to move into a bigger shell

It first has to remove it’s protective home

It’s shield against danger 

And wander into the open

Leaving it susceptible to all the glorious chaos Mother Nature can posses

One would think it would be easier for the crab to just chill

Take it easy 

Stay the same size

So it could just remain in it’s current home

And not have to go through all the treachery of exposing itself to the world

Why put itself through the naked process of growth?

Even looking at a hermit crab without a shell

I actually laughed out loud

It looks so feeble and awkward

A sense of

“Oh? THAT’S what you really are!?”

But the thing is

If the crab can follow it’s calling

Make it through this vulnerable time

And find a new home to spend the next cycle of it’s life in

Well…

I guess that’s when the grab gets to look back at me and quietly smile

With a sense of 

“Yeah, Sheasby, that was scary, and I did look silly, but damn, this new shell is beautiful, I’m really grateful for it, and I’m really proud of myself that I was willing to be brave enough to venture into the chaos to find it. How’s your new shell? Oh wait… you’re still in your same old one”

Mmm

Alright Mr Hermit Crab

Let’s boil this down to a question

Where am I intentionally keeping myself safe and small

So I don’t have to feel the discomfort of growth?

Curious 

Sending hugs

x