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August 5, 2007
The Actors Voice, 8/6/07
Hi Everyone!
Here's how tomorrow's The Actors Voice starts out.
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Don't Drop the Ball
I scrapped this column last week in favor of turning in The Big Lies. (And, wow, y'all liked that one. Thanks!) But, I've been doing some thinking about why I wasn't in love with Don't Drop the Ball enough to stick with it, turn it in, and save The Big Lies for later. Ah! I think I figured it out. It has something to do with Actor Darwinism. Actors who aren't doing everything they can to keep their career afloat are basically selecting themselves out of the oversaturated talent pool and leaving more room for those actors who are better-prepared, more professional, dare I say more deserving of our attention. So, yay.
But then that makes me question why I bother writing any particular column, from week to week. I mean, if there's something to the whole "Actor Darwinism" thing (and actors self-selecting right out of the mix to help us with an already enormous task of finding the right actors for every project, in a sea of seemingly infinite choices), why does the need for "writing for actors" even exist? I write for both beginners (who hopefully get off on the right foot in this career by reading before they leap) and seasoned pros who might need a little re-focusing from time to time. So, am I simply delaying the inevitable, by presenting folks with ways to re-focus for a minute when they'll only end up un-focusing themselves again over time?
Perhaps I scrapped last week's column because it leads to an existential crisis! Why does anyone write anything for anyone? If your career isn't working, maybe that's what's meant to be! Why should we monkey with it by sharing tips that might help you along in ways that aren't organic to your default mode? Okay... then why should we offer classes? Why should the educational system itself exist, if I think like this? If nature always wins out, why nurture anyone, ever? Oy. Yeah. That's why I dropped the column. It heads down the path of, "Why are we here? Why do we bother? What does it matter anyway?" and that's not what The Actors Voice is about! Nope... it's here to--hopefully--provide you with some good ideas and maybe get you out of your own way. A-ha! Now that that's out of MY way, let's get to a very common problem for actors: Dropping the Ball.
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Continue reading this column in the morning, along with a Your Turn follow-up on last week's "The Big Lies" at Showfax.com.
As always, THANK YOU for reading!
Cheers,
-Bon.
Live your dreams! If you don't, someone else will.
Posted by bonnie at August 5, 2007 1:20 PM