Ser Autosu fi ciente como Actor

There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking the feedback and opinions
of others when it comes tochoices. Seeking the approval of others though
is where things begin to become destructive.
Below are seven easy way to ensure that all the work you are doing in your
classes and career development is leading you towards the ultimate goal
of emotional, intellectual, and creative independence. I am not suggesting
that you ignore outside feedback, only that you never rely on it to thrive.
1. Break things down. Break every goal down into its component parts and
create a plan for how you might go about achieving it, even if its
preparing for a role. Allocating rehearsal time, mastering line-learning,
conducting background research, and exploring the physical and emotional
life

of

your

character

are

all

parts

in

need

of

careful

individual

consideration. Just as one doesnt become Mr. Universe overnight without

a plan, one does not become a full-time working actor by simply desiring it
as an outcome.
2. Employ the +1 and 50/5 rules. In my article, The 1 Thing Actors Must
Know About Taking A Risk , I outline my +1 theory of risk. What is the
point attempting to take multiple risks simultaneously when one hasnt yet
mastered any one individually? Then spend at least 50 percent of your
time focusing on the diffi cult parts (the risks) even if they comprise only 5
percent of your entire plan. If, by applying the same amount of eff ort as
you do to your strengths, your weaknesses developed equally across the
board then they wouldnt be called weaknesses.
3. Make failure a daily goal. I encourage actors in my e-book, Choices, to
seek out what could beand what might be in their work instead of what will
be and what should be. In doing so, actors make interesting, uncommon,
and unique discoveries by investigating areas in which their gut may
habitually tell them not to waste time exploring. The one common trait
of all who would be considered successful in their chosen fi eld is that they
have

failed more often

than

anyone

else.

Their

success

is

in

having

taken more shots at the target than anyone else. To take risks one must
walk a fi ne line of almost daring oneself to fail, for to guard against the
possibility of failure entirely is no risk at all.
4. Employ intelligent skepticism. To never question your teacher, parent,
or authority fi gures is a predictable path to mediocrity and creative
stagnation. Every creative, passionate, and innovative person Ive ever
admired in the world has made his or her own decisions based upon
intelligent skepticism. The ability to test the voracity of an idea through
questions and practical application (as opposed to simply disagreeing in
order to prove intellectual dominance) is integral to all independent
thin kers.
5. Acknowledge the input of others. Its easy to focus so heavily on your
own hard work that it leads to the erroneous belief that nobody else
played

any

part

in

your

ultimate

success.

Regardless

of

how self-

suffi cient you are, there are always people to thank and acknowledge for
the

support

and advicetheyve

given

along

the

way.

Do

not

mistake

thanking others for dependence upon them. Independence is using whats

in ones environment to stimulate growth, including teachers and mentors.
Dependence is not being able to survive without them.
6. Use S.M.A.R.T. goals. This useful mnemonic acronym stands for specifi c,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals. Popularized by
business management specialist Peter Drucker, these goals need little
further explanation and can help professionals in any fi eld in which they
fi nd themselves choosing to excel. If an actor were not given acting or
career directions that fi t these criteria he or she would do well to adopt
them independently. Ideally, by following this guide in the fi rst place,
outside

feedback

would

be

welcome,

certainly,

but

by

no

means

necessary.
7.

Claim responsibility for both successes and failures. At the end of the

day independent actors and thinkers take responsibility for their decisions.
Whether you followed the instructions of someone else or not, it is you
who made the decision to take the job or audition, follow the directions
given, and produce the result that the world now sees in front of them.

If you desire to become a truly self-dependent creative being in the world,

then accept that you have the power to make choices, but also the
responsibility to accept the resulting consequences.

Lo que Debe Saber un Actor sobre tomar Riesgos

Have you ever competently crossed a tightrope without falling off ? Are you
able to ride a unicycle, or expertly juggle nine balls? What about all th ree
tasks at once? And what if I strung the tightrope across the Grand Canyon,
lit the balls on fi re, and loosened the wheel?
Though rarely as demanding in terms of strength, balance, or outright
danger, the mechanics of acting can be just as taxing on your memory,
concentration, and re fl exes as circus skills, and yet actors attempt to (and
are often encouraged to) take on multiple risks simultaneously, and are
then left scratching their heads as to why they failed at every single one
of them.
Regardless of how quickly you master physical skills, it is highly unlikely
that you have ever taken two or more genuine risks simultaneously and
immediately succeeded at bothnot without a great deal of luck. But luck
isnt

technique,

and

although

random

chance

occasionally

produces

pleasing results, only practiced technique is consistently reliable.

Enter, my +1 theory of risk.
By risk, I dont mean taking several tweaks or adjustments to your
performance, like Pick up the cues or Be angrier in that moment. I
mean actual risk. Risk with the potential of hurting, embarrassing, or
losing something you hold dear, such as your physical safety, that great
acting job, or simply your pride. Remember how risky it felt as a teenager
to ask someone out on a date? Imagine doing that with English as your
second language, and in front of the high school bully and his gang.
Doubling or trebling the risk doesnt increase your chances of success; it
actually makes failure and humiliation that much more likely across the
board.

It is a growing trend for acting tutors to advise their students to eschew

learning lines perfectly because when they try to it makes everything else
that much more diffi cult. But would anyone tell a high-wire performer in
Cirque du Soleil to pull back on a triple somersault because its too hard?
This is the diff e rence between the Good and the Great. Master the risks,
and then make it look easy. Dont just make it easy by lowering your
standards.
Extremely

wordy

complicated

procedural

blocking

and

or

prop

scientifi c
use,

or

dialogue
even

and

legalese,

detailed

character

transformation work and unfamiliar emotional turns are all comparable to

the diffi culty levels of performing circus skills. To some, learning lines is a
risk, and to many, standing in front of network heads for a fi nal callback or
chemistry test is defi nitely a risk. Since the combination of risks increases
the likelihood of failure at each, stick to one at a time, and then add
another one when youve mastered the initial challenge.
I once shot a TV commercial in Australia that was to be broken down into
several 15-second bits, with my lines comprising only 10 seconds of each
to be sandwiched between title cards and voiceovers. The dialogue was
tricky and dense, so I rehearsed it like a demon. During the fi rst on-set
rehearsal I churned the dialogue out perfectly, and in record time, only to
see the director literally click his stopwatch and ask me to shift two of the
lines around, truncate the middle section, and cut four seconds off my
overall read time.
Not three, not fi ve. Fou r.
Adding to the degree of diffi culty, the direction was intricate and counterintuitive to me. I had to squat down on a particular line, pick up a UV light,
and wave it over stains on the ground. I was to hit the ground on line A,
then I needed to pass the light over the low-angle camera in time with line
C, with my head moving in the opposite direction to the light (to suit the
DPs

penchant

delivering

for

rapid-fi re

visual

opposition

procedural

in

dialogue,

the

frame).

hitting

an

All

the

while,

imaginary

three-

dimensional mark for the focus-puller, and splitting my (re- ordered) lines
on both sides of the camera in order for the boom-swinger to reposition

between them; whilst balancing on the balls of my feet and not falling
over. In 10 seconds.
Breathe
Happy with the technical side after four or fi ve takes, the director asked
why the freshness had gone from my performance. Not feeling it was the
time to school him in the intricacies of my +1theory of risk, I kept quiet
and focused on the task at hand. With the technical aspects down pat I
could now focus on the performance.
I requested a couple more takes, gave the director diff e rent options,
fi nished the shoot in half the scheduled time, skipped the catering, and
went home early. The TVC ended up netting me over $50,000 for less than
fi ve hours work, including time spent sitting around.
I could never have done this had I not at fi rst mastered the dialogue.
For me there were three risks in this process:
1. Learning tricky, rapid-fi re procedural dialogue (and changing it on a
whim).
2. Mastering specifi c blocking and prop-handling (to multiple departments
satisfaction).
3. Dealing with a whole new crew (each member with their own time and
budget pressures and egos).
Suggesting that technical skills in acting are less demanding because they
arent

stunts

or

high-wire

work

would

be

to

say

that

playing

Rachmaninoff s Piano Concerto No. 3 isnt as demanding because failure

at it is less likely to result in death. The fact is, risk is relative, and a child
riding a bike for the fi rst time would be as risky as Jimi Hendrix playing
The Star-Spangled Banner on a right-handed guitar .
There are two main reasons why I warn against multiple simultaneous risks
in rehearsal, auditions, or performance:
1. Without practicing one risk to the level of profi ciency, its highly likely
that all attempted risks will fail , and
2. If multiple risks are employed and the result is a success, how is one to

know which risk actually made the diff e rence ?

Master one risk at a time, and then add one more (+1). If it fails, try
again. If it succeeds, add one more .
If you are playing a character with a diff e rent accent to you, a diff erent
physicality

to

you,

and

tricky

technical

dialogue,

blocking,

or

prop

handling, commit to one risk until you reach profi ciency (or at least
very close to), and then add just one more until you reach profi ciency at
both.

Keep

doing

this

until

you

are

able

to

maintain

several

simultaneously.
The +1 theory of risk is not to prevent you from dying. Hopefully no actor
will need to be in the position where that kind of risk is required. But with
multiple simultaneous risks the likelihood of failure by far outweighs the
slim chance of success.
One risk at a time succeeds.
Youll see, with enough dedication and focus, you will be juggling fl aming
balls on a tightrope over the Grand Canyon in no time, and your only
concern will be the wobbly wheel

Audicion sin Nervios

So much has been written on the subject of what to do about nerves, as
if nerves were some monster that comes out of nowhere and attacks you. In
fact, nerves are never random and are simply a reaction to a specifi c set
of circumstances. In that way, the physical and mental/emotional state of
being nervous is no diff erent than any other. If you have a way of
deconstructing

nerves

to

see

what

theyre

made

of,

theyre

not

so

ominous. Everything is manageable in its parts.

Say youre in the waiting room about 20 minutes away from your audition.
You were feeling great in the car, but now your stomach is starting to
fl utter, your breath is getting short and your palms are clammy. Instead of
going into denial and trying to run from the discomfort, I encourage you to
lean into the moment and examine exactly whats going on using these
three simple steps:

1. Review your work. Nerves often spring from doubt. In fact, the paradigm
of anxiety in psychology is one of the simplest: doubt, fear, anxiety . The
way a paradigm works is that if you take away the fi rst step, it falls apart.
Put another way, if you have nothing to doubt, you have nothing to fear
and nothing to be nervous about.
If

you

prepared

your

audition

using

strong,

reliable

step-by-step

technique that brings out the best in you, you have a safe and sane, stepby-step way to take one last look at your decisions while youre waiting.
You can then see how strong and connected these decisions are and gain
the reassurance you need to go in the room and commit, connect, and
score.
Youve now eliminated your work as something to be nervous about.
Everything

checked

little more relaxed.

out,
Good.

youre
Now

breathing

lets

continue

easier

and

exploring

feeling
and

remove

some more doubt.

2. See the comparing mind for what it is. Our comparing mind can get
activated in a big way in the waiting room, creating all kinds of doubt
and anxiety. Again, maybe you were feeling amazing on the way to the
audition, but now that you look around that person looks taller and they
might want tall, that one looks prettier and they might want really pretty,
the one next to you looks totally wrong for this!
At this point its important to come back to reality and realize that all of
these people are just who they are. The fact that they are taller, prettier,
or plainer than you is not a part of their identityits who they are in
comparison to you, and that is nothing more than a fabrication of your
comparing mind. So, relax and let them be who they are. Your job is to
accept your entire self for who you are in that moment because thats who
youre bringing into the room.
As you see the comparing mind as off ering nothing more than old stories
and meaningless opinions, youll relax even further and breathe even
deeper. Doubt is dissolving even further as nerves have less and less to
stick to.
Now, one last piece to look at....

3. Accept the human nerves. The fi ght/fl ight/freeze instincts hard wired
into our reptilian brain are there for our survival. The audition process,
which requires being in a new environment with a group of strangers, can
feel dangerous enough for the fl ight mechanism to activate. One way to
feel safer is to prepare to the highest bar, which means preparing in a way
that is so strong that you feel as if your work belongs in that room and you
belong in that project. If you feel as if you belong, your brain doesnt feel
the threatening sense of separation: theres no me and them, theres
just us, which calms the fl ight mechanism considerably.
But, even if you have done everything right, there will still remain a bit
of anxiety at being in a strange, new environment. Thats OK. Accept those
nerves as part of being human and they will stay small enough to be
manageableand even energizing.
To examine the components of nervousness is to be in control of it. You
see

it

for

what

it

is:

just

passing

reaction

to

your

immediate

circumstance, a state of being that can be teased apart and examined. Not
a dragon you need to slay, just another part of you to look at and get to
know.