Welcome new readers! Since I heard from many, many, many of you that last week’s column, “Just Get Better,” was forwarded all over the Internet and re-posted like crazy, I’m betting some of you might be visiting today for the first or second time. Hopefully, you’ll poke around the archives and feel free to write in with suggestions for future topics.
While the emails I received from readers about “Just Get Better” were overwhelmingly positive (more on that in this week’s Your Turn), I did get one piece of, well, “hate mail” and the actor made sure to send it to three separate email addresses for good measure.
Now, I’ve been asked whether I share all of the “bad” mail I receive, since so many Your Turn emails start out with sweet messages of gratitude for the weekly columns. And frankly, yeah. I actually share all of the bad mail (as there’s not a lot of it), because it’s through open communication that we gain clarification on our stance on any given issue. My goal is to address the issues in this actor’s email in an attempt both to soothe his emotional reaction to last week’s advice that actors “Just Get Better,” and to explain why I believe 100% Accountability is just about the best recipe for success in this business.
First, the email.
Dear Ms. Gillespie,
I read your article about how actors say they have done everything and nothing seems to be working. And your response was: “Then you can’t act.”
I like how you blame only the actor and no one else.
I do believe the actor needs to work at 100%, but I also believe other circumstances can affect a performer.
I am using my roommate’s email only because as I know in Hollywood, “you don’t want to step on toes.”
I have major TV credits, film, and national commercials. I have guest stars, recurring, and even series regulars on two pilots (one got picked up than [sic] cancelled, and the other not picked up at all).
If I can’t act, why do I have tons of credits?
I too have hit a stump like so many of my working actor friends. Some who are with major agencies like me.
Unfortunately my managers and theatrical and commercial agents are saying the same thing: “There’s no work right now. We need to vote ‘yes’ for the new contracts and more work will come along.” You would be surprised on how many agents and managers you know and are your friends that are saying it.
Shall I call them a liar based on your article? Should I say, “Hey, you’re a liar. Bonnie claims it isn’t lack of work, but my acting ability. So you are all lying to me!”
I also know a great amount of casting directors. And they have told me many producers on “Hollywood” films and veteran TV producers all have certain names in mind to play the series regulars, guest stars, cameos, and even co-stars that will take scale or a little above. So it’s getting harder and harder for casting directors to push fresher and newer talent. Shall I call them liars as well?
And now not only do you expect us to spend money, time, and efforts auditioning, casting director workshops, and seminars, you want us to be writers and spend more money producing our own projects? I have to be a writer now? You’re kidding me right? You want us not only to blame ourselves for not getting work, but you’re also wanting us to spend money on everything and anything (which according to you doesn’t amount to alot [sic] except for getting experience). Are you crazy?
Do you cast A-List HOLLYWOOD STUDIO films? TV Shows?
I know your bio, and the answer is “NO.”
I only go out — and alot [sic] of times straight to producers — on only A-List work.
But now my auditions have halted. I can’t book work if I don’t get auditions. I don’t believe I am a bad actor since I know a huge amount of casting directors who believe in my work (that cast MAJOR projects). I do as much as I can to get out there.
You’re [sic] attitude toward actors is all wrong.
Actors do whine, they are insecure, they are assholes. I agree. But to blame their talent?
You’re right. It’s not the fact that agencies are merging because of lack $$$$ they are getting from their clients.
Or the fact that some agents or managers are actually shitty and can’t get their people auditions.
Or that many of your colleagues (casting directors that you know) are saying there’s no work out there right now.
No, it’s none of that. It’s because the “poor whiny actors suck.”
I am friends with many agents, managers, and casting directors. I know they all don’t share your point of view. My very own people said you were wrong when I forwarded your article.
Thanks for blaming the actor. Real class act.
I pray that you don’t lose a contract with a movie or show. Because if you do, it must be because you suck and you’re not doing enough to be good at it.
I believe in being positive, and not blaming. We are already trying to beat the odds, and people like you just make it worse. And no one wants to speak out because of who you are.
I don’t appreciate your “god complex” making all the hard-working actors out there feel even worse than they already do.
I said my peace.
Okay. Phew!
When you read last week’s column in a vacuum, I suppose you could imagine that I don’t clearly — and weekly — support and encourage actors of all levels in the many, many ways they can improve their odds of succeeding in a very long-odds business. But even so, last week’s column was more about accountability than blame, the latter being on what you have chosen to focus.
I call bullshit on anyone saying “there’s no work” right now. Something is casting somewhere every single day and someone is working on a set at every moment of every day somewhere. Why not you? Just because there’s less work, or “it’s slow” doesn’t mean there’s no work for you. And I don’t just mean work you create for yourself (although creating your own work solves that problem every single time).
If you’d like to call your reps liars, that’s up to you. Not a very smart move, and nothing I’d recommend, but only you know your relationship with them and how it could withstand such a conversation. Of course, they’re giving you a reason for your lack of bookings that you can’t argue your way out of. You can’t fight what they’re telling you, so you leave them alone (which is really what they want when they tell you it’s dead right now). I, instead, am suggesting something a bit more empowering: Taking advantage of this downtime — whatever its cause — and getting better. Improving your craft. Addressing every tiny factor that is within your control.
Sure, there are factors outside of your control as an actor in this industry. Of course! All the more reason for actors to control what they can control (and that’s stuff like knowing your type, having your best headshots, aligning with a rockstar team, producing your own work, getting in front of the buyers, and being as talented as you possibly can be).
Absolutely, it’s getting more competitive for everyone. That’s how my piece about how the economy has done artists a favor came to be. We’re all being forced to either get more creative and more talented in order to compete or get out of the way of those who are finding a way to work, no matter what. Definitely, I’m holding fewer and fewer sessions while making more and more offers to name actors on tiny roles in micro-budget indies. And because those offers are being accepted, it is getting tougher for the up-and-coming actor to be seen on roles that would usually be “all theirs.” All the more reason to get self-produced work out there, build a fanbase, get on the radar of the buyers as being one of the most amazing actors around, so your name shows up on our lists alongside those “name” actors. Your agents aren’t lying about the fact that there’s little work right now for someone at your level of talent. The bar has definitely been raised. In an era in which Tim Roth is a series lead and Oscar winners are doing top-of-show guest stars, yes, I’m suggesting that you get in that peer group in order to have a better shot at working at that level. Just get better! Join that tier.
It looks like you missed that I mentioned that you don’t have to be a self-producing actor if you, instead, are the actor whose name lives on the lists of awesome producers, directors, writers, or teams of creatives looking to collaborate. Sure, you can be the one who brings absolutely nothing to the table other than your talent (which had better be amazing, if that’s “all” you’re bringing, since you are looking to compete in the Super Bowl of Acting, after all). You do not need to be a writer. You do not need to invest your money. But you sure as shit need to invest your time, your energy, your creativity, your talent, your passion, your ALL. And people who like to point fingers at “who’s blaming who” don’t tend to like to spend their energy in more creative ways.
For those folks, I suggest that, rather than focusing on all of the things outside yourself that you can blame, you focus on 100% Accountability. That’s where you get power. Look, I understand that blame feels better than guilt. That’s why it’s terrifying to imagine that you might be responsible for what’s not working, if you are, in fact, one of those “category three email” actors I was describing last week. But your email makes it look as though you’re not even in that category to begin with, so I’m not sure why you chose to take offense at so much of last week’s column.
Remember that I said that even the pro players ride the bench for much of the Super Bowl. Last week’s column wasn’t about the pros who are absolutely talented and wonderful and doing everything right and still not getting off the bench. Hey, they’re still in the Super Bowl and that ring looks just as good on them. Last week’s column was about the actors who could maybe get to the Super Bowl as waterboys. Nothing wrong with that. It just requires a totally different set of skills than what the professional football player is putting in, every single day. Are you telling me that in all of your travels as a professional actor in this town, you’ve never encountered someone who needs to be told, “Just get better”? I’m willing to bet you’ve seen a lot of them over the years.
As for the swipe you took at my bio, you should probably know that my goal isn’t to be an A-List casting director. My goal is to have fun, first and foremost. And then to populate amazing scripts (brought to me by rockstar teams) with the best actors I know, irrespective of the budget. We’re storytellers and my goal is to help that process along. I love the budget level at which I work. It’s so much more collaborative at this level. Not like at networks or studios, where often you’re given a list and not encouraged to share your opinion (certainly not when you’ve only been casting a few years, anyway). My goal is not to cast the next Twilight. It’s to cast the next Little Miss Sunshine. That’s the budget level at which I aspire to bring together amazing storytellers. And, at 6.5 years into my casting career, I’m right on track to make that happen. So, I don’t take it as an insult that you don’t see my career as “A-List.” I love my life and my many jobs. That is all the success I need.
As for your statement about not being able to book work if you don’t get auditions, I respectfully disagree. This is where getting on that coveted “list” comes into play. Creating your own work, developing your own fanbase, putting yourself on tape doing audition sides before you’re even asked to come in and read, all leads to getting your name on lists without an audition. And believe me, no matter how much I may or may not like a particular actor, if a producer hands me a list with an actor’s name on it, it’s my job to get that actor an offer. Getting on a producer’s “priority list” has nothing to do with auditions. That’s a part of the old business model.
We’re experiencing the evolution of how casting is done in Hollywood. We’re only at the beginning of it, which is why it’s terrifying to some people. But mark my words, when we look back at this point a few years from now, this will be seen as the beginning of the end of “the old way.” Just because I write about it doesn’t mean I created it. (And just like with the anonymous hate mail I got when I wrote about Pre-Prereads, I can’t soothe you if you choose to see me as the bad guy. I’m not so powerful — as you love to point out — that my words should threaten to crumble the system. I’m just writing about what we’re experiencing. Your reaction is more about what I say than it is to me. Similarly, your reaction says more about you than it says about me.)
Since I don’t share your worldview, I can’t go along on the journey of everything you said from my “attitude toward actors is all wrong” to the end of your email. I don’t believe — anytime I lose a job — that it’s anyone’s fault. I’m not into the blame game. I believe it wasn’t meant to be, I take the lessons from it, and I move on, happy for having had the opportunity that every encounter and every job presents. I know what I’m good at and I know where my skills need strengthening. And I work to “just get better” every day. Absolutely, if I could be described as the type of person who would ever write one of those “category three emails” I detailed last week, the “just get better” advice would be something I’d need to hear too. But, like was mentioned to me by quite a few A-List people (producers, directors, agents, managers, writers, publicists, working actors with names you’d recognize) who emailed me about last week’s column, the very people who need the advice are the ones least likely to be open to it. So, to that end, last week’s column was more of an “amen” to those who get it.
I’m never a fan of anonymously-sent emails or “hidden identity” posts. And hey, that goes with 100% Accountability! I say, own your feelings, own your opinions. You have years of successful career experience to back up your point of view. Why not take a stand? If you feel strongly about something, say so! The idea that an actor isn’t “allowed” to publically disagree with an agent or a manager or a casting director is precisely what keeps the power structure all screwed up in this business. It’s what breeds a casting couch or shady behavior by folks who feel they’re in a position of power over actors. It’s how scammers make bank selling dreams. It’s dangerous territory and I only hope to see more actors owning their feelings and not walking around afraid of standing behind their words, as my career continues.
In closing, I’d like to see more of us opting for 100% Accountability. I challenge all of us to find the lessons in everything. Because if everything that is within our control is taken care of, we know for a fact that “what’s missing” isn’t about us. And that means “making it” is just a matter of time. Patience along that journey is often all that’s required when everything else has been covered. Believe me, I know some folks champion the struggle and patience isn’t always easy. So one of the ways to pass the time, one of the ways to control what you can control, one of the ways to perhaps enjoy a process that is neither fair nor entirely predictable a little more is to be as talented as you possibly can be. And accountable for that.
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001040.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.