Good morning, Bon!
Just wanted to shoot you an email about something you said that has always stuck with me in the most positive way.
In Self-Management for Actors (and in your column — June 2004), you stated the following: “If the role is yours, there is nothing you can do that will keep you from getting it. If the role is not yours, there is nothing you can do that will help you get it.” The first time I read that I thought, “Wow… that actually makes a lot of sense.”
From that point forward, I made a conscious decision to filter my attitude toward auditions through that mantra. It was no longer, “I wonder why I didn’t get that job?” “What did I do wrong?” etc., but instead, “The job wasn’t mine,” “It wasn’t meant to be,” “On to the next one!”
This shift really enabled me to not get hung-up on the “ones that got away” and to just move forward with enthusiasm and focus for the next one. Mind taffy, you’re not welcome here!
Recently, I auditioned for a short thriller. The script was awesome, my character was great, I had a lot of fun in the audition room and felt confident in my performance. About a week later, the CD gave me just 24 hours’ notice (Don’t ya just love when they do that?!) that I received a callback. Great, right?! Well, not so great when you’re out of town. Womp, womp.
I emailed her immediately and told her I would not be able to attend the callback, but that I would be happy to put something on tape or attend another session. She informed me there was only one day of callbacks so I was basically out of luck. Bummer. “Welp,” I thought, “the job wasn’t mine. It wasn’t meant to be. On to the next one.” A few days later, I received an email from an unknown contact. It was the director of the film, whom I had not met because I missed the callback. He said he was really impressed by my first audition and OFFERED ME THE LEAD.
So you see, it’s true! Even though I wasn’t able to attend the callback, even though they saw a plethora of actors TWICE and only saw me once, and even though I had moved on, I still booked it. Turns out, the job WAS mine and it WAS meant to be, after all.
Thanks for the much needed shift, Bon. You rock, sister. xo
Briana, you rock. I’m such a fan of you. Not just for your unquestionable talent, business savvy, and work ethic, but because of your freakin’ awesome attitude. I’m not just saying that because it mirrors mine about the whole issue! It’s just a beautiful way to frame up so much in life.
We’re on our road. Either this little twist and turn leads us to a dream destination or to an even more interesting little stop that builds toward new dream destinations. And enjoying the journey is way more fun than deciding we’ll be miserable as we travel and ONLY get happy if we end up at a destination that we dreamed we’d reach.
OF COURSE you booked the role. It was yours. Plain and simple.
Congrats and well done, darlin’! Thank you for keeping me posted about your kickass journey!
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/001950.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.