From the very beginning of my time here at Actors Access, I’ve written that it’s not the one thing you do; it’s all the things you do that will lead to your success in this business. Actors sometimes feel as though there’s just one little thing that’s missing, and if they were to do that ONE thing, they’d hit nothing but green lights on their journey to the next tier.
I’ve been at this long enough to know, there is no ONE thing. It’s the combination of everything you’ve ever done and will ever do that will lead to your success. And, it’s possible you’ve already done everything that will make the biggest difference in the course of your career. Now you just have to keep going.
Of course, the flipside to this coin is that there are some things that work because of all the hustling you do, and there are other things that work in spite of all the hustling you do. I once worked with an actor who was trying to self-produce a series that would showcase her as she wanted the buyers to see her. Good plan. She had strategized and done preliminary research that would make it seem as though she’d have a good run of it all. But when it came to execution, she micromanaged the team she had brought together. She let early promises she had made to certain people override decisions about whether this was the best possible crew, later.
When I asked her why she was pushing so hard to make something work that — based on the amount of early research she had put into this thing — should be coming together beautifully and without this level of stress, she couldn’t answer. Eventually, she came around to say that it was because she just didn’t want to fail.
But fear of failure is NOT a reason to push on through, when it’s clear that something isn’t working. It’s actually more responsible and more mature of us all to admit when something’s irreparably broken, pull the plug before we do more damage, apologize to those whose expectations are not fulfilled, and grow as we move on from the whole experience.
How’s your picker? If it’s really good, you don’t align with too many “dogs” but instead choose great projects with fantastic people and nothing feels so much more stressful than it needs to feel. If your picker’s not so good, you may sometimes sign on to be a part of something that you later realize is not going to be beneficial for you. Something that’s not going to be what you thought it would be. You may sign with an agent who is not taking good care of you. You may enroll in an acting class with someone who is only interested in keeping you in class, not helping you grow as an artist. Don’t throw good money after bad, and don’t stay in a situation that’s not building your career to the next tier.
I’m not saying BAIL early and often, as that just gets you branded as someone who cannot commit. What I’m saying is, we all need to get very well-versed in self-assessment and situational assessment, so that we’re aware when something isn’t going to work — no matter how much hustling we do to try and make it happen — and so that we’re able to engage in damage control.
If you’ve found yourself in a stinkin’ situation, find a way out. Communicate with everyone involved — not to get their advice, but to let them know you’ve made a decision to move on — and do so without apology for your decision. Allow them to be unhappy with your decision, but don’t leave it open for negotiation. If you’ve really decided this manager is NOT the right fit for you, your letting him go is not a conversation about how to make it work. Your letting him go is the thing that frees you to find the “hell yes” rep you know is out there, just itching to get you to the next tier.
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/001747.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.