Doesn’t it feel like everyone who is not an actor gets great opportunities and plenty of attention paid to them just because they are the guy who was the last one not to die on the island?
It’s depressing thinking that all your training and your aspirations for things pure and honest are useless against the guy or girl who just marries someone famous and has an instant career. Every hip-hop record deal comes with a TV series, doesn’t it? And the worst feeling has to be watching the reality “star” continue to get acting work for doing nothing more than hooking up with the evil one in the house. Yikes!
We are simply anxious to end our struggle and seeing a non-actor’s meteoric success makes us jealous aplenty. Especially when they are talent free. With great amusement I read “pop watch” blogs like The Jay. He writes about celebritards which really nails the phenomenon on the head.
What do you really want from your career? If you want instant fame, surely you could find a way to make that happen, right? Why don’t you? Why don’t you restrict your auditions to reality shows where they let you know you have a better chance of getting on if you wear less and hate more? Why don’t you go to the clubs you see on all the celeb shows and insult a celebrity, get beat up by their entourage, and make the news? You can make cheap things like this happen can’t you?
I think you don’t because you want to do work that makes you feel good and feel like you’re contributing. It’s because you get a bigger thrill from interpreting real writing and working with other artists to create an evening or project that affects others in a more meaningful way. Feeling good about your work is one of the few things you get as an actor. Have you ever watched a porn actress talk with affection about her career? Ummm, do you believe her? I think we keep ourselves from that ultimate broken heart by making a deal with with our ego to allow a little bit of jealousy while staying on course with our own career development.
Keep on your path to perfection. Keep looking over at the actor in your scene and keep fighting to tell them your truth. Do plays until they run out of them. Respect any opportunity that comes your way until you really have to rule it out for good reasons. Know that many other actor’s careers look easier and quicker. Nothing happens that fast and sure enough nothing is that easy. Fast in Hollywood is just a bit faster than glacial. There’s really no hurry. It just feels that way. Hone. Sharpen. Develop. Believe it or not it’ll all be moving at the same pace when it’s your turn to step in and contribute.