You can’t think that everyone is going to like your work. I just started my new class and in the first day talk, I ask them who they like as actors and they can always find someone and tell me why they like them. Then I point out that there are also many famous, iconic, talented actors that they don’t like. That’s the beauty of art. It’s for everyone. Many actors go to work everyday because someone likes their work enough to pay them for it, and many people watching their work think they’re awful and can’t imagine how they keep their jobs.
Uh huh…that’s how it works.
Art can’t be measured by it’s appeal to the masses BY THE ARTISTS, that kind of measuring is for the marketing department. It’s not your job to wonder if it’s good enough for everyone watching, it’s your job to wonder if you’re giving over all you have to the part. Your only shot at fulfillment in your work, is by doing authentic work. You’re happiness as an artist is in direct proportion to how authentic you are being. The struggle to find more and allow more of yourself to be included is about bravery. That’s what we do in class and every night in the play, we keep looking into what we have to offer. Talent is the thing that you can’t know, it’s the thing that makes your authenticity appealing.
If you find yourself in a place or group of friends that don’t allow, or stifle, your authenticity…it’s time for a change, or, you can go on wondering why you just don’t feel great about your work.