Well again, just sharing my perspective on why actors often appear somewhat insane, especially while they're working.
Well again, just sharing my perspective on why actors often appear somewhat insane, especially while they're working.
They aren't all preparing for the role of Sybil, are they?Originally Posted by Erik Bien
Let's just say, when an actress has put up with wardrobe, makeup and hair people hovering in her grille tugging and dabbing and combing every time the director yells cut, the AC holding his tape measure up to her eyeball, the idiot leading man who flubs his line again and again, all as if none of it even existed, then out of the blue explodes at a poor crew member on the other side of the room and yells "someone get that moron out of my eye-line!" ... I understand. Someone who can juggle nine billiard balls all day long gets frustrated when you toss him a tenth!
Acting is acting, that is self-evident. One particular criticism I have is that in many movies everything is spelt out for dolts. I like minimal dialogue, inference and body language. I find that so many scripts are devoid of real emotion, true dialogue from the heart. It seems that there exists 'the art of script writing' that is another language altogether.
An example of the positive can be seen in 'The Way of the Gun' where Mr. Longbaugh's (Benicio Del Toro) relationship with Mr. Parker (Ryan Phillippe) is one of intimation. I understand that middle-of-the-road viewers may watch things with their brains switched off, I do it myself, but having to be painful and spell out what's happening on screen for an audience drives me potty.
I wonder how little say actors have in this, and if it is truly their art, do they care?
One of my favorite recent indie scripts is Junebug: the dialogue is practically reduced to subtext, what the characters in that film say is almost never what they mean.
Like my dad would say, "It sure beats digging ditches." Acting for a living may be hard, but put it into perspective. There are a lot harder ways to make a living and most of them don't provide a change of venue every 3-6 months. Like pro sports, yes, there's a ton of preparation, practice and hard work that most people never see or have no idea about, but it all comes down to these people being lucky to be doing something they love. Those of us who do 9-5 jobs or work at things that aren't our passion have it way harder than a working actor does any day. The ones who forget that are usually the ones with little perspective.Let's just say, when an actress has put up with wardrobe, makeup and hair people hovering in her grille tugging and dabbing and combing every time the director yells cut, the AC holding his tape measure up to her eyeball, the idiot leading man who flubs his line again and again, all as if none of it even existed, then out of the blue explodes at a poor crew member on the other side of the room and yells "someone get that moron out of my eye-line!" ... I understand. Someone who can juggle nine billiard balls all day long gets frustrated when you toss him a tenth!
The key words here are "working actor".
My older son is an actor. He graduated from Emerson College (in Boston) in 2007 with a BFA in Musical Theater (basically an acting major with minors in voice and dance).
He then did some summerstock and then right into a 9 month tour with the National Players for as Sebastian in Shakepeare's "Twelfth Night" and also a musical adaptation of "Call of the Wild".
From there he did some more summerstock, and now is in a production of "How I became a Pirate"... a new musical for young audiences, and his first Equity contract.
So, he's fortunate, since graduation he's been out of work for only a few weeks... very rare for an actor.
Much of his time is taken up with auditions in NYC. Folk generally don't know this process, but unless you're a member of Actor's Equity, you spend a lot of time waiting for audition opportunities, and many many times you are told that they don't have time to see you today, and after waiting for 6 hours, simply go home. Now at least with his Equity card, he gets scheduled interviews before the non union or Equity Candidates, so his audition time is more productive (he did three auditions in NYC yesterday morning.)
He's hustling to auditions all over the place (lots of driving), and I help out by making audition DVDs for out of town theaters where he can't appear in person.
What I'm getting at is that the actual on-stage or on-camera part of being an actor is a small part of the business of being an actor. Being a "working actor" is the result of a lot of prep work and continually putting yourself out there, and the potential for being un or under employed for a great deal of time.
When he's not in a show he waits tables (what a surprise!) in the evenings, so he can audition during the day.
He's also directed several plays, and enjoys all aspects of the theater.
I take my hat off to anyone with the passion to pursue the usually thankless career as an actor. The income derived from acting, in general pales in comparison to other things that talented folk could be doing. The concept of always looking for the next job is pretty daunting, especially when there is a lot more talent out there than there are jobs to be filled. That said, there are those like my son who simply want to make theater... in any capacity.
In case anyone's interested, his website is http://www.ScottZenreich.com.
I put several clips of the audition pieces on his video page (shot with my HV20 or HV30)
Last edited by alanz; 2008 October 18th at 10:11.
alanz you are definitely a rare breed. There are not a lot of parents that would do what you are doing ...that is.... supporting your child in a field such as this. Like my parents you would get the usual "You can't make a living off this" or "there is no future in this" etc. But in cases like yours whether he fails or succeeds you are there to help keep him grounded and that's cool. Ask many of the Hollywood (even stage) actors how they came up through the business and I'm sure you will hear a lot of seedy horror stories which is no wonder some of them are so messed up today. I wish your son success. I'm sure all of this hard work will pay off in the end.
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life...Albert Einstein
Ian, thank you for the kind words.
To give a little perspective. At Emerson College, 800 people auditioned for the 32 seats in the musical theater program. Of those accepted, they had to re-audition at the end of their second year to move into the studio program that has only 16 seats. So, 800 kids chasing 16 seats... pretty tough odds.
The director of the theater program explained to us: "Theater Education graduates have nearly 100% placement after college." "Theater Tech, nearly 100% placement." "And then there are actors...", and all the parents in the room sighed and nodded < s >
Fortunately these were a bunch of very talented, hard working kids, now talented hard working adults.
Now he needs to earn enough money to make a dent in his portion of his student loans!
really? i'm probably a bit naive as a (struggling) director having a brother who's a (strugglng) musician and a sister who's a (struggling) fashion designer, with parents who think that as long as there's love there's life, but not being supported by your parents sounds awful. i obviously know a lot of people who have little respect for jobs that are not "real" but generally their children don't pick these jobs anyway, and if they do it turns out the parents weren't really against it after all.
/matt
I guess I'm lucky too. My folks always supported my choice of career. But then I'm actually a second generation artist. My Dad is a working artist also and Mom never had any complains regarding the bacon he is able to bring home.
Like Mattias, many of my siblings are in creative fields (Animation or film) with various level of "success". My folks are totally supportive of all of us.
Last edited by lordtangent; 2008 October 20th at 17:43. Reason: spelling
Well...mattias it's not to say my folks were non-supportive. I know if things worked out the way I planned they (folks) would be in it with me (money talks). As far back as I can remember I've always been into music or sports and support from my folks in those areas as a kid was great. But as far as a career (straight out of High School) in any of these fields to them, like a lot of folks, is just a fantasy. Some people just can't see beyond what they know... and especially as an immigrant living in a foreign land you want the best for your kids (better opportunities than what you had etc.). My folks dream was to make doctors and lawyers out of their kids. And they basically instilled that in all of us. But my mind was elsewhere.....and still is. I've been through the struggling musician part.....and it's difficult especially when you start a family. My current profession was always just my backup plan...but once I got started I found it difficult to get out of the "rat race." If I had the support that you guys had when I was a little younger then I would have probably done things a little differently. But like you mattias..if I decide to do a 180 and make that move into a whole new "not real" career then it will not matter where I end up..like you said "as long as there is love there is life"
..LT...must be nice that you come from a family that was already grounded in the entertainment field...I know a few people that were in the same situation...and they transitioned very easily into similar careers as their parents. But most folks I know...are working in jobs that make them miserable.
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life...Albert Einstein
Ian, I know exactly what you're saying because I grew up in much the same environment. My parents never pushed me towards a particular career, but I also wasn't exposed to the idea that anything was possible. Careers in the arts just weren't seen as "real jobs," they were more like hobbies you did in your spare time. I was in drama class as a kid and into high school and loved it, but I wasn't surrounded by people who themselves thought it was a viable vocation. I often wonder how my life would have turned out had I been given a differing idea about things, but my father's hard scrabble life of working to support a family, coming from Cuba to escape Castro, and his blue-collar work ethic made a narrow view of possibilities. It's hard to aspire to a career as an artist when you are rarely exposed to art. I wouldn't trade my upbringing for anything, but I know that had the circumstances been different I might have made different life choices when I was younger. No regrets, just wonder.
CW, I think it both helps in many ways to have a more humble beginning.
I did 8mm films as a 12 yr old, paid for by mowing lawns.Did theater in college. I built a video camera when nobody had video cameras. Even then I thought it would eventually replace film. (OK, 35 years later.)
But I was working 2 jobs to get through college. I swore I'd never be poor again. My career selection was to earn money, nothing else. I worked nights full time and went to school in the daytime full time. I had to stand up in class to stay awake.
But... now I can afford to indulge in hobbies, and since jobs don't last a lifetime anymore, I can think of serial careers. So in the long run the long dedication will pay off. I will succeed and eventually this will be more than an occasionally paying hobby. Life is good.
Duke, I wouldn't for a minute trade my humble beginnings. Like you, I cut lawns, babysat, collected bottles...lots of things for spending money. I had a pretty much Norman Rockwell upbringing and I cherish every bit of it. It made me who I am today. The only thing I lament--and I do so not with regret, but with wonder--is that my upbringing didn't expose me to the many possibilities available to me. I joined the Marines at 17, got married at 22 and was working a job I really wasn't thrilled with all because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. The things I would have liked to do or explore more weren't options because I was raised not to recognize them as viable vocations. Had I known I could pursue a job as a photog or a magazine writer in the motorcycle industry it might not have taken me until my mid-30s to get there. Even when I was working in the movie industry in my late 20s I never felt like I could make it a career because I wasn't raised that way. It was just something I fell into because a good friend hit it big. I was constantly in conflict with doing what I enjoyed and doing what my blue-collar upbringing taught me was honorable.
But like I said, no regrets. I wouldn't change a thing, but one can't help but reflect and wonder what would have been under different circumstances. Heck, if my parents had encouraged my motorcycle habit when I was a kid I might have become a successful racer. Or died young. Who knows?
for the record me and my siblings are not artists because our parents are rich, they're not, or because we didn't have to mow lawns, we did.
/matt
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote