Acting Without the Drama

January 24, 2009. I love chocolate chip cookie dough. I actually enjoy it more than the cookies.

My wife can’t understand this. She tolerates it.  And since she loves me, she leaves me part of the dough whenever we make cookies. But there’s always an expression on her face of, “I can’t believe you’re eating dough when you could be having a delectable cookie.”

There’s lots of things like this. I love club crackers and icing. It’s a treat my mom would give us as kids (actually, it was saltines…I’ve just upgraded). With that one, it’s not just my wife that doesn’t understand.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. I love what I love.

It’s the same with pretty much everything. We could go through a list of my favorite artists and paintings, and it’s certain that while we may agree on some or even most of them, we wouldn’t agree on all. Music? Same thing. Cars? Certainly.

Actors?

Ah, there’s the rub. I think that as actors we want to be universally loved.

Ain’t gonna happen.

There is so much subjectivity when it comes to performance. There are things that we can do to improve our craft, and there are certainly actors out there who are almost universally loved. Almost.

I really like the lead actor on the show Life. I think he’s pretty amazing. My business partner doesn’t. First, she’s not a fan of redheads. Second, he’s got a small lisp that really bugs her. I didn’t even notice (and I’m a dialect coach).

So, while we can keep working to improve our craft, I think in order to not go insane (which many actors do) we want to give up the idea that everyone will love us. It’s much more important to stay true to who we are. To keep our uniqueness intact.

Please don’t misunderstand. This is not license for us to fight with our directors about staying true to our “vision.” It’s about maintaining our sense of self. Believing that we have something to offer that no one else does. Not in an arrogant sense, but rather in a way that asks us to be accountable for our art. We’ve been given a gift. I think we’d like to live up to that beautiful responsibility.

So, no excuses! Let’s get out there and create!

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