"A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it." - Marcus Aurelius At the start of 2020 I wrote a post about preparing for the difficulties of the year ahead, 'Be Extraordinary, Accept Adversity', and it contained the following...
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You are confronted by a seemingly impossible problem. Know this. Your decision to become an actor means you are remarkable. Few possess the necessary drive to make such a decision in the first place. Fewer still possess the self-insight to see that they need to do creative...
Read More"Find what you love and do it as well as you can" On Michael Caine's wonderful new book, Blowing The Bloody Doors Off And Other Lessons In Life. I listened to the audiobook which has the added bonus of being narrated by Michael Caine himself. His warm,...
Read MorePost-production continues on Distracted - sound design and refining the visual aesthetic. It's a big job and we are progressing nicely with it. As we head toward completion, I begin to reflect on the past year, producing Distracted, and have decided to formulate my thoughts...
Read MoreRobert De Niro is a great artist. He's spent his career delivering performances of power and truth, creating one of the most extraordinary bodies of work of all time. And like all great artists, he helps us to make sense of our own experiences. His...
Read MoreDon't carry the baggage from yesterday into today. If you do, it'll only weigh you down and eventually sink you. Learn from what happens. Be objective. Be detached. Begin each day afresh, with an open mind. This is the approach that will help you keep going for the...
Read MoreOften, being an actor is about dealing with stress and pressure - trying to find work in an overcrowded profession, trying to realise a project with minimal funds, continually facing up to an uncertain future, doing work where your mistakes are public. It can...
Read MoreWhen we're first starting out, we're mostly happy just to be given a chance to exercise our craft. Doesn't really matter what the work is or who it's for so long as we get the chance. We are extremely accommodating too, because we're just relieved to know...
Read MoreActing always reveals the truth of who you are. And I'm not just talking about the performances, but the life itself. It's just too demanding, the challenges are unrelenting, eventually there can be no place to hide. Whatever you really want, whether that's fame, or...
Read MoreIt's so easy to allow the crush of daily life to dampen our creative spirits. Similarly with professional struggles and disappointments. Experience can lead us to narrow down our world in order to trick ourselves into thinking we have more control over it, and so...
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