The Great Acting Blog: “Dealing With Obnoxious Colleagues”

The Great Acting Blog: “Dealing With Obnoxious Colleagues”

Somebody once said that obnoxious behaviour was really a cry for help. Fear manifests itself in strange ways. A colleague’s actions may appear to be incomprehensible to you – they suddenly become rude, obstreperous or arrogant – your hitherto good working relationship deteriorates for no apparent reason.

Remember that acting is one of the few jobs where the possibility for public humiliation is real. Perhaps your colleague suddenly feels out of his depth, or incompetent, perhaps he perceives everyone around him as swimming while he himself drowns.  I know none of this is ideal and we want a constructive working environment but we will not go through our careers without encountering colleagues who contradict our own values, so it’s best to establish a mode of thought to deal with them, and stop ourselves from being blown off course.

The next time a colleague behaves obnoxiously, first ensure that your own house is in order, then remind yourself that they are just scared. There is peace in this because you will not become overly saddened by their actions, or feel undermined by them.

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