The Great Acting Blog: “Perfectionism Kills Creativity”

The Great Acting Blog: “Perfectionism Kills Creativity”

Striving for excellence is a good thing, striving for greatness is even better. We all have a notion of what the perfect work we want to do is, and measure our own efforts against it. But perfectionism, tames us, it blocks us from ever going for it, and no matter how much preparation we do, it’s just never enough.  We become like a diver, stuck on the diving board, never actually taking the plunge because some details are just never right. But the only way to ever get closer to the perfect dive is to take the plunge and learn from the results.

Sometimes in rehearsals, we organically create exquisite moments, they are neither scripted nor planned, but they are poetic and beautifully express the scene. We cherish them, and we don’t want to let them go. Some of those exquisite moments may not re-appear in performance. Fine. It’s not our job to worry about them. You certainly shouldn’t be monitoring yourself to ensure that they’re there, because if you’re doing that, you cannot be properly committed to your action nor paying attention to the other actor. It’s not our job to try and bend reality to fit what’s inside our heads, but rather to accept reality, deal with it, and get on with it. You don’t need to be sentimental about losing those exquisite moments, because new ones will be created each and every time you do the scene. No, the scene probably isn’t going to change radically each time, but if you’re working correctly then you will discover new things.

Perfectionism stops us from ever getting started, and if we do, it robs us of our audacity. Perfectionism kills creativity.

 

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