The Great Acting Blog: “The Actor Is An Individual Creative Artist, Not An Employee”
I’ve updated The Great Acting Blog’s About page…
“The aim of this blog is to explore and foster conversation about the artistic, ethical, philosophical and technical aspects of acting, viewing the actor as an individual creative artist, not as an employee.”
I can find nowhere else where this conversation is taking place, and yet I believe these aspects are crucial for an actor’s artistic development, as well as their career progression and personal well being. Too many actors rot away while standing in line with their head shots, hoping to be picked. It’s time to stop doing that. It’s time to stop waiting in line. It’s time for actors to re-claim the art of acting, to control their careers, to do exactly the kind of work they want to do. No more compromises.
Yes, there are more actors out there than ever before, but there are also more opportunities than ever before.
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Laurance Rudic/ 07.06.2013
Great James.
I spent many years living in London, the centre of the actor’s market place. Coming from Scotland, I was unwilling to commit to that city although I had plenty of opportunities to develop my career there. My problem was that I felt the scene was essentially uncreative, with people networking and scrabbling and pushing to get work which would lead to more work and so on. This is summed up in a story about an actor I knew in London who had auditioned for a new and much talked about play which was to be presented at a well-known fringe theatre. She didn’t get the role, but a few weeks later, she was approached by the director and asked if she would like to stand in at very short notice for the main actor who had been rushed to hospital. I think she had something like 3 days before she was on – complete with script. Everything was done to make her transition as easy as possible under the circumstances; but having accepted to stand in, she suddenly began panicking, worrying that this would be bad for her career. She couldn’t been seen by casting agents in this ill-prepared state, and insisted that they put a slip into the programme, explaining the situation. In the end, the whole thing became nightmarish because all she was concerned about was the damage this was going to do to her career. I thought it was really symptomatic of the kind of thinking that is so common among actors in London and no doubt the reason why I never wanted to put down roots there. I know many essentially creative actors in London and elsewhere are caught in the trap of trying to earn a living, pay the mortgage, keep the car on the road and so on. And while I sympathise with their situation, I am baffled as to why they don’t create their own additional work without thought for money or how successful it might be in terms of transferring. I mean a local hall, even someone’s living room.- anything – as long as it helps them to reconnect with the source of their creativity and the joy of process. It seems that everything has to be about end-gaining, rather than the delight of the journey itself.
James Devereaux actor/ 07.06.2013
Well, this is a problem. Too many actors are concerned with individual careers, they don’t give a damn about the art of the work, and they end up treating colleagues shabbily. They treat whatever form they are working in as a personal showcase, and lack generosity. It is tragic because they do not see joy in what it is they do. Now, thre is enormous pressure on actors in London, it is hideously competitive, expensive, and there are all sorts of negative influences.
But, it is important not to generalise completely. There are many actors out there who want something more, who want to be enriched in their work, to enrich the audience and to do great work. What is important, is that these actors are supported and join forces with like minds. And so together, the situation they want can be created.
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