The Great Acting Blog: “Why Doing Bad Work Can Make Us Cowards”

The Great Acting Blog: “Why Doing Bad Work Can Make Us Cowards”

It is more than a little dispiriting when we hear an artist trying to justify their work, pleading as they do for special treatment. This usually takes the form of citing the extenuating circumstances under which the work was made, for example; “we did this with a low budget”, or, “my scene partner wasn’t very good which affected my performance”, etc. Of course, these kinds of statements are an attempt to protect oneself from criticism, but they also betray the speakers disdain for the work they have produced – they effectively pre-empt the criticism which they think is going to come their way [which is actually just in their heads] and join forces with those imaginary, would-be critics; “yeah, I’m with you, the work is bad, and I’ll explain why it’s bad….”. Further, it can also be the manifestation of personal insecurity, fearing that you possess a small talent, you think that people couldn’t possibly like your work so you begin to explain what’s wrong with it in order to protect yourself from potential flak, softening the blow as it were.

To distance yourself from your work in this way, is to betray your work. It is cowardly, you’re scared of being criticised, you’re scared of being attacked and rather than fighting for your work, you jump ship instead. Perhaps the finished product is not what you thought it was going to be, and you might say; “well, as an actor I’m not in control of the overall production, if I don’t like the end result, it’s not really my fault, I’m only responsible for my performance.” And that is not an unreasonable position to take. However, if this happens on a regular basis, then you might ask yourself; “what is the point of my career?”

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