Its that time again. Time to play...Talent Agency Pet Peeves. Today's installment: Talent Agency Pet Peeve #9: The “I’M JUST BEING MYSELF BECAUSE I WROTE MY OWN ROLE” School of Acting. Solo Performance is an amazing, thought provoking and often highly personal art form. From Spalding Gray to John Leguizamo to Anna Deavere Smith, solo performers engage us with the immediacy and variation of their characters and storylines.
But Solo Performance is one of the few theatrical mediums where the artist can truly control the art. In Hollywood, it is more difficult to create a vehicle around yourself as an unknown and make that fly. So sending in a reel showing an actor in a role that they’ve written for their own persona, while a great showcase of ability to know what works for them, does NOT demonstrate to agents or casting the actor’s ability to transform themselves in the roles created by others. That's called acting.
When I receive a reel from a writer/performer (who is not shooting for a sketch comedy role in a sketch series) I have to pause and ask myself, “is this performer only able to work with himself or can this person work with other people’s creations?”
Certainly, a writer/performer SHOULD show off his strengths and talents. Equally important however is their ability to portray characters outside their personal comfort zone. That’s the difference between a solo performer and a solo performer/actor.
So by all means, submit your reel of your own creations. But balance it out with reel portraying characters created by others. Mm-kay?
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