How Actors may suffer from The Big Disconnect.
A Talent Agent discusses how actors can self-sabotage their careers before they've really started.
The Big Disconnect
I’ve been a talent agent for close to 20 years now and it
never ceases to amaze me. And in this case “it” is the myriad number of ways in
which Actors cannot see the ‘DISCONNECT’ they are presenting to the world.
Disconnect means, there is a broken link in the chain,
there is a step missing from the ladder, there is something out of sequence.
Disconnect can also mean a missing connection between
various materials the actor offers to the entertainment community.
Let me explain:
Actors come into my office every week with the BIG
DISCONNECT.
The pictures are disconnected from the person.
The video is disconnected from the pictures.
The resume is disconnected from everything.
Casting Directors carry a heavy, heavy mental load. They
are providing the talent to multi-million dollar productions. Some of these
productions have the ability to sink a studio financially.
And these men and women, Hollywood Casting Directors, are
under considerable pressure to get the right talent to make these films and tv
shows and commercials exactly, precisely, laser beam right.
Right by the producer’s standards, the director’s
standards, the production company’s standards, the studio’s standards, the
networks standards.
But here comes Joe Actor, jauntily walking into my
office, happy as a clam, blissfully unaware of the absolutely profound mess he
is presenting.
Why is Joe Actor such a mess?
Well, here’s a few of the many reasons Joe Actor is a
woefully unprepared.
Joe Actor has headshots from 5 years ago.
And
His headshots show him with a head of brown hair cut very
short. But Joe Actor’s hair is now blonde with black roots and its down to his
shoulders.
And
Joe Actor’s headshots are 15 pounds heavier than he
weighs right now.
And
Joe Actor wants to be considered for strong, chisel jawed
hetero hero types…but Joe has a strongly syllabant ‘S’ sound that most folks
associate with feminine traits.
And
Joe Actor’s headshots show a pleasant, decent, nice guy
staring at the camera.
Joe Actor’s headshots scream…no they actually mumble…”Hi,
I’m a pleasant nice guy who is one among hundreds of thousands of actors in LA.
I’m really a nice guy, you can tell by my picture. Please hire me.”
And
Joe’s video reel doesn’t exist
Or
Joe’s video reel shows a stage play he was in, including
the horrible echoey sound, blurry video, long shot composition.
Joes video is a compilation of ‘happy, sad, angry
moments’ in montage format with wild jazz music playing.
Joe’s video has all kinds of crying, banging objects,
shooting guns, running in fear.
Joe’s video has lots of pensive, reflective, meditative
moments where he looks out the window into the rain, into the sun, into the
night.
Joe’s video shows he is a sensitive soul, but his
headshot shows that he’s a buffoon who likes to make people laugh—leading the
CD to ponder…which one is the current Joe?—and to pass on Joe--since confusion
is antithetical to getting the CD’s job done.
Joe has headshots that make him look like a movie star
from the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s.
Joe has reality shows in his reel
All of these forms of DISCONNECT are quite harmful to the
forward progress of Joe’s career.
However, assuming Joe actually has talent, these issues
are curable.
Except if Joe chooses to ignore the pleadings, warnings,
naggings of his manager or agent. Then what happens is Joe Actor’s career dies
on the vine.
THE DEEPER DISCONNECT
But there is a deeper level of DISCONNECT for actors and
it’s the most deadly one of all. Because we are in the ‘business of show’ the
look of an actor does play a very real part in their success. It’s true that
some actors have achieved success primarily because they have an amazing,
attractive look.
Equally true, some very odd, awkward or unusual looking
people have succeeded primarily on the strength of their offbeat looks.
But more often than not, Actors will not succeed without
solid theatrical dramatic and/or comedic training. At a very deep level. Not
only is serious, deep level training necessary, it is life or death to the
actor who does not have a highly attractive or highly unusual/character-y look.
An actor who is just ‘normal’ or ‘pleasant to look at’ or
‘average’ in their appearance MUST be head and shoulders far above average in
their acting ability. They simply cannot be ‘good enough.’ They must be
gut-splitting funny, or heart wrenchingly emotionally moving to audiences. I
repeat-- AVERAGE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
But the culture of ‘positive thinking’ with little actual
effort pervades the minds of many who show up in La-La-Land. It makes me want
to tear what little hair I have left out of my own head when ‘actors’ (and I am
exhibiting an inordinate amount of generosity by using that term) show up in my
office with little to no training and still think they are worthy of representation.
And too there are the ‘resume filler’ actors who take the
required MINIMUM amount of classes to make their resume seem just right.
They’ll take ONE class at UCB or Second City, or a weekend workshop with a
‘name’ acting teacher. But they aren’t looking at the craft of acting as
something that is built over time.
This is the deeper DISCONNECT. These actors are
disconnected from the reality that acting is indeed a craft and an art form.
That acting is an art form that must be done for the joy and fulfillment that
it brings to the actor. Not for the fame and fortune which frankly is rare.
Sure it’s easy to sit here from on high and bemoan the
actors who are just out for a quick buck. Some might say its too easy to
condemn people who are just trying to make a living while doing something they
enjoy.
No, I say, I don’t condemn them for wanting work and pay.
I only condemn the Joe Actor types who are unable or unwilling to see this art
and the business that is built upon that art in a realistic light.
At the end of the day, the problem is this. The passion
that drives true artists to create their art is the same passion that forces
them to look unflinchingly at whether their art is actually MOVING people.
The tortured artists
The starving artists
The lonely artists
These ideas did not come from fiction but rather from the
all too often reality that most artists have a journey that is fraught with
obstacles and obscurity.
I truly believe that the true artists, (and I do believe
that actors who are dedicated to improving their craft are TRUE artists) are on
a HERO’S journey.
But any hero’s journey by definition is filled with
setbacks, failures, new directions, and corrections.
On the Hero’s journey in Hollywood, Agents and Managers
and Casting Directors may appear to be Wizards and Witches. In reality,
however, they are more the wizened Sages, holding out the lantern on the path
and telling the hero’s and heroines which path will bring them the most
success.
Are Agents, Managers and Casting Directors all knowing,
always correct, perfect humans?
Not on this planet and not in this life.
They are all fallible human beings.
There will always be an actor somewhere who will defy the
odds, defy the naysayers and make it IN SPITE OF, not because of, the DISCONNECTS
in their materials.
These actors are exceptions. But exceptions make great news
copy and so you will hear stories about various teachers telling their acting
students they would ‘never make it’ or had ‘no talent.’ Or agents who told an
actor to change something essential—giving awful advice.
But there are basics that, if followed, will produce the
bare minimum conditions for potential success.
In Hollywood it’s important to distinguish the Passionate
Artist from the Hopeful Hobbyist.
The Hopeful Hobbyist is someone who ‘dabbles’ in acting,
who does the bare minimum and balks at further training or improvements in
materials.
The Hobbyist doesn’t want to create or engage in content
creation. They only want to do ‘just enough’ to get into the audition rooms.
The Passionate Artists have no choice. They must create.
And as part of the creative process, they must learn. They must be teachable.
So put a stop to the DISCONNECT. If you want to go from a
Hopeful Hobbyist to a Passionate Artist, put away the dreams of childhood and
pick up the tools of an adult. Flexibility, willingness to learn and change, to
make course corrections, to work towards a goal that isn’t immediately
attainable. The journey is indeed as important as the destination, because, for
the artist—there is no ultimate destination. The path of Artistic Growth is a long and
winding road.
To those Newbies, who show up in Tinseltown with big
dreams and small plans, I beseech you—
