The Acting Blog

Graft…

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going to… Anonymous

We live in a culture where talentless instant media celebrities have become some kind of inspirational and aspirational role models.  Without talent, and without hard work, they achieve financial reward and media spotlight.  This has encouraged others to believe that it takes no work at all to achieve these positions.

The trouble is that with the acting profession that many people are plucked from obscurity, they don’t go the conventional route, and all people see is that someone else didn’t have to do the hard work.  Like John Cusack for instance, he didn’t need to go to drama school.  Right then, say his fans, we don’t need to go to drama school, but they fail to realise he was a working actor, with two lead roles in Hollywood pictures under his belt before he graduated high school.  He has earned his right to learn on the job and probably escape picking up some pretentious and precious behaviours from being in that kind of environment.  But hear me, there are NO shortcuts.

But for the rest of us, there’s graft: plain and simple.  We’d all like a direct route to fame and fortune, and just cos Susan Boyle got to reveal her talent to millions, doesn’t mean that you’re entitled to say the same ‘easy’ ride.  The business owes you nothing and just because you believe you’ve got the right, doesn’t mean you do. AND hear me, there are NO shortcuts.

Graft is the keyword.  If you’re willing to graft, to learn from others, to get out of your own way, to learn the technical skills, avoid the idiots and bring yourself from a wanna-be dreamer into the reality of life as a jobbing professional actor, then you might well get there.  But hear me… there are no shortcuts.

But if you’re waiting for a star to fall out of the sky and turn you into someone famous overnight, well keep dreaming.

Our craft is hard fucking work.  Much rejection and disappointment.  Pain, misery and broken promises.  But for those that MUST do it, they MUST do it.

There’s a story about a circus that comes to town and as the parade moves through the high street of the town, there’s a little old man behind the whole thing whose job it is to shovel up all the animal shit.  And someone says, now come on old fella, surely there’s better jobs than this that you could get, with better money and less back-breaking work and the old man looks up enthusiastically and says ‘What and leave showbusiness?’. You see the old man loved it, as do many of us, regardless of the shit we have to shovel.

Some of us shovel the shit and work in the business.  Some of us dream of it and never leave their 9-5.   But hear me, there are NO SHORTCUTS.

To You, The Best!

Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2010

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