- Your education only begins with school. Two to four years of university training can give you a good foundation (if you are ready to make the most of it) but serious and successful actors continue to take class and learn new skills throughout their careers. You can expect to be in class for a long, long time, so make it your job to figure out how to love it.
- The practices you avoid (for instance, memorization or technical exercise) are difficult because they are designed to be, not because you’re doing them wrong. There is no way to get better at such things without facing your own failure over and over, which is why they can be daunting and lead to procrastination. You can’t practice memorization without repeatedly and intentionally encountering your own forgetfulness. If you stick with it, you will become more skillful. There are no instant results. Don’t wait for this work to be fun or easy before doing it, or it will never get done. Practice facing failure by simply showing up to the work, repeatedly, with a sense of humor. If it’s not challenging, you’re probably not doing it right.
- Put more simply: There is a 100% chance that you will struggle at times. It’s okay, it’s all part of the show. You get to choose which show to attend, but they all include some challenging surprises.
- Put even more simply: If you’re paralysed by procrastination, just move something.
- Put most simply: When in doubt, BEGIN.
- There is so much joy that is possible in this work, if you orient yourself toward it. I like to remind myself of one of Stanislavski’s mottos: Higher, Lighter, Simpler, More Joyful.
- When you find yourself overwhelmed or dismayed by your artmaking, find something else to enjoy for a while, and then come back to the work.
- Challenge is good. Suffering is bad. You can become curious about discerning the difference.
- If you are asked to suffer rather than simply to strive, walk away. Find another place to be an artist.
- If you are asking yourself to suffer rather than simply to strive, find another way to be an artist.