I recently drove a friend of mine home from the airport (REAL FRIENDSHIP) and he and I opted not to sit in silence the entire way. We chatted about the business, but there came a point when both of us expressed a kind of revulsion for talking about nothing BUT the business.
And it’s true – if you are so myopic that the only thing you know is your little niche, your little ‘passion’, you’re going to get lost in a sea of other boring people who cannot carry on a conversation about anything other than “The Business”.
Actors are particularly vulnerable to this disease. Somewhere along the line, someone somewhere decided that if you aren’t COMPLETELY dedicated to “your craft” (please gag me; I hate that term), you aren’t worthy of a career in acting. What the actually heck? That’s ridiculous. You think that agents, managers, executives, other actors, your directors, DPs, your content creators, and so forth don’t have any interest other than within their fields? Poppycock! I say.
You guys, the single biggest favor you can do for yourself is stop talking about acting. Seriously. If I, a fellow actor, feel cornered and oppressed by you talking about acting at Fancy Holiday Shindiggery, can you imagine how someone who isn’t an actor must feel? The bottom line is: agents and managers spend all day (ALL DAY) dealing with us and trying to help us and pitching clients and fielding phone calls. The last thing they want to do is go out to socialize and have actors asking for the very same things. Just be a human!
So develop an interest and don’t let your acting teacher or classmates or anyone else make you feel guilty for reading novels instead of scripts. Or for watching documentaries instead of great films. Or for visiting your family instead of sticking around for the chance of an audition. There is balance and you have to make sure you’re finding it: if you are a well-rounded person, you will be able to think more critically and make more interesting choices in life (and, yeah, in your work).
With all that said, I ask you: what are your interests outside your acting niche? I read (so, so much) and enjoy a good documentary. I was actually a history major at Boston University, so I really enjoy talking nerdy history stuff too. I tutor academia as my day-job, so I have lots of stories about that as well! Drop me a line sometime and let’s talk about Not The Business.