Going under the knife for the sake of your acting career; including an exclusive interview with Hollywood Talent Manager and Executive Producer, Daniel Wojack of Betwixt Talent Management.
While in line at the grocery store the other day, a headline and photo on the cover of a “celebrity gossip magazine” grabbed my attention. The headline included the words “Joker face” and featured two once naturally beautiful actresses who had disfigured their faces with the improper use of cosmetic injectables and botched plastic surgery.
The cover story was mean spirited and obviously meant to sell magazines, but did they actually have a point? These famous women were only a shadow of what they used to be.
We’d all like to believe, especially as women, that our looks are inconsequential. That successes and/or failures are directly related to our talents and the efforts that we put forth on a daily basis.
But are they? Are we in a business that breeds so much insecurity and uncertainty that we begin to look outside of ourselves regardless of consequence in an attempt to increase our odds of success?
Plastic surgery is so commonplace around Beverly Hills and Hollywood it’s ordinary to see a woman cloaked with fresh bandages around her face as she runs errands around town. There is absolutely no shame as these ‘would be Barbie dolls’ stroll around with silicone parts in their chests and butts – shots of poison freezing up their foreheads and synthetic jellies blowing up their lips and cheeks.
The question becomes, as an actress contemplating elective plastic surgery, how might certain cosmetic procedures affect your career? Is going under the knife worth the risk?
OR is it a “quick fix” in an attempt to circumvent an even bigger issue?
Hollywood Talent Manager and Executive Producer, Daniel Wojack of Betwixt Talent Management gives us his take on plastic surgery and how it might affect his clients’ chances of booking acting roles.
RB: Hello Daniel. Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions. Let’s start! What are your thoughts regarding your clients who elect to have plastic surgery?
DW: I fully support my clients who elect to have cosmetic surgery. I find that those clients who are already contemplating having an elective cosmetic surgery are generally already suffering from low self-esteem and lack of confidence. Anything they can do to help get over their self-generated hatred and fear of their current body type, I support.
RB: Do specific cosmetic procedures affect the types of roles you are able to submit your clients on?
DW: Absolutely, if a client who previously had a more character type face suddenly got a rhinoplasty, then I obviously would no longer be able to get them auditions for roles who are character looking. One of most common cosmetic surgeries actors consider is the breast enhancement. This is a very personal choice. If it builds the actors’ self confidence, I encourage them to get it. A common mistake actors make with breast enhancement is they make their breasts obnoxiously too large and that basically puts them into another category, the overly large breasted / bimbo / comedic / trashy / slutty type roles. It’s not the end of the world, as there are plenty of parts in Hollywood being churned out daily by the male dominated writers for that body type, but clients are sometimes disillusioned when they can no longer audition to play younger roles or the sweet innocent girl next door roles when they are now the proud owners of D cup implants.
RB: Do you see plastic surgery as career advancement?
DW: The vast majority of my clients are 12 to 35 years old; their biggest hold up is rarely body type, but acting skill. Quite frankly, for the demographic that I handle, I don’t see plastic surgery as being the best return on their investment for career advancement. Before they schedule time for a surgical procedure, I have them meet with me to discuss the pros and cons and usually I find what they hope to achieve can be met by focusing that capital into building their craft. There are roles out there for all types of looks and body types, but it’s ultra competitive in Hollywood, they are going to give the role to the best actor, not the one with the most plastic surgery. Enroll into a reputable acting program and stay enrolled, keeping those acting skills honed.
Hmmm… hone your acting skills. What a concept.
People will make their own decisions when it comes to their physical appearance, as it should be, however, are we just “putting a bandage” on a perceived issue without looking within and being at peace with ourselves as we are?
And, as with the actresses on the cover of the “gossip magazine” is there a point at which in our attempt to improve our career opportunities through plastic surgery that we actually end up looking plastic, swollen and disfigured not unlike the magazine cover?
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