Positoovity (aka How Supporting Someone Else's Success Never Dampens Your Own)
I have a friend (whom I absolutely adore) who always sees the glass half empty. If she's sick, the world is ending, and when I success at anything, she likes to diminish it. It's not that she wants to make me feel bad, but she can't stand to see someone else succeed when she herself hasn't. Don't get me wrong- she's one of my biggest supporters too (which sounds contradictory, but let me explain). She is the first to congratulate me. She always comes to see my shows. AND I know she'd be the first to help me out if I needed it. It's just that emotional/verbal support isn't her strongest suit.
As actors, it's really easy to get down when we see our friends or coworkers succeeding and booking roles, and we're just kind of sitting in the corner wondering when our day will come. It's one of the shitty things about being an actor, but also one of the most rewarding (and, let's be honest: most of us were given fair warning that getting into acting is tough- and if you just said "Em, I don't know what you're talking about", You. Are. LYING. Everyone from your teachers to your parents to other actors have said it. Even EMILIA CLARKE'S FATHER told her so). Don't worry, one day you'll be in your friends' shoes, and they'll be in yours, watching you succeed while they flip burgers at McDonald's for a short while.
But until then, one of the best things you can do for your friends - and vice versa - is support their theatrical endeavors. Go to their shows, if you can afford it (OR go to the IDR. Free Theater is the best theater). Follow up on how their audition went the other night. And if you do it for them, they'll do it for you. This sounds totally cliche, but at the end of the day, a show lasts only a couple months, and your friends may stick around your entire life... You never know! It's never worth losing the person who actually cares about what you're doing over the casting director who couldn't care less whether you messed up a song because you just got over life-threatening bronchitis.
Here's my advice to you, Theater Peep: build yourself a circle of actor friends (who seriously make the best kind of friends IMO) that'll support you. Don't be negative (as tempting as it is), and one day you'll make it. Oh! and listen to "The Schmuel Song" from The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown. It basically says what I just said. One day your name will (hopefully) be in lights. When it happens, drop a tweet to your friend, The Little But Fierce Actress, and let me know. I'll be happy for ya.
As actors, it's really easy to get down when we see our friends or coworkers succeeding and booking roles, and we're just kind of sitting in the corner wondering when our day will come. It's one of the shitty things about being an actor, but also one of the most rewarding (and, let's be honest: most of us were given fair warning that getting into acting is tough- and if you just said "Em, I don't know what you're talking about", You. Are. LYING. Everyone from your teachers to your parents to other actors have said it. Even EMILIA CLARKE'S FATHER told her so). Don't worry, one day you'll be in your friends' shoes, and they'll be in yours, watching you succeed while they flip burgers at McDonald's for a short while.
But until then, one of the best things you can do for your friends - and vice versa - is support their theatrical endeavors. Go to their shows, if you can afford it (OR go to the IDR. Free Theater is the best theater). Follow up on how their audition went the other night. And if you do it for them, they'll do it for you. This sounds totally cliche, but at the end of the day, a show lasts only a couple months, and your friends may stick around your entire life... You never know! It's never worth losing the person who actually cares about what you're doing over the casting director who couldn't care less whether you messed up a song because you just got over life-threatening bronchitis.
Here's my advice to you, Theater Peep: build yourself a circle of actor friends (who seriously make the best kind of friends IMO) that'll support you. Don't be negative (as tempting as it is), and one day you'll make it. Oh! and listen to "The Schmuel Song" from The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown. It basically says what I just said. One day your name will (hopefully) be in lights. When it happens, drop a tweet to your friend, The Little But Fierce Actress, and let me know. I'll be happy for ya.
Comments
Post a Comment