THE UPSIDE DOWN FOR ACTORS
I have wanted to be an actor for as long as I can remember. Countless times I would stand (and still do) in front of my mirror and thank the audience for their support after receiving the award for best actor in something powerful that left everyone weeping when they watched it. I would be dressed in something emerald green that makes my breasts look more like boobs than mammary glands. I would be confident, articulate and full of witty quips that makes the audience laugh but also makes them think. Because communication is an easier shot to take when the guards of intellect are compromised. This is ALWAYS what I have wanted to do, and it ALWAYS will be (unless of course, someone offers me Chadwick Boseman, a shitload of cash and a private Island then… NEVER ever say always).
As you already know, there are a lot of fun perks to being in this profession. Never having to sit in an office for a pre-determined amount of time you have no say in determining. Being able to up and travel away for the whole year if you like, with no need to put in an application for leave (that could still be denied). Getting to hang out at the best events and parties simply because people watch you on TV. Freebies flying at you from every angle even when you can afford to pay for them yourself. The perception that your particular life is the best thing to happen to the concept of being alive since that scoundrel Adam drop kicked all mankind in the balls over of a damn piece of fruit. The list of perks while not endless are still vast. And as the sort of person who doesn’t take well to externally instructed or regimented living; I am right where I want to be; career choice wise.
I will tell you however that there is another side to this bliss and for this post we’ll call it THE UPSIDE DOWN FOR ACTORS (now, if you don’t get this reference, you need to be eaten by a pack of Demogorgons, Bob style). So what is the upside down for actors, you may wonder? Well, let me see if I can paint you a picture that is both an accurate representation of the original concept and a local connotation that brings it closer to home. The upside down is a bad place where bad things happen to basically everyone but the giant devil demon and his doggy demons at the top. Death eats up life till there is none of it left to feed on. It exists in a parallel plane with the real world and mimics everything is in existence here. So everything you find here in the regular world, you can find there; only rotting, oozing and dead. So for those of us who have been sitting in our homes for the entire weekend without power and have had to run generators and inverters for three days straight; think Nigeria basically.
Now we all have a fair knowledge of what the upside down is (Nigeria take your L with grace and sit down. No you may not speak) we will apply it to the field of acting. The upside down for an actor is when you are sitting at home all day and wondering what to do with your life because there is no work anywhere in sight. No, scratch that, there is the work in sight but the only reason you can see it is because you’re looking from the outside in at other people doing it. There are no auditions that are worth your while, and the ones that were, gave you great reviews but didn’t call you back. Money is playing hide and go seek with your bank account and your bank account is losing in all the rounds (because money is either sneaky or dimwitted and goes to hide in someone else’s account). There are no new pictures on your IG account because there is no new project to #liveyourbestlife with. And the old pictures you have, WILL be recognized because your new project couldn’t have borrowed hair, make up AND wardrobe from your last set. Do you see the issues?
The empty time in between jobs for an up-and-coming actor is not the easiest terrain to navigate. I say up and coming because in most cases; it is the up and comers running from audition to audition hoping to find that one job that will earn them their place in the big leagues. There is the misconception that A-listers don’t audition and just get jobs handed to them. While this is true in some rare and divine cases, it is not the norm. Actors audition, it is an unfortunate part of the business. Like scrubbing up your cats piss over and over from the carpet because the stench WILL LITERALLY KILL YOU, instead of just leaving a trail of kitty treats that leads to a busy street so that… I love my cat.
It is never a good look to get up every morning and not have something productive to do with yourself. The idleness is not healthy for your mind because what you don’t use will atrophy. It’s not healthy for your wallet, because if you do not work, where does money come from? It is not healthy for your professional self esteem because if you’re not a constantly working actor; you question whether or not you are good enough to be ploughing this path. Afterall, there are actors who seem to always have a new #setlife #actorslife #photoshoot #tvgirl picture to post on Instagram almost on a daily basis. Some of them are lying to be honest (I’ve seen someone post a picture on IG from the year before and caption it like it happened the day she posted it) but that notwithstanding, there are actors that seem to always be working (may we become them, but till then we will pour cat piss on them).
You cannot always control the inflow of work when you are in this line of business, and it is important to understand that going in. If you do not keep this occupational hazard in mind, you stand the risk of beating yourself over the head for not working enough. Or jumping at ANY acting gig that comes your way; even the ones you will hate yourself for doing. Or just packing up shop and giving up on your dream altogether. It is harder said than done, but try to find things to fill your time with when you aren’t filming. Keep your mind sharp by learning new things whether or not they are related to your craft. Study your craft and sharpen your skills while you have time on your hands to do so. Pick up scripts from the internet and read them, act out different characters, record your interpretation and watch it over to see where you suck so you can get better. There are a ton of things you can do to make sure you aren’t sleeping away your entire day. It’s a hard time to get through, but when the upside down blues hits, remember this: A RIVER CUTS THROUGH A ROCK, NOT BECAUSE OF IT’S POWER BUT BECAUSE OF ITS PERSISTENCE. You will get there!