Last week Samantha Brick made a lot of headlines by complaining about the downsides of being a beautiful woman. Many people immediately attacked her and disregarded her point entirely claiming she isn't that beautiful. But, the truth is that whether you thinks she is beautiful or not is besides the point. She thinks she is beautiful which gives her confidence and confidence will make others see her as beautiful.
So, back to the point of her argument. Are there downsides to being a pretty girl? I know what you're thinking: this is Hollywood, being pretty is all you need to make it. If you were actually thinking that, let me stop you and say, You are wrong.
Girls come to Hollywood after being the prettiest girl in their high school, small town, or college acting program. I've noticed these girls often suffer from what I call Pretty-Girl-Syndrome. No one has ever told them no; they have never had to wait in line for anything; they have never once in their lives been rejected.
But, now they are in Hollywood, the land of beautiful girls and they are competing for parts with some of the most beautiful women on the planet. They better learn quickly how take rejection. Most don't. These are the girls that after not "making it" in a year go home. Or maybe they do make it into a movie, but then get panned by the critics or the movie bombs and suddenly they are facing a new thing: rejection. They are often the ones that collapse and then you never hear from them again.
One of the things that I am grateful to have is the protective shell of thousands of rejections. I am used to being rejected. I don't expect anything to work out, so when it does I am pleasantly surprised; but when things don't go my way, I am not shattered.
Now for those of you who are Pretty Girls. If you aren't finding immediate success, remember rejection is part of the game of Hollywood. If you are doing well in this crazy town: don't expect things to always be easy. This is a fickle place. Enjoy it now, but be prepared to work later and be nice to everyone you meet.
For those of you who aren't pretty girls, don't forget to be proud of being a character actor and take comfort in your protective shell of rejections.
This is great, Michelle. I, of course, am now in a much different category than I was when I first started acting in Hollywood over 30 years ago. The best "rejection" I ever got, was when I auditioned for a part on a Bob Hope Special (there was one every year), and didn't get it because, my agent said, casting thought I was "too pretty" to be in a skit with Brooke Shields!!! I was rejected a LOT, (usually not for this reason!), but you are so right that if one is serious about pursuing a career as an actor, one must EXPECT rejection, and be happily surprised when offered a job! We have to learn to love auditioning, which is our REAL job.
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