People who know me, know that I have a very low tolerance for idiots. I say this because actors get a bad rap and many people assume actors are stupid.
Why do people assume this?
I think a big reason is that actors are forced to take day jobs allowing us flexibility to pursue this dream. Since, these jobs, like waiting tables, don't normally have a career path, people assume they must be easy. However, most of you cubicle-dwelling-corporate-ladder-climbers would be surprised to find waiting tables is actually pretty difficult. Not only does it require brains, but it also requires a lot more patience than most of you probably have. I've waited a lot of tables and I can tell you many of the people I have worked with in Los Angeles hold advanced degrees and are doing this job because they are busy following the career they came to LA for in the first place. Not because they are lazy or too stupid to get another job. Seriously, I have a friend who holds a degree in Neuroscience and works at a bar.
Alright, so that was a bit of a tangent about restaurant servers, but the fact is that being a good actor requires intelligence. As an actor, you have to have a deep understanding of what makes people tick and most importantly you have to have a deep understanding of yourself.
How do you achieve this sort of understanding? Well, for one thing, read a whole lot. Most of the best actors I know are avid readers and many have a deep desire to learn as much about everything as they can. Look at James Franco, he seems to constantly be pursuing different degrees and college courses. If it is our job as an actor to provide a window into different aspects of the world around us, we have to understand how the world works.
The fact is that being a good actor like being good at almost anything - it takes intelligence. Feel free to question our mental stability in choosing to pursue this crazy dream, but don't assume just because we are actors that we are stupid. Thanks.
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