Finding some Olympic Inspiration

I love the Olympics.  Every four years I completely forgo sleep and watch as many events as possible.  The work the athletes put into their sports is awe-inspiring.  So, what's the Olympics have to do with acting?  Well, I've related actors to athletes before, especially when it comes to training.  To be good at anything you need to practice - lots.

One thing training gives you is a place to turn when you hit a snag or run out of steam or things just aren't going your way.  There is the story of Michael Phelps winning a race even though his goggles filled with water and he couldn't see.  He trained so thoroughly that his body knew how many strokes away the wall was and he didn't need to see it to know when to touch.

When you see a gymnast falter during a routine and fall off an apparatus, they get back on and finish with their back arched.  The ability to push slip-ups out of their mind and simply continue is all because of their training.  They are able to do this because they have done this routine so much that their body has the muscle memory of it, they don't have to think.

Actors are the same.  When you are tired, facing hour 12 on set, and have to create an emotion filled scene; it is your training that will get you through.  By training so much that you can do it without thinking.  Actors can create the same muscle memory through training in their craft.

The American Skeet Shooter, Kim Rhode, who won gold in her fifth consecutive Olympics shoots between 500-1,000 rounds a day, everyday.  She figures she has over 3 million targets under her belt.  That is what it takes to be a champion.  How much time do you spend working on your craft?

Well, I have some more swimming and gymnastics to watch.  Go team USA!!!

 

Don't Expect Perfection but Keep Working at It Anyway

At the Grammy Awards last night, Dave Grohl had a wonderful acceptance that is for important for any artist to hear:

Dave Grohl's Grammy Speech

The importance of working on your craft is for every form of art whether it be music, painting, or acting.  On NPR this Saturday I heard an interview with a perennial understudy in the opera world who after 22 years of work has finally gotten his chance to play the lead role in Siegfried at the Met.  Jay Hunter Morris said the past 22 years has been him improving his voice, lung capacity, and all the technical things an opera singer needs to learn everyday in baby steps.

Actors should be working on their craft in the same way: everyday and understanding that some days may be just baby steps that you can't hardly see.  I've heard it said that learning to be an actor is a 20 year process.  Everyday you learn something more about yourself, about your limits, about your triggers.  Learn how to read every nuance and behavior that someone is giving you.  But don't give up if it doesn't all come together in the first few years of training.  It will take years of work and eventually you will be in the right place at the right time like Jay Hunter Morris was when they called him up from being an understudy.

But with all that work perfection can't be the product you are looking for because it doesn't exist.  Art is not about perfection.  Like he says it's about what it is in your heart.  How it makes you feel.  As an actor, it is easy to go back and watch performances and criticize what you did do, what you had meant to do but didn't.  Being perfect is not your job, your job is to bring life and heart to whatever you are working on. 

I'll leave you with this wonderful Ira Glass quote for those of us starting out on this journey who aren't quite as perfect as we'd like to be:

I heart Ira

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through. 

Keep working and fighting, guys!