#ActorProblems: The Onion Was Right About Me

Friends, Romans, Actors, lend me your ears. And eyes. If you haven't already read THIS article from The Onion, I recommend you do that now. Seriously. You. Go. Read. Now.

Okay. Now raise your hand and tell me if that accurately describes your life. Well, here I am raising both hands because that is 100% me. What's your deal, Onion? Stop understanding me so well. Or making fun of me so well, something like that.

When I introduce myself to people and they ask me what I do, I reply, "I'm an actress." Their next question is always, "So what have you been in?" Never ask an actor that question. Then we have to go through this story about the business and how it works and you're just breaking in to the scene here and yada yada yada. I understand why that's your first question, but just don't ask it. When you tell me you're in advertising, I don't ask, "Have you produced anything I might have seen?" Because the thing about most of us is, we've done a lot of work, it just might not be something you recognize and we don't feel like having to explain to you why what we HAVE DONE is meaningful to us.

I do not have an Oscar. I do not care if I ever win an Oscar. I feel accomplished. I still have a dream, and sometimes I only spend 10% of my day working on that dream. But it's a dream nonetheless. And that's a major thing I've got to hold onto right now. This may not work out. But you may also never be CEO of your organization. So, there's that. Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't want to go out and "change the world." But I think that I do help make the world a little better by bringing some art and some emotion into it.

If no one ever dreamed, life would be boring. There would be no Picasso. There would be no polio vaccine. We wouldn't have a black president. Hell, there wouldn't even be a United States to have a black president of. And you better believe I'm excited to write a post about our first female president. So what I'm saying is, yep, Onion, you got me. I bust my butt at two different jobs to afford my acting pursuits. But we all dream that we'll be happy in our careers one day, so freelance writer for The Onion that also works at Starbucks on the weekends, you got me again. I've got a lot of #ActorProblems, but my ability to dream certainly isn't one. I know this rant is getting long, so I'll end with this because I'm feeling a little passionate (And defensive? Why am I always so defensive about this?) right now.

A college student recently asked me for advice about setting out into this world of theatre. This is what I said.

"Nothing happens quickly in this business. The percentage of people who have that lucky "big break" is very small but the number of people making money working in facets of the industry is large. And there is no right way to get there and no right place to end up. Your path will take you places you never dreamed. Follow your own agenda. Don't take a job just because you're scared another one won't come along. (Because it will.) If something doesn't compel you, it's not worth your time and energy. In other words, be true to yourself. 

Okay, so that's the advice from the practical side of me. Here's my advice from the artist in me. If writing is your passion, NEVER STOP DOING IT."

I know I won't.