You may have noticed that the choices that you make as an actor do not come from your heart. Instead, you may make choices to please Casting Directors so that they can like you. For that, you may try to be polite, look “good” and do the scene “right”. Then, you may spend a long time doing hundreds of takes and selecting which one to submit to make sure that the one you send is the one they are going to like.
When you do this, you are trying to behave in a way that will please them. All your energy is focused on behaving correctly. This happens because since you were a child, you were conditioned to behave a certain way so you could fit in. You have been asked to behave, feel and think a certain way. For example, you were told to stop crying, getting angry or laugh too loud.
In exchange for this “good behavior” you got validation, safety and love from your parents, teachers and society. But if you misbehaved, you were punished, told off or even humiliated. Inevitably, you learnt to behave in a way that worked for others. This way your conditioning is created and you are going to repeat this pattern forever unless you take care of it because you want validation, safety, love and belonging.
As an adult Actor, you try to guess what the Casting Director wants you to do in a scene so that they like you and book you. Therefore, you adapt your performance to what you think they want in the scene. When you do this, you shrink your version of yourself. You manipulate everything that is true about you in order to please, like a salesperson would do. This does not feel great because you are not being yourself. You fake, pretend, push and manipulate your performance.
When you watch my training below you will discover that the problem here is you chose art. The value of what you offer as an artist has to do with you stepping into what you really are, what you really want and what you really mean in a very unique way. Your scene is going to be different from anyone else’s scene if you show up being YOU and don’t repress what you really feel and sense in the moment.
Trying to be liked and be “good” is not how you make art and feel fulfilled. This is not how you defend a character or tell a story that can impact an audience. That is definitely not how a Casting irector can see you and feel you.
Art can only happen when you show up as the free and full version of yourself. The work to do is to undo that conditioning, so you can have your own experience as an artist and get completely instinctive, authentic and free.
Watch my training below to hear all my thoughts on this topic.
After you watch the training, I'd love for you to join in the conversation happening in our private Facebook Group THE INSTINCTIVE ACTORS' SOCIETY. You can get answers for your specific situation directly from me and connect with THOUSANDS of like-minded actors across the globe, so we can move things forward faster together.
If you're not already a member, be sure to request to join ASAP here.
See you there!
Jo Kelly
Creator, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are two ways I can help you:
Get your FREE training on how to STOP TRYING TO BE A GOOD ACTOR SO YOU HAVE A CHANCE AT BEING GREAT
Get on the waitlist for my program, The Reset Journey From Resistance to Freedom, and stop struggling to access your natural, authentic talent in the audition room or on set. You'll learn how to reset your instrument to be 100% instinctive and free in just 33 days.
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