The Sunday New York Times business section recently ran an article called, “Reese Witherspoon’s Second Act”.
And it had me cheering.
Not only because Reese wants to create television for other woman – actresses, directors, and writers – but because she's absolutely killing it as a producer (case in point, Meryl Streep signed on for Big Little Lies, Season 2. Are you kidding me???) which means Reese has figured out a way to take back control in the industry.
A role model for us all, for sure.
Reese is ramping up her production company, Hello Sunshine, to make the shows and movies she wants to make. This ensures she’s not just sitting around waiting for her agent to call for a role she probably doesn’t want anyway (honestly, sounds like a good problem to have).
By the way, if I were starring in my own show, I'd give myself a wardrobe like Olivia Pope, have Amy Poehler as my BFF, Adam Levine as my boyfriend, and develop a script that would ensure a lot of hot chocolate drinking and eating popcorn.
But I digress.
We actors spend a LOT of time waiting for that proverbial “audition hotline” to ring.
We often feel like our career (much less a successful career) is totally out of our hands. This is demoralizing and a back seat way of thinking, especially for something as important as our life’s passion and biggest dream.
Don't forget that you are one of the lucky ones who dares to dream big in the first place!
I have friends who tell me they would love to try acting. I always say, “Do it! Take a class! Let’s take improv together!” And they say, “I could never. It’s too scary.” Too bad for them.
But you? You're putting yourself out there when most people will never take the leap. So, good on you, my friend.
But still. We're filled with fear and self-doubt, especially when we aren’t booking enough of the work that really matters.
Because, somehow, our self-worth gets tied up into whether or not we get chosen for a job that, statistically speaking, is probably going to someone else.
And aside from producing your own work, what about just focusing on the most critical tool of all in this wild and crazy industry? YOU. But more importantly, what about focusing on the way you feel about yourself as a person, and as an actor?
I’ve talked to so many actors who are filled with fear about everything: Their abilities, their looks, their failures, their successes. Everything.
That's why I created the Magnetic Actor Method and my signature Masterclass in the first place.
How can you expect to crush it in the audition room with all of that fear swimming around in your soul?
Let’s get into it.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
What the heck is the Magnetic Actor Method? If you’re new to me or my blog, the best way to wrap your head around it is by downloading the FREE Magnetic Actor Method Action Guide; It’s a great overview of what I teach, and it’ll give you a jumpstart on the process.
THE PROBLEM
You want to book more work. But on a deeper level, you also want to be respected, and to have a self-certainty that empowers you in the casting room and beyond.
The problem is that not booking enough begins a vicious cycle of self-doubt. It’s hard to quiet the noise in your head and to believe that your goals are even possible. You're terrified you might have to give up your dreams. Your fear is telling you that not booking a job means that you're not good enough, and that you don’t have what it takes.
Here’s the bottom line.
The industry shouldn’t be this hard to navigate, and the process of booking work should be more predictable and clear. You shouldn’t feel like you're giving away your power every time you step into the audition room.
Some of this we can control and some we can’t.
I GET IT
I understand your fears and frustrations because I’m an actor, too. Aside from constantly honing our craft, everything else about this industry is wildly out of our control.
Yet so many actors are filled with the fear of not being enough. Not good enough, talented enough, not worthy enough, pretty enough, young enough, ethnic enough, etc.. This is debilitating in the audition room and will eat you alive.
There is only one thing you can control: You. And the way you feel about yourself before an audition, after an audition, and everywhere in between.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
The Magnetic Actor Method helps you chip away at that glacier of defeat and to take back control in the audition room by grounding you in the truth that YOU ARE ENOUGH, exactly as you are.
I recently saw a quote from Marie Forleo (a powerhouse entrepreneurial dynamo) that said, “I’m full of self-doubt and also extraordinarily comfortable in my own skin”.
I loooove that!! Sometimes it's actually okay to doubt yourself if it means you're putting yourself out there and doing something scary. That's way more than most people can say. Usually, self-doubt stops people in their tracks. But it doesn’t have to. The goal behind the Magnetic Actor Method is to teach you how to be so confident in who you are that you'll blaze on anyway, despite the doubt.
In fact, you should never forget who you are. I believe you can't fully embody a character's skin until you're comfortable in your own.
And good riddance to the idea that you have to "transform" yourself for a role. Acting is not about pretending to be someone else; It's about finding yourself in the character. To me, that means aligning yourself with the qualities that drive your character’s motivations and intentions so that you understand them on a whole different level (I just wrote a guest blog on this topic, and you can read it here).
SCIENCE
By definition, you can't really argue with science. Especially the almost 50 YEARS of scientific research around strengths-based psychology which is the throughline of the Magnetic Actor Method.
Because of science, The Magnetic Actor Method isn't just another mindset tool. It's an expertly crafted course, inspired by the scientific work of Donald O. Clifton and his Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment.
STRAIGHT TALK
The Magnetic Actor Method takes work. The pilot program I just finished teaching was 6 weeks long with over 12 hours of class time.
But the truth is, it’s no more work than you're already doing spinning your wheels trying to "figure out what you're doing wrong", constantly second guessing yourself, or worrying that you might have to give up on your dreams.
Of course, you can absolutely just keep doing what you’re doing.
But if that’s not working for you, and you’re tired of stalled growth, negative self-worth, and your Aunt Shirley asking you "So how's that acting thing going" (and your answer, “...taking class and auditioning a bunch....), then you owe it to yourself to at least check out the Magnetic Actor Method Action Guide and see what it’s all about.