Episode 204: Have Some Fun as an Actor!

Ask Me Anything! Have some fun. How important that is, for your instrument as an actor, but also for you as a human being. “So have some fun. Loosen up a bit, enjoy life. We do not have to be so somber and serious. We do not have to be so reflective, so critical, so bound up within ourselves and the rigid parameters others and often ourselves have placed around us.” One of the things when I was starting out as a young actress, I would always be quite somber and serious. It wasn't until doing this work that I allowed myself to be a little bit more silly because it was almost like I felt like it wasn't safe for me to have fun. I think that I had this idea that I had to work, work, work, and I had to be miserable, and it had to be hard. And that's just not the way it is. Because when we relax and we have fun, and we play, that's when we enjoy our lives the most, but also how we enjoy a scene or acting the most. The best actors are so relaxed and in the moment. “This is life, not a funeral service. Have some fun with it. Enter into it. Participate. Experiment. Take a risk. Be spontaneous. Do not always be so concerned about doing it right. Doing the 'appropriate thing.'” Just do the next right thing. It's moving from "do the next thing right" to "just do the next right thing." One is a very healthy way of thinking, and the other is very judgmental. Do I want to choose the healthy way, or do I want to go the way I've always done it.  “Do not always be so concerned about what others will think or say. What they think and say are their issues, not ours. Do not be so afraid of making a mistake. Do not be so fearful and proper. Do not inhibit yourself so much.” Just let go. Take a risk. See what happens. “To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” “We were not intended to be so inhibited, so restricted, so controlled. These repressive parameters are what other people have imposed on us, what we have allowed to be done to us.” We teach people how to treat us. We can also reteach people how to treat us. But that involves setting boundaries, that involves standing up for ourselves. That involves allowing us and allowing ourselves to be free. “We were created fully human. We were given emotions. Desires, hopes. Dreams. Feelings. There is an alive, excited, fun-loving child in us somewhere. Let it come out. Let it come alive. Let it have some fun. Not for just 2 hours on a Saturday evening. Bring it with us. Let it help us enjoy this gift of being alive. Being fully human and being who we are.” That's what I would describe as great acting, that it is about being fully human, about being fully alive, about being unrestricted, about being fearless. And I find, again, the more I can do that in my own life. The more that can be brought into the art of acting. “So many rules. So much shame we've lived with. It simply isn't necessary. We have been brainwashed. It is time now to free ourselves. Let ourselves go and enter fully human into a full life. Don't worry. We will learn our lessons when necessary. We have learned discipline. We will not go awry. What will happen is we will begin enjoying life. We will begin enjoying and experiencing our whole self. We can trust ourselves.”  Anxiety is about feeling like we can't handle it. And the fact of the matter is we can handle it. “We have boundaries now. We have a foundation. We can afford to experiment and experience. We are in touch with ourselves and our universe. We are being guided. But a frozen inanimate object cannot be guided. It cannot even be moved. Have some fun. Loosen up a bit. Break a few rules. We won't be punished. We don't have to allow people to punish us. And we can stop punishing ourselves. As long as we are here and alive, let's begin to live.”  I want to give you a tool: Listen to my other podcasts. Listen to all of the core work podcasts. Listen to them once. And then listen to them again with a pad and paper. Take notes. And writing it down. It's so, so powerful.