Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Man At Work.

According to a psychographic profile I checked out, I'm apparently what you call an "urban achiever." I'm edgy, competitive, and I work hard and play hard. During the weekdays I'm entertaining clients and impressing the boss. Weekends I enjoy an active lifestyle of dating, night life and mountain biking.

Right. Just as soon as I can find my pants.

One of the chief reasons I love the entertainment business is because it isn’t work, or at least that’s what I thought until last summer, on a Wednesday night in New York. I was in a restaurant in the suburb in which I grew up, watching people enjoy a nice meal after commuting back from the city. Their day’s work was finished, and they were off the clock. I became fascinated by how normal people lived – they worked, they were done.

Meanwhile, I do three things every day to further my career. Plus drive 60 miles round trip to Hollywood four nights and one morning each week for classes and workshops. I make sure I work out four times a week and constantly watch what I eat. I read everything I can about the craft of acting. I even downloaded a concentration app onto my Blackberry, so that while I walk my dog, I can work on my script memorization skills. I write every day. I have a notebook filled with 465 ideas for my next film. I’m a lunatic.

Sitting in that restaurant, I felt like a complete slave to my career. Then I realized who’s cracking the whip. Back to work.