I love drugs, but I hate the metric system.We all have our obstacles to overcome, and pursuing your dream is loaded with them. And now that we’ve discussed finding a place to live, and getting a job, I’m going to backtrack, because I received this email the other day from a guy named Richie:
“So I just wanted to thank you for your constant encouragement in email and your blog even though I am not sure you don’t mean to be so encouraging. Just for the record I have read 24 books about ‘being an actor’ and your blog has beat them all. I appreciate everything you do and I wish I had the courage to give up everything to pursue acting as you have!”
Richie, your compliment about my blog isn’t necessary. Though I will use it in every way I can to get me laid.
It’s your last sentence, though, that concerns me. I want you to feel confident that if you come out here, you will become a working actor. One of my first teachers in LA, Stan Roth (that’s him, above), has taught over 10,000 actors, and he told me something I’ll never forget: every actor that wants it bad enough, makes it. Always. It was the perfect push I needed. By the way, years ago, Stan’s students included a couple of teenage friends named Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, and he saw it in them.
So come out here, Richie. And everyone else who wants to act should do the same. In order to achieve your dream, you’re going to have to lose your comfort zone a little. But that’s what makes it great.
There’s a quote I used in an earlier post that sums it all up: “The best thing about being an artist is that you never go to bed wishing you were an energy trader. Energy traders do, however, lie awake some nights wishing they hadn’t given up the piano.”
