Michael Laskin Studio

Nostalgia is very seductive.

I loved Woody Allen’s recent film, “Midnight in Paris”.  Aside from thinking it was one of his best films in many years, I strongly resonated to the idea of longing for a better, richer time in the past – as Owen Wilson’s character did by yearning to be part of the literary and artistic scene of Paris in the 1920′s. Woody then tops this brilliant idea by having the woman Wilson falls in love with (during his time-travel to the 1920′s), also longing for the past – the “Belle Epoque”.  You might say, that’s really the ultimate version of not being in the moment!

The past is always a safe refuge.  We observe the “good old days” through rose-colored glasses; our selective memories often have us only remembering how wonderful things were.  But upon deeper reflection, sometimes a fuller picture emerges; a picture more complex, more varied, and possibly less rosy.

Our current world, if you bother to take notice of it, has a deeply ailing economy (the Dow just plummeted over 600 points today), few jobs, starvation, extreme heat, political stasis; in short not a lot to feel cheery about.  Historically, there have always been times of bad news, hopelessness, disaster.  The end of the world has been just around the corner ever since man first became capable of rational thought. The “good old days” had tons of  doom and gloom that we tend to forget.  As I said, nostalgia is seductive (and memory selective) – even when musing about your own life and career.

I recently had a friend offer some unsolicited advice to me about how to speak to the young actors that I teach and coach.  He said, “Be brutal with them.  Tell it like it is.  Tell them that if they can do anything else…..they should.”  I’m not exactly sure what this sledge-hammer approach accomplishes. That advice would certainly have rolled off my back when I was young – I was not going to be discouraged.  Hope and encouragement are among the traits the young actor needs to go out and “tilt at windmills.”  And that kind of advice always rings of bitterness, a reflection of someone whose dreams remain unfulfilled.  Not my style; I am not in the discouragement business.  While I will not “shine on” someone who clearly doesn’t have what it takes, I have seen enough improbable success stories to be humbled. One person’s opinion is just that: one person’s opinion.

In our endeavor, the world of acting, it can always seem to be the worst of times. Even during the so-called great eras of the past, disaster was around every corner.  The advent of sound, of television, of the internet – all of these were predictors of impending doom.  Yet they all ended up producing new opportunities not even imagined a few years previously.  But the ongoing leitmotif is that the old days were better – “Midnight in Paris” again comes to mind……

“You can’t make a living in this business anymore.  You might make a killing, but you can’t make a living”

“You should have been in this business thirty years ago.  It was run by showmen, not accountants”

“Talent means nothing anymore.”

“It used to be fun, it used to have heart, it used to mean something.”

“Standards have fallen.  Now anything passes for talent.”

“There’s nothing good out there.”

For the record: these were all things I heard over 30 years ago, when I started.  Everything old is new again.  I observed older actors who were bitter and closed off to the changes around them, and I vowed to never wander into that neighborhood.

“Tell it like it is, be brutal” – as my friend suggested.  I do believe in being realistic, but imparting pessimism is like spreading the flu.  It takes hold, and nothing really good comes of it.  There’s simply no point in discouraging those who cannot be discouraged.  It’s a sisyphean task.  And, by the way, it’s precisely the ones who cannot be discouraged who have a real chance of success.

But, let’s be completely honest:  if you consider the odds of success in this pursuit every morning before you have your coffee – you’ll never leave the house. It’s a very tough business.  It is unforgiving, unfair, fickle, heartbreaking, dream-crushing, mean, myopic, and merciless.  It’s all true – every bit of it. However what’s also true is that this endeavor has the potential to be be inspiring, fulfilling, educating, brilliant, fun, and life-affirming. That’s also all true – every bit of it.

For my students and coaching clients: it’s imperative that you continue to work at your craft.  We do that in class, you do that on set, and when you work in a play.  That’s a given, and must be part of your routine.  But that aspect of your artistic life cannot exist in a vacuum.  You do exist in real time, in the world as it is – and hopefully as it may be, or should be.  You are artists, but you are also citizens. Your job, frankly, is to reflect the world as it continues to change and morph.

However, a great deal of acting training creates a hermitically-sealed world that has little connective tissue to the real world around you.  It’s focused on skills only – not on the imperfect flesh and blood that has to eventually leave the artifical bubble of class and make their work compelling in an office at Warner Brothers….where they only want to do one of the three scenes you prepared….where your name was not at the gate….where you had to park several blocks away….and where you had to walk those blocks trying to stay in the zone and not sweat through your clothes before the meeting.  That’s what it really looks like. That’s what success, failure, heartbreak, and luck really look like.

It’s terribly important to place yourself in the context of what exists, and what is coming.  It’s our duty as artists to have our ear to the ground and hear the trains coming down the track.

Remember this:  the only constant is change, and the future will present opportunities that will surprise and delight you – as long as you stay open and engaged in the world at large.

Let me offer a little encouragement and faith about the future – (as my people say) “It wouldn’t hurt.”