by Casting Director, Terry Berland
What Energy Suckers Do You Have?
What is stopping you from moving forward with your creativity?
For a couple of days before Michelle Obama’s birthday I watched early film of her giving speeches. She looked kind of dowdy, her posture was a little slouched, and her skin lacked a glow. Not to mention her speeches lacked an air of confidence. Then they showed her now. Wow! No doubt Michelle Obama is dynamic. She speaks with confidence and her looks have changed. She holds her posture with strength and her skin glows. She looks different and sounds different because she is confident.
How can we translate this transition of confidence into our world of acting and auditioning? How can you be more confident and have the glow, literally and figuratively? How can you have winning vibes around you? The answer is: “Get rid of the energy suckers.” Get rid of the negative energy suckers of confusion and doubt. Actors who study commercial technique with me have their demeanor and looks change with the gain of knowledge and confidence. Actors who come in to audition for me both on-camera and voice-over have a certain savoir-faire coming from confident and comfort.
Arm yourself with information. The world of information is at your fingertips.
Feeling confused about who makes the decisions and how the system works is an energy sucker.
Know all you can know about each venture. They consist of knowing the players and the hierarchy of each venue. Learn who makes the decisions regarding choosing/booking talent? Television network, cable, film and commercials have their own particular internal systems of hierarchy. The differences include how long each process traditionally takes. I say traditionally because there are always variables.
Wondering about a casting office is an energy sucker.
Find out the feel, likes and dislikes of the Casting Director and their office. Check out Facebook, Twitter and other articles that are written by or about the Casting Director. They are also often on panels around town and at personal appearances where they will be discussing the business.
Unnecessary fears and doubts about your acting are energy suckers.
Keep tuned up on your craft. If you have any doubts, which may be real or unreal, work those out. Work with someone to make sure you are on top of your game and dispel your doubts. If those doubts are real, great…work through the kinks. If they are not real, it’s invaluable to eliminate those doubts.
Trying to control what you don’t have control of is an energy sucker
Be aware of what you have control of and what you do not have control of. The best bit of advice I can give here is a short quote from Robert Colt, who in my opinion is extremely knowledgeable on quantum physics. Robert and Michelle Colt have seminars for actors and business people called The Inside Game.
“I’d like to give you a quantum perspective on your career. Possibilities and Probabilities. We’ve all heard that the quantum field is a field of infinite possibilities. The key word is “possibilities.” It’s not called a field of guarantees. That’s because in the world of subatomic particles uncertainty rules and the world is a game of chance. Another way of saying this is “a touch of luck” definitely plays a part in success. Physicists also talk about “probabilities.” Probability means the tendency for something to occur, the tendency for a possibility to occur. Let’s take the potential of an actor/actress and the possibility and probability of a successful outcome for an excellent career. There are six critical components that will raise the probability of actualizing the possibility of a great career. They are: 1. Craft and skill, 2. Passion and commitment, 3. Authenticity, 4. Being out of your own way, 5. Interconnection, 6. Touch of luck. It’s clear that you must have or develop a high level of excellence in your craft and skill and be passionate and deeply committed to this. Authenticity has a powerful electromagnetic quality and is like catnip in the field of acting. Authenticity is your birthright, which in many cases gets covered over by family and cultural conditionings. Being out of your own way is a huge piece to the puzzle. The challenge with being out of your own way is that what’s in your way is mostly unconscious material that’s out of your awareness. Interconnection is a major component to developing a self-confidence that has the potential to become unshakeable. Very few people know how to access this level of confidence because you must have techniques that allow you to experience the fourfold nature of the quantum field. Doing so is the most caring and practical thing you can do for your career and life.
When you’re firing on the first five of the above six cylinders in the first paragraph the probability of a great career has increased exponentially. But there’s still the factor of “chance” involved. You have absolutely NO CONTROL over the randomness and spontaneity of how your life “shows up.” Why? Because it’s a quantum event! Woody Allen, in a recent article said, “The truth of the matter is your life is very much out of your control.” This is where a touch of luck comes into play. It’s also where courage, heart and love become a HUGE factor. Courage in the sense that you have to go for your career and life “full out” without a guarantee of a specific outcome. It now becomes an act of LOVE. Stanislavski said, “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.” This goes completely against the rational, materialistic mind and hundreds of years of deeply-embedded conditioning. But it completely flows with the quantum nature of the way things really are. In a very real sense the path to the quantum field is ultimately the way of the heart; a way that is open, receptive, intuitive, courageous, and vulnerable. The heart feels what the mind can’t see and the quantum field is the field of the unseen. As Helen Keller said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”
You can learn more about Robert’s quantum perspective by visiting the Inside Game Website at www.insidegame.com.
I may add every minute and every day we change and information changes. We are all ever-evolving. Keep moving and flowing.
Any reproduction or usage of this article on other websites must be credited to Terry Berland, Casting Director and linked back to here.
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Terry Berland is an award-winning casting director for on-camera, television, voice-over, and hosting. Her casting awards include Clio, The Houston International Film Festival, Art Director’s Club, Addy, and the International Film and Television Festival. Her former casting staff position for Madison Avenue giant BBDO/NY has lent to her deep understanding and involvement in the advertising industry. She is known throughout the country for her talent development and is the co-author of the how-to industry book,”Breaking Into Commercials.”
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