The Hardest Part

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.”
― Voltaire

"Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans."
- John Lennon


"Anticipation, Anticipation.
Is making me late.
Is keeping me waiting."
- Carly Simon

We are trained from an early age to wait.

As infants we wait for someone to pick us up, to feed us and to change us. 

As children we wait for the ice cream man and for Santa Claus. 

As teens we wait for the final school bell so we can run out into the sunshine and play.

As an actor you spend a good amount of your time waiting. 

We wait for our agent to call us to tell us we have an audition. Then we wait for the sides and any taping instructions there may be. Then we wait for the phone to ring. Then we hopefully work and the second we wrap we wait for our agent to call us to tell us we have an audition. 

It's a vicious cycle. 

How are we supposed to stay sane while we deal with all that?

Meditation? Working out? Pottery classes?

I guess the simplest answer is: whatever it takes. 

Do what you need to do. Hone your craft. Practice on camera techniques. Read books, take workshops or something that has nothing to do with acting. 

My way of dealing with the stress of waiting is going to be different from yours and, honestly, it really depends on the situation. Some projects are bigger than others and I tend to obsess about them more. That obsession leads to long days of wondering and beating myself up with self-doubt. It's not healthy but it's honest. 

I've been trying to distract myself lately. 

I have been so focused on becoming a better actor those days between auditions and actual time on set are now just hazy shadows passing by. 

"A watched pot never boils."

Not actually true! I watched a pot boil once and I timed it. Then I put another pot on the stove to boil and left the room. You know where this is going. Yeah. Exact same amount of time! 

"It will when happen when it's supposed to happen."

That's what my wife tells me. She also tells me "The recycling won't take out itself" but that doesn't really apply to this post. 

Or does it?

just keeping it reel

copyright 2019

all rights reserved