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An Actor's Dedication

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#1

An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 2:42am

I am currently studying theatre as an actor and wish to dicuss an actor's dedication to their craft.

At what level should one be at during college years? And to what degree should they improve upon by graduation?

Any advice on dedication in general? Or any stories from professional actors working now?

By dedication, I mean time spent studying acting. And dedication one's life to acting.

"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle

#2

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 2:49am

Not to be flip, but if you have to ask you had better get a business degree.

PEACE.

#3

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 3:05am

Agreed, Sueleen.

"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy." -Charlie Manson

#4

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 3:11am

Chita Rivera put it best I think when she said she would have crawled across broken glass to get the part. Now THAT'S Dedication to your Craft, And may I take one moment to personally Salute Chita! 5 Star Class Act!

"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." - Elizabeth Taylor

#5

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 10:57am

CapnHook-

I think the responses to you thus far have been rather dismissive and unfair. I think your question is valid for someone studying acting.

From my own experience (which includes a theatre degree and professional work), I think the answer to your questions lie within yourself. Everyone has their own way of working and their own goals and the point of experience and training is to help you realize what those things are for you.

While Chita may crawl through broken glass, Lawrence Olivier may have a more philosophical view and allow projects to come to him without crawling through anything.

Neither way is right or wrong- but they are both very distinct to that person and personality, which makes it right for them. And both are in their ways, brilliant performers. And if every actor had the same approach and ideas about everything then we wouldn't have a world where someone like Chita and someone like Olivier could BOTH work and create.

I would suggest that as you move into the college level (if you're not already there now)- the questions to ask yourself are not what's universally 'right or wrong' but what's 'right or wrong' for you.

Think of college/training as a buffet where many techniques and ideas are laid out before you and your job is to decide to pick and choose what YOU feel works for you. And the goal is of course, to try out everything to your best ability so you can make that decision easily, certainly not to decide ahead of time that a certain technique isn't worth your time and then slack off. But to just be concerned with being right or wrong is a suffocating situation for creativity and artistic success, in my experience anyway.

And i don't think if you have these questions you should get a business degree. I remember having them myself all the time when i was starting to train, and I've done alright.

Welcome to the snake pit and may you survive.
I'm sure you'll be just fine.

tinydancer

#6

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 11:01am

Another thing which I tell my students on a daily basis is never think that you're finished learning. One kid said of a senior "Why is he checking out, he's got another year to learn?" I reminded him that he had another 40 years to learn and if he's smart and wants a career, he'll do just that.

"Are we a thing?" "Darling, we're everything."

#7

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:00pm

I cannot give you advice but I am interested in the story of dedicated actors as well.

I heard Mandy Patinkin is very dedicated. Can anyone share his story?

#8

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:05pm

I think it's unfair to be flip and rude with an answer to that question. Do you think Lindsey Lohan is "dedicated to her craft"? I'm sure she made more money just last year than most serious dedicated theater actors will make in a lifetime, so it's different for everyone and LUCK has more to do with it than anything.

Updated On: 12/13/05 at 12:05 PM

#9

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:37pm

actually I wouldn't be so quick to assume Lindsay Lohan isn't dedicated to her craft. She is just living a completely different lifestyle. She wouldn't have gotten such high profile roles as a child if she didn't truely want to act. Then she continued acting, it's obviously something she loves. Whether or not she takes lots of classes (nobody can assume she's never taking an acting class, unless she's outright said so), or doesn't wait for hours in lines hoping for a role...that doesn't mean she's not dedicated.

Sure she has obscene amounts of money and VH1 likes to show, she and many others use it frivilessly. But she shows up to work, she enjoys her work, she acts in things that are important to her. Perhaps some of that work is cheesy, and might not be her number one ideal fantasy role but it's work she's not stupid. She's in an upcoming film that actulaly looks pretty interesting and it's more "adult" than some of her previous roles. The article I read said she's put a lot of effort and thought into her character and wants to "show everyone" she is a serious actor. I think that's dedication. She could easily continue to blow her money and just be a tabloid princess but she enjoys acting.

Crap now I'm late, I really shouldn't visit this board when I only have 15min.

--Like an odd exotic creature on display inside a zoo, hearing children asking questions makes me ask some questions too...--

#10

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:42pm

I'm with Sueleen and Munk. If you don't know how much time you need to spend on it, you should go into something else.

"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'" -- unknown

#11

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:46pm

The point here is this person wants to learn how much time needs to be spent on the craft.

Asking questions, learning, and growing are important, no matter what the feild and should be encouraged.

I stand corrected, you are as vapid as they say.

Updated On: 12/13/05 at 12:46 PM

#12

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:50pm

Again, not to be flip, but have you been reading about Maria Friedman? In her recent interview on A & E she talked about how long her sister has worked to get WIW to Broadway and how much others have worked on and for the show. I think dedication just doesn't mean "to and for yourself", but to and for the company of performers you are working with.

#13

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 12:55pm

smart, the problem comes when someone wants to have a career in something they they don't have the internal drive to actually do.

If this was someone who was studying philosophy who wanted to act on the side, it'd be a different response.

Honestly, if this person wants to be an actor, they need to start working their butt off and never stop. Because you have to make yourself indispensable by the industry (in an industry that is filled with big stars who are easily thrown away). It is an almost impossible task. So, to say you should work at least 3-5 hours a day is demeaning and naive.

"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'" -- unknown

#14

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 1:01pm

I agree that to attempt to quantify the answer in "work x hours" a day, would be ridiculous.
Yet why is there such negativity to attempt to understand the rigors of the work. The concept that you "shouldn't have to ask" is also naive.

I have no idea who CapnHook is or where he/she may be in the process, but asking what it takes to be an actor does not seem any more unreasonable than asking what it takes to do another job. How much Dedication does a Doctor need to have? A Peace Activist? A Pastor?
The questions are not demeaning, but the answers can be.

I stand corrected, you are as vapid as they say.

#15

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 4:27pm

Demeaning in the same way the actor's life is 99% of the time. We're just starting them out right.

"Fundamentalism means never having to say 'I'm wrong.'" -- unknown

#16

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 5:21pm

I don't know why everyone's giving Cap'n crap. Look at his question. He's basically saying "How can I tell where I should be by time i graduate?" "Should I be able to do THIS by sophmore year or is that a junior year thing?" I think he wants to know what advice there is about timing and craft level, not how long do I need to study to be great. So before you get an attitude about what he asked, make sure you know the question.

To answer the question, every school has different standards. There is no one way to figure out if you're in the right place. I think comparing yourself to what "the norm" is is dangerous. That's a problem with our current school system's standardized testing. Go on your own journey. You'll mature at your own rate as long as you have a basic talent. One thing that everyone has said that is true is that of course one never stops learning. I'm sure you know that, but once you get out of college you CAN get an acting coach but it's not paramount if you get work. No matter how much acting class you get, nothing replaces on the job experience. It's art...there are no clear paths to greatness.

For dedication, the dictionary calls it selfless devotion. A constant commitment to work hard. It's more than learning it. It's applying it and that is of course timeless. And if you wanna go the time route, then actors should be more dedicated to their crafts the longer they're acting.

#17

re: An Actor's Dedication

Posted: 12/13/05 at 5:27pm

Thank you for your thoughtful answers Jazzysuite82 and TinyDancer.

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