DEALING WITH REJECTION..

Sometimes actors are accused of having extremely high egos, vanity and even cockyness. Let me say aside from the few who really do believe they are “a gift to the industry and the world” actors generally have very high sensitivity, suffer from insecurity, jealousy, shyness and more important: deal with rejection almost every day. If a painter or a sculptor show a piece of art and it is criticized a PIECE of him (although technically it is external and once finished doesn’t need of the actual person) its hard. And many have very hard times dealing. Now think of this: actors are very special kinds of artists because when they showcase their “art” they fully, totally and completely expose themselves to be criticized both physically, mentally and emotionally. Add to that the fact that actors go to an average of 50 auditions at the beginning of their career for every ONE job they actually book!! That means 98% of the times they show their work (and themselves) they are generally turned down, or in worse scenarios, either insulted or simply never even called back. And yet we decide to continue to pursue our dreams. Either because they are too strong to ignore, willpower, stubbornness or the belief they are part of a larger scheme for their own life and are meant to do this. So how do we cope? We grow thick skin. We build a wall around us that is often camouflaged with a false-confidence (trust me, the majority of the actors are very very  susceptible to criticism and take things just as bad as the rest, sometimes even worse) and misinterpreted for cockyness. Don’t get me wrong… some actors let the spotlight or fame go to their head, but that is a very different matter than a coping mechanism with rejection. If you feel that rejection is getting harder to deal with think that the average actor can take up to 10 years to even become a regular-working-full-time actor, and most give up during that time and go to 9-5 jobs or find other outlets and forms of income that eventually take over. If you are passionate about acting, and have faith in yourself and in your talent it is ONLY A MATTER OF TIME until that 98% becomes a 70% and then a 50% and if you are very lucky you might become one of the few who get 80% of what they audition for!!!! Break a leg!!!!