WHAT DRAMA SCHOOL NEVER GAVE ME

Once upon a time

I was listening to a wizard

John Danaher 

He was talking about the moment he realised why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was dominating the mixed martial arts scene in the early nineties 

What’s this got to do with acting?

Trust me.

For thousands of years 

People argued over which martial art was most effective

Boxing

Wrestling

Judo

Sumo

Muay Thai

Kung Fu

Karate

Thai Chi

Etc etc

“I could beat you with my judo throw bro”

“Nah, I spent years meditating in a cave in the Himalayas and have a secret touch of death”

The argument ensued 

Eventually

They began placing two people from different martial arts backgrounds in a ring for the ultimate reality check

And very quickly

They found the answer to the age old question 

Which martial art was most effective?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 

“The Gentle Art”

But why?

Back to the wizard

One night

He was scribbling with his pad and pen

Why is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu dominating?

Many martial arts have take downs

Other martial arts have submissions 

So what makes Jiu Jitsu so special?

Then It clicked

Whilst other martial arts had technical moves

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu had a SYSTEM

Simple steps

One, two, three, four

And you’ve achieved your goal

And at any point

If things aren’t going your way

You can disengage

And start again

A clear and simple system

Not necessarily easy

But simple

And simple means sustainably doable 

When I heard this

I got so fucking jealous

Three years of drama school

Ten years of experience in the industry

Hundreds of classes

Thousands of dollars working privately with coaches

Yes - they gave me techniques

But those techniques were for the same areas

Over and over again

How to warm up my voice and body

How to analyse a script

How to break down a scene

All obviously important

But when I looked at everything I did as an actor

Holistically 

On the daily

Every day

Over the course of an entire year

Every year

I realised I was only taking care of a very small part of being an actor

And neglecting the rest

So to clarify

Whats the most important problem here?

No one ever gave me a system for having an acting career

Mmmmmm

So I pulled my socks up

Made some changes

Created a system for having an acting career

And I went from sleeping on a wet mattress 

To being nominated alongside my heroes

So I thought I would give it over to you guys

On a shitty bit of paper

I hope it helps

Now, all these stages of the system have their own subset of systems

I’ll break it down a bit… 

To begin with

Lets look at the core

Our foundation upon which everything else is built

Why

Why do I act?

Whats my purpose?

In order to feel what?

Doesn’t need to be something heady - could be a feeling or a memory?

The body knows

How

How do I go about delivering my purpose?

If the why is clear, the how will take care of itself

And now for the actual stages…

1) Practice: Actually Get Better

Am I going to practice (class or private sessions) in order to get better?

Or am I going because I simply want approval from a group or a teacher?

Which is absolutely fine

I’m a human being

Our species has survived because of connection

So it’s built into my system

But I at least want to be aware of my intention before I spend money and walk into that room

Here are some things which drastically influenced the way I practice

One - Learning about the human brain, the way it protects itself & developing a growth mindset

Two - Learning about the training practices of my favourite athletes and artists

Some Areas of Focus:

• What are the most important problems I have?

• Whats my system for responding to pressure (fear) and how can I practice it?

• Class - Why that class? Why that teacher? 

• Working privately with coaches / teachers - why them?

• How do I replace a fixed thinking with a growth mindset?

2) Opportunity: Give what I actually want to give

Am I walking out of opportunities feeling like I actually gave the work I truly wanted to give?

Or am I walking out wanting to find the nearest inanimate object to kick and punch because I held back, succumbed to fear, and compromised my work?

Some Areas of Focus:

• Whats my system for an audition?

• Whats my system for a self tape?

• What about call backs? or test deals?

• Whats my system for a meeting?

3) Game Plan: Prep to play

Got the job?

Awesome!

Now what?

Ugh

The amount of times I got a gig 

And rather than celebrating

I felt a gross gulp in the back of my throat

Complete overwhelm

Dear god now what!?

One of my favourite questions to help bring clarity and honest action…

What do I need to do, in order to get where I need to get, so I can give what I need to give ?

Some Areas of Focus:

• Character - How do I build a character my way?

• Logistics - What do I have to do in between now and the first day on set so that everything falls into place as smoothly as possible?

• Support Team - If I’m the head of the department for my character, who’s my support team? (agents, managers, coaches, voice coach, assistants, family, etc etc)

• MIPs - What are the most important problems that could arise and how will I deal with them?

• To Do list - whats my priority? 

4) Game Day: Play on the Day

My first few jobs out of drama school 

I would exhaust myself in those first 72 hours on set 

Because I was so afraid of being terrible

Not very sustainable

And the work would inevitably suffer

So how do I give my work

With joy

And with ease

All day

Every day 

For weeks or months on end?

Some Areas of Focus:

• Rest - “You want to play good? Sleep good” (Thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo)

• Warm up - How to do this sustainably and effectively when you’re filming 14 hours every day?

• Energy management - How can I give my best, on cue, all day, every day?

• Rituals - How do I shift into gear when I need to? (And when I’ve been waiting 7 hours on set and I’m tired and cranky)

• MIPs - Most important problems that may arise, and how will I deal with them? (Mmm how many times have a shied away from that difficult conversation on set and its made things 7 times harder in the long run)

5) Sharing: Giving the work to the world 

I have spent most of my career in denial on this point

So the last few years have been a wake up call for me

Simply put…

The more people who are watching the work I’m in

The more opportunities i’ll get to actually keep working

I’m in the business of acting

Regardless of how much I might want to “just be an artist maaaaaaan”

I would like to be an artist, sustainably 

For a long time

Reality check…

Daniel Day Lewis doesn’t get the Oscar 

Unless he goes on Oprah and shares his story of how he found Lincoln’s voice

Then theres a story to sell

And more people go watch the work

And he gets to go work again when he wants

(or retire, whatever)

Buts whats most important here?

He shares the work his way

He does him

Which to me, is the real trick

So

How can I share my work my way?

How can I do media my way?

I’ll keep pondering that question

Some Areas of Focus:

• On set media

• Photo shoots

• Short form interviews (ew)

• Long form interviews

• Red Carpet

6) Living: How to float

An important person in my life used to be a surf life saver

She told me how to avoid drowning in a rip

Most people think there are only two options when they’re feeling overwhelmed and out of control

Sink, or Swim

But they explained a third option

Floating

Sometimes the most helpful thing can be to just lay back and focus on the breath

But this requires some responsibility 

The ability to respond

Not react

To whats going on around me

This got me thinking

If I want to have a long career

I’m guaranteed to be waiting

For weeks, months or even years

So how do I float?

How do I “wait well”?

How do I live my life

Fully

Regardless of no acting work coming in…

Regardless of whats currently hot or not in the industry…

Regardless of that director taking months to make that decision which seals my fate…

Regardless of those investors pulling out, causing the film to be put on hold… again.

How do I wait my way?

Some Areas of Focus:

• Following curiosity 

• Taking care of those “golf ball” areas of life (Wealth, Health, Connection, Environment, Contribution, etc)

• Dealing with failure

Alrighty 

I’m out

My fingers are tired

If you have any thoughts or questions

Hit me back

Sending hugs

m