My dear friend and home-town buddy of many, many years and I had lunch recently. He is a mega- successful executive producer and writer. He's written and produced for 1/2 hour multiple-camera comedies like FRIENDS and WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU. He is one of the most considerate, funny, talented people I know. Modest, soft-spoken and brilliant, he is also a very fine actor in his own right. It just happened that his writing has taken him to much success and a very fine reputation. He currently has a development deal with one of the top studios. At lunch, recently, he told me something pretty interesting. It had to do with actors engaging in the audition, and how they tend to be so 'internal' - not only in the work but also in how they exchange with those in the room. And no, I don't mean telling jokes, 'yucking' it up or 'being funny'.
Somehow, we actors tend to get it in our heads that we are all about 'the work' and 'the reading' and 'the audition' , and that we tend to forget there are people involved. People who are every bit as human as we are. People who have put their reputations on the line - and who do so with every line they write and every rehearsal they attend to hear their lines spoken.
It turns out that they like to feel like you aren't the only one in the room. It turns out that they want to be liked as much as we do. It turns out that they need to know if you like their writing, as much as we need to know if they like our acting. Now if you don't like the writing I wouldn't suggest lying. They'll know. Just like you would know. They'll ferret out your deepest intentions and accuse you of fraud for telling a lie. But a genuine compliment is a wonderful thing to behold.
Of course, it doesn't help that we get it in our heads that 'They' don't have time for that. We think that all 'They' are interested in is 'the best actor for the job', entirely forgetting that what 'They' want is for their show to run for 7 years (that's what you sign up for in your contract) and that 'They' want to come to work 5 days a week with people who are not only talented but who are 'funny, affable, charming, generous, patient, creative, giving, unselfish - and not someone who is a narcissistic nut, or a weird, strange, self-obsessed, belly-button watcher or culturally-obsessed, self-righteous so-and-so. Because who wants to work with them? By the way, I wouldn't assume that anyone agrees with you politically, whatever your politics are. They don't want to hear that either. Your opinions might bring disharmony to the set, whatever they are. And who wants that?
No, it turns out that 'They' would love to like who they hire, love to work with them, and they would LOVE to have some idea what these potential artists also think about the writing, and the ideas and everything else - and they REALLY want to hear about it if you really like these things!
They really are just people people who care what you - the actors - think about what they have written. And if you can say something nice about it, then you are just a little bit more alive, and a little bit more engaged - and they are going to pull for you just a little but more, because you care about their part in all of this, and not just your belly button.
Now isn't that interesting?
