Be Yourself. Or, Tell Others to Fuck Off.

This post is a result of a text conversation I had earlier today with an actor friend who is in the process of looking for new representation.  In one of the meetings they had, the agent told them to change a specific part of their appearance, then call them back in a week or two to discuss further.  My friend wanted to know my thoughts on the subject.  So:

We'll begin with the things I've been told to change about myself by agents.  I've been told: 

-to learn a specific language, 

-to learn two specific accents (by two different agents), 

-to have surgery on my face (not my nose- as we know, my nose is fine), 

-to have a specific different hairstyle, 

-to tan, 

-to take improv, 

-to take a commercial class,

-to purchase a specific lipstick, 

among God knows what else.

Stacked up, that list kind of makes it look like I suck at life.  Or, to be positive (positivity? fuck that, man.), it shows all of the things that I'm NOT.  To explain it from another angle...  If an agent/manager doesn't sign you and contributes an idea for something to change, it's because they don't understand you as a person and/or product.  As a solution, they offer whatever it is that seems off to them, the item they can pinpoint, but this assessment can't be trusted as totally accurate.  They've only known you in a small way- via a meeting, a performance, a demo reel, etc.  They can't actually know what it is that's "off" about you, but the important thing is that something is off.

Completing yourself as a package is the best you can do.  Be your best version of you.  Learn to audition well, learn to interview well, and make damn sure you can act well.  If you take that improv class/get that nose job/lose ten pounds/learn spanish but still have weak interview skills, the next person is only going to try to pinpoint something else for you to fix.  Look at yourself objectively.  What are your weaknesses, and how can you work to fix them?  Maybe you're great but your reel stinks.  You can't make excuses for that, because the next person has made sure their reel is great.  Fix what you can fix.  Be your own business and be proud of your product.

This has to be my nicest post ever.  You're welcome.