Actors Thriving in Exile
A talented Trans-Atlantic cast of actors and scholars read Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens over Zoom.
We are living in unprecedented times. So many of us have never had to endure something of this magnitude in our lifetimes. I feel a whole new connection to my grandmother who lived through the Great Depression and I’m starting to understand why she lived such a frugal life.
Oddly, I felt somewhat prepared for this. As a lover of sci-fi, I have watched my fair share of post-9/11 apocalypse entertainment. I read The Walking Dead comics, later enjoying the series on television, and there was a time when I even pitched my own apocalypse readiness series co-starring a friend and much-beloved actress from a popular network TV series. So in that first week of social distancing and self-quarantine, I was empowered… I was Sarah Connor, with all the badassery of the second movie and the cheery apologetic smile from the beginning of the first.
By week two, however, I came down hard. The pressure was mounting and I knew this new lifestyle was here for the long haul. My household has made the decision to be extra careful. We have been rationing our resources so we haven’t done the groceries in over three weeks, we have reduced how often we do the laundry since we have to share a laundry room with dozens of other tenants, and we try not to order any deliveries because we have chosen to decontaminate everything coming into our home to assist with our peace of mind.
With mounting pressures in the domestic sphere, and the added fear that there is no acting work and so many of my friends and colleagues are applying for unemployment, I have had to find ways to cope and continue being an actor to maintain a positive mental attitude throughout quarantine.
I am sharing my process in the hope that it gives one of you, if not many of you, an idea on how to thrive in these uncertain times.
Self-care is key. As Her Majesty RuPaul Charles says, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?“ I believe the same goes for mental health. We are living like rats in a maze, and our performance in this time will be based on how well we care for ourselves first. I have found my balance by doing either exercise or guided meditation every weekday. On days when I exercise, I can skip the meditation, but I have found that starting my day with something this focused and maintaining a schedule is brutally important for staying mentally balanced and strong.
Take every opportunity to act. Many casting directors have been holding open calls where actors from all over the world are sending in self-taped monologues and scenes filmed from home. Rise up to the challenge. Go that extra mile. For many actors that have yet to be called into their favorite casting office, this is your chance to shine! My old friend Seth Caskey, a casting director who often works with Elizabeth Barnes, announced on Friday that their casting office received almost 17,000 submissions and they are planning to watch every single video over the course of the next few weeks. A valiant endeavor.
Be the doer. There are two kinds of actors: those that wait for work and those that create the work. Be the latter. The more you create your own opportunities, the more you will work. What do all those A-list Hollywood actors have in common? They produce their own films. You don’t necessarily have to aim that high, but do something that will bring you satisfaction and camaraderie with all those wonderfully talented actors in your community. I had the pleasure of hosting a Shakespeare reading over Zoom recently with some of the most brilliant Shakespearean actors in my network from Los Angeles to Dublin. We used this opportunity to read one of Bill’s lesser known works; Timon of Athens, a play about a man who chooses to self-isolate.
Check-in with your network. From week one I started reconnecting with my friends and colleagues by setting up coffee dates and dinner dates over Skype/FaceTime. I genuinely did this to check-in on friends and make sure they were maintaining a sense of calm in this new mass work-from-home atmosphere. Unexpectedly, it ended up being a career-building experience; many of my friends reiterated their desire to work with me as soon as we get the greenlight to move forward again. This was empowering to hear, and I am filled with gratitude and hope for the future as I type this. Hope is important, just ask Obama.
Now is the time to level-up. We have a lot more time on our hands, so use this time to improve your craft. Attend remote meetings with casting directors, take virtual classes, watch great films and series, dig deep into your favorite actors’ repertoires, read plays, read books about the craft, work on a new monologue, etc. As casting director and acting coach Risa Bramon Garcia said in her recent BGB Virtual Sit-Down, “Look at this as a creative boot camp… so when this is over and the dust settles, we are ready to level up.”
It’s okay to take a timeout. Some days are better than others, and all humans are different. So be kind to yourself and remember that it’s okay to take a timeout. A therapist once told me that when you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s okay to cry, but give yourself a time limit. Last week I was overwhelmed when everything seemed to go wrong for my self-tapes; my furniture was constantly in the way, my old tripod made everything sticky AF, and the lighting was atrocious. I gave myself some time to feel… I laid down in bed, shed those tears of frustration, hugged my cat, then I pulled myself back up and followed Yoda’s mantra, “Do or do not, there is no try.” And do I did. It wasn’t perfect, but it helped me determine what equipment I need to update in order to improve my self-tapes and I am proud that I got the work done despite those shortcomings.
Do it anyway. Elaine Welteroth, the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue who rose to prominence for bringing underrepresented voices to the mainstream publication, wrote in her memoir More Than Enough about her struggles to demand equal pay. When discussing every one of her fears with a privileged white male friend, he kept repeating the same advice over and over: “do it anyway.” We will always find a million reasons not to do something if we can avoid it. (Heck, there are things I’m avoiding by writing this blog post today.) But history is determined by action and change, so do it anyway.
Be creative alone. In that January lull after the holidays but before Hollywood really picked up again, I got a lot done by myself. One thing I was really proud of was that I finally sat down and completed my animation voiceover reel, followed by a narration voiceover reel. Though I have worked in VO before, I had never sat down to cut together a voice reel because I didn’t feel like I had enough content, but thanks to a wonderful class with VO veteran Charlie Adler and rereading Voice-Over Voice Actor by VO superstars Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt, I dedicated myself to creating characters of various ages and types, recording in my make-shift sound booth/blanket tent with a Blue Snowball USB mic hooked up to GarageBand, and getting it done! I also cut together an updated film reel in iMovie. Using these basic programs can be frustrating, but I familiarized myself with them and it will be easier next time.
Be creative with friends. Now is the time to reach out and see what you can do with friends. Reach out on your social network of choice, and assemble a team of creatives to make something. It takes a village to make a film (you’ve seen those never-ending end credits!), so start out as small as you need to and see what you and your friends can come up with. Why limit Zoom readings to just actors? Imagine what you can do with a stage manager at the helm of those controls and a director to come up with creative ideas to redirect and fine tune actors’ performances. And what about puppets?! Someone please make a Zoom with puppets! Just look at what SNL was able to accomplish this weekend as they creatively leaned into working through this challenging new era of social distancing. Study new technologies, exchange ideas with people throughout the industry, and come up with clever solutions together. Never regret learning something new.
Have fun. Trust your instincts and lead yourself towards the endeavors that bring you joy. Many of my friends have been using Zoom and Roll20 to play role-playing games where they get to improvise their own characters! They come up with backstories, put on voices, and get to improv fun scenarios while slaying dragons. This is an incredible way to use your acting talents, while also developing the writing talents you didn’t know you have but were *in you the whole time.* The important thing to do is to find what makes you happy while continuing to be an actor. Another fun activity I’ve seen many friends do is to stream themselves reading stories. LeVar Burton and Kirsten Vangness are two examples of actors who have been having fun using their beautiful reading skills to entertain us as we hunker down. Then there’s Sir Patrick Stewart who is reading a Sonnet a day. There is so much you can do… take inspiration where you can.
Look, this isn’t going to be easy. Until we all get that vaccine, we will be living altered lives. Who knows what the industry will look like when we return? Filmmaker Shannan Leigh Reeve has some intuitive insight about that possible future as she recounted a job she worked on while social distancing.
But one thing is for sure, the world is forever changed and we need to get onboard.
That said, it’s okay if you’re not ready yet. The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. The industry is shifting and changing every day and it’s not a race. Take the time you need, but also take every available opportunity to be an actor that you can.
You are not alone, we are legion.