To hear the experts speak of risk (myself included here and here), an actor would be forgiven for imagining that every second on screen or stage should be a gun-toting, death-defying roller coaster ride into the mouth of an active volcano due to erupt in the next seven seconds.
The reality though is that there are times to engage in risk-taking, and then there are times to play it absolutely safe, with no shame in doing either when you are clever enough to differentiate between the two.
As tempting as it may be to encourage an actor to regularly expose him or herself to the unadulterated joy/abject terror that life can offer in any given moment, this advice must be tempered with the realism of actual day-to-day auditions, classes, and general living. There are certain times it is wise to take toe-curling, nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat risks, and there are other times it’s advisable to snuggle up under a safety blanket and leave the stunts to those who enjoy hospital food. The wisdom is in knowing the difference.
Allow me to suggest to you five times to play it safe:
1. When you believe so deeply that you are the role, and therefore cannot think objectively about it. Go entirely with your gut, because there’s no character to play. It’s entirely you.
2. When you have very little time to prepare, and any attempt to do so only freaks you out further. To try out a new technique that you began learning in class last night at a time like this is likely to end in tears. And not the good kind.
3. When you don’t trust the people with whom you are acting, or the people reading for you in an audition. As risky as you’d like your performance to be on stage and screen, as Declan Donnellan says in “The Actor and the Target,” “The rehearsal space must be safe so the performance may be dangerous.” If you don’t trust the people around you, any risk on top of this feeling of unease will be almost impossible anyway.
4. When you are sick, low on energy, emotionally perturbed, or just generally feeling incredibly fragile. In situations like these, the challenge is often in keeping your focus and energy, or sometimes simply in trying not to throw up. Stick to what you know, go with your gut, and play it safe in these instances.
5. When it would be physically dangerous to do otherwise. This one should be self-explanatory.
Now allow me to suggest five times to take a risk:
1. When you are so well prepared that it would be boring to do otherwise. This is the perfect opportunity to try new things, stretch yourself, and run rings around the other actors. (Hint: This should be our aim most of the time.)
2. When you are on your last legs and feel like you simply have nothing to lose. This is often when stellar work appears, because your defensiveness and nerves have lost the battle for control. You’re not in danger, just raw and open.
3. When you are acting in student or independent projects, or with friends and trusted colleagues. The time to take risks is not when you have one line on a massive Hollywood blockbuster. Independent and student films are a terrific place to flex your acting muscles and try things you might not otherwise feel brave enough to attempt with Christopher Nolan watching.
4. On stage. Theatrical productions are a perfect opportunity to take risks, fail, and get up and take new risks the following night. If your risky choices fall flat, oh well. Only 16 people saw that particular show. If they succeed, those 16 people will talk about it forever, to everyone they meet. Either way, you can try things on stage that you might never try on screen, simply because the bad is soon forgotten in a dark old theater, but images committed to celluloid or digital can always come back to haunt you on YouTube.
5. Because you want to. When it comes down to it, there are no rules, only suggestions. If you feel like taking a risk, then take one. It’s your life, your career, and entirely your choice. There’s no right, no wrong, only consequences.
Though French philosopher, playwright, and novelist Jean-Paul Sartre sagely opined: “To know what life is worth you have to risk it once in a while,” risk-taking is not a faucet to be left in the on position 24/7. As Steven Spielberg counseled Shia LaBeouf during the first of what would become many of his existential crises in Hollywood: “Sometimes you make art, and sometimes you sell cars.”
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