The following Career Dispatches essay was written by Terrence Terrell, an Emmy Award winner for “Giants” and who stars on the new CBS hit “B Positive.”
To fail or not to fail…that is the real question!
So you want to be an ACTOR? Welcome to the party! I personally have wanted to be like Eddie Murphy since I was 7 years old, but I had no idea what he did for a living. Growing up in a small town (Cleveland, Mississippi), I never saw anyone who was truly living their dreams. So I knew from a very young age that if I wanted to be a dreamer I would first have to become a warrior for my dreams.
The first step was to leave the small pond where I was the big fish and jump into the ocean where I basically became Nemo!
When I decided to move to L.A., I discovered millions of people who “wanted to act.” But it turned out what they really wanted was to be “famous.” Acting and being famous are two totally different things. I was once the “I’m a star, look at me” type, but then when I got the opportunity to showcase my talents, I had no real training to back up my dreams.
Why a Perfect Audition Doesn’t Mean You’ll Nail the Part I ran out of money within the first three days of arriving in L.A. due to my car being towed because I had no idea what “No Parking” signs were (I’m from the country). So there I was, broke and hungry in the City of Angels. And that’s when all the southern home training and hard work kicked in.
I started to do background work, stand-in work, signed up for casting workshops, and found places to go to feed myself with a daily $5 budget. (Jack in the Box was a lifesaver!) I failed and I failed. I even got evicted a few times because I would sometimes have to choose between paying rent or getting gas to get to an audition or set to do background work. I can truly say that failure became my friend. That, and my other most important lessons for an acting career, or “rules,” below.
Rules:
#1: Be ready to fail
#2: Be great at failing
#3: Fail in acting classes
#4: Fail in front of your peers
#5: Enjoy the view while failing
#6: Work so hard that you then never think about failing—you’re only concerned with being
#7: Just be.
Failure is the true key to success. You have to fear something to conquer it! Acting isn’t a walk in the park. To be a true artist you have to love the process, work, challenges, and the daily grind. This industry can be an amazing place to elevate your dreams but it can also be the place that crushes you if you do not know who you are.
Knowing who you are and knowing your power will set you apart from the “pretenders.” You can’t possibly step into the shoes of the character that you are asked to become if you don’t know your own shoes inside and out. When you start to dig up what makes you who you are on a daily basis—the way you walk, talk, smile—you will find it easier to jump into your character, whoever they may be.
That sort of “self discovery” will bring you face-to-face with your biggest competitor: you! You have to know all parts of you (good, bad, evil, ugly) in order to relate to and have empathy for the character whose story you’re telling.
A class that I highly recommend is “The Imagined Life,” taught by the amazing and gifted Goddess named Diana Castle. She not only touches your artistic mind but she leads your spirit to your soul. I still am a student to this day. Yes, even after winning an Emmy and all the other great things I’ve been blessed to do, I still take her class every chance I get to keep my tools sharp and my mind free. I find that you must treat this craft/dream like a newborn baby: You have to study and be in the grind everyday.
I have taken many Ls but I’ve also gained a lot of knowledge and heart through it all. The climb will never get easy but when you get to the top, the view will be worth it!
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