I was looking through some old notes of an acting class I took on April 9th of this year and I came across a quote that the teacher said to everyone in the class. I remember the moment very clearly. The teacher asked the working actor what was their objective, what they wanted to get out of the monologue that they were performing. And the actor answered with a long, drawn out, rambling response, as this actor does from time to time when he hasn't fully thought out these questions and circumstances before doing the grit work. Then the acting teacher asked the actor about her (at least I think it was her, maybe it's not as clear as I thought) day.
'My day?' replied the actor, with heavy emphasis on MY as if to say 'You actually care about what happened to me? People like that are out there?' Then the actor moused about a description of her day. The teacher politely interrupted the actor, turned to the class, made eye contact with everybody in the room, and then uttered four of the coolest words I've ever heard anyone say:
Our lives are epic.
Our lives are epic. Talk about instilling power into someone. But it's true. Our lives truly are epic. We are given complete control to do whatever we want with them. We can study what we want, eat where we want, travel when we want and to where ever, make friends with anyone we want, etc. etc. etc. We just get so in the routine of our lives and so used to them that we start to believe that what we do a.) doesn't matter and b.) is of no interest or concern to anyone else.
This topic came to my mind initially last week when I did some background work on HBO's upcoming movie of the Tony-award winning play The Normal Heart. Now, to us actors, background work is considered pretty mindless work where we are shuffled around like sheep with the PAs as our sheepdogs and just fill the scene. Living scenery if you will. It's an easy way to make some extra shekels. Most actors would say that being background is boring, uninteresting, and monotonous, but it's a paycheck. But then I was at lunch last week on set and right across from me sat one of the actors on the movie. One of the lead actors. He was a very tall, robust, barrel-chested man with stark black hair with sprinkles of gray and a very welcoming British accent. Oh yea, his name also happens to be Alfred Molina.
I had lunch with Alfred-f***ing-Molina. Dr. Otto Octavius aka Doc Ock, Satipo from Raiders, and Tony-award nominee. Then it hit me. My life is epic. Maybe not to me, though, but to someone else, I just had the coolest day. I woke up, went to the Riverside Drive church to be on set for a movie to premier on HBO and had lunch (though I didn't say anything) with Alfred Molina.
So don't down play your life or your daily routine just because you think it is boring. Because, I'll bet you dollars to donuts, that to someone else, your day was eons more exciting and worth talking about than theirs. And their day might be that same to you. So take pride in what you do everyday and recognize that every meeting, every train ride, every chance encounter is just another addition to the plot of your own Odyssey.
And remember, you are always, ALWAYS someone else's most interesting person.
So what did you do today?
Abide and ramble on.
Stish
Rambling Soundtrack:
-'You Rascal You' by Louis Jordan
-'Up the Canyon' by The String Cheese Incident
-'I'll Be There For You' by Bon Jovi
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