Musings on Success and Fame

Success is a tricky thing.  Like many things in life, it can look different for everyone.  Success, you might say, is the ultimate chameleon.  Success looks different in all professions and in the entertainment business, success is a huge motivator for many.  I work primarily with young actors age 13-24.  These actors range in talent level and interest.  However, a common denominator is their desire for success.  We all wish to be successful and in the entertainment business it is no different.  For many in the business or many starting out, success is fame.  For others, it is simply working.  

There is a huge temptation for many young dreamers to fall into the trap of fame-seeking and instantaneous stardom.  This is just not the case.  I love to show my young actors the imdb pages of some of their favorite performers and they are shocked to see the initial date of their first listed role.  They are shocked to discover that many of these performers have been working for 5, 10, and maybe 15 years before they start to see their "big break."  There usually is silence...and I know they are ready for the truth.  And that truth is this: that success, like many things in our life (love, family, etc.), takes WORK and DEDICATION.  It just does not happen overnight and many of us fail to realize this. 

Perhaps it is denial.  Perhaps it is easier to buy into the faulty perception that success and fame come easy.  Both of these options make the reality of work less daunting.  Perhaps it also might be a mindset.  One of my favorite actors Philip Seymour Hoffman said that fame is not the reason why he acts, or why he got into acting.  This is sage advice for all young performers and it is powerfully true.  Success should not equate to being famous.  It has to do with loving what you do.  It has to do with the joy you feel when you realize that you have followed your dreams and you do something that brings you deep satisfaction.  Acting is one of those things.  

If you love acting, truly love it...with all of the work, rejection, stress and excitement that the craft brings, then you will be successful.  Regardless of where you do it, or how many people see it...you will find success.