Los Angeles Acting blog by David August: Being a Clerk

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Being a Clerk

We can be an order taker, or we can create something. Delivering what we're asked for as an actor, without any unique artistry is doable, and you only have to turn on a TV or watch some movies to see it being done. There's nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with delivering as asked, as expected.

There is nothing particularly right with it either. Don't get me wrong, paying your bills and getting hired again is important. But so is taking pride and doing great work, not just good work, but great work. Our goal isn't just to do a solid job, it is to do more, more than we can plan or design. Could be tapping into or connecting to a universal force of inspiration, the muses, the divine. Whatever it is, it isn't incompatible with delivering as promised.

Like anything anyone creates, it can be good, or somehow more than average, better than normal, and therefore somehow greater than the sum of its parts. Making anything, there can be workmanship skill, craft and art, not merely competence. It doesn't mean be reckless or unguided, but means to be un-mundane.

There is only one single February 17th, 2016 in the history of the universe. What can you do to make it special, important, something worth experiencing, doing more than just surviving until the 18th. Whether it is doing a day job well, really well, or folding laundry with deft precision, or maybe grocery shopping with clarity to literally nourish yourself, or as on the job as picking up a glass in the clearest way, or saying "hello" in character in a way that speaks volumes, we can do well today. Let's do well. Let's try failing well and be proud of our work, not just because the checks clear and the phone rings again.

(thanks to Chet Grissom for bringing Ethan Hawke Remembers Robin Williams' Acting Advice to my attention.)