Los Angeles Acting blog by David August: Have Fun Fighting For It

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Have Fun Fighting For It

Any project can go into turnaround (stop moving toward production and release) at any time. Any project can suddenly, and without warning, transform so significantly it is hard to call it the same project anymore. Life can change in an instant. And there is no going back.

There isn't any rewind button on stage any more than there is in life. Film seduces with the promise of do-overs, but as I once did on a pilot, you can hear them say, "moving on," "we got it," or "new deal," after only one take and realize that one take is all the editor will have of you to choose from (happily, my worry was unneeded: I'd done well, and since my character was named Winchell, one of the other actors started calling me, "one-take Winchell" as a compliment that helped knock me out of my actor-insecurity moment).

Life happens in the now. Breathe, commit to what is happening this moment, and have fun. After all, that is part of why we choose this, right? (Herzog quote from Legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog on doing what you love and his advice to those heading into the world of film.)