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Transcript

Getting Out Of Our Own Way · The Aligned Actor

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to The Aligned Actor Podcast.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Amy Schloerb, your friendly fellow actor and mindset coach.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the podcast where I offer practical mindfulness tools
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: and mindset shifts designed to help us all thrive in our full actor lives.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because the only way we're going to survive long term in this business,
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: in this Crazy Banana Pants entertainment industry is if we're staying aligned with
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: who we are, what we want, and why we choose to be actors.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Because those ideas will really keep us nourished for the long haul journey through
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: the entertainment industry.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because that journey, it is full of stress.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: It is full of ups and downs, twists and turns.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: We never know what's coming next.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: There is so much rejection in this business.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: There is so much urgency.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, and now wait, but then hurry up some more.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much urgency in this business.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much uncertainty in this business,
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  SPEAKER_01: and all of that wreaks havoc on our nervous systems.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: And again,
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: the only way we're going to survive long-term in this business is
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: if we are figuring out effective ways to care for our bodies,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: our minds, our spirits, our whole actor selves.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's really what I aim to do here on The Aligned Actor podcast.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So today, once again, we have more
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: of our conversation with Brian Zane.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Brian, again,
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  SPEAKER_01: is an acting teacher and an actor and host of the Actors Nervous System on Substack
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: and anywhere that you like to get your podcasts.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: He also does clips on Instagram and TikTok.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's fun.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: And in today's clip, We are talking about all the ways that we get in our own way as actors.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So Ryan references an episode of his podcast where he talked
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: about how self-consciousness can come up while we're acting.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we all know that.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Or we start watching ourselves in our work and we're like,
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: oh, I said that line differently than I've ever said that line before.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Was I supposed to say that line like that?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder what the audience thinks about this.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: All of that kind of fun stuff.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: So self-consciousness, how that comes up when we're acting.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: I share a trick that I've been using recently to stay focused in auditions and kind
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: of stay out of my head in that way.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then we also discuss how powerful self-acknowledgement can be for actors
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: and why it's important to allow ourselves to feel disappointed at times.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Even though it feels scary to feel disappointed and we get worried that like,
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: ugh, I might not be able to survive that disappointment.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: We really can.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of stuff that we survive as actors and so feeling disappointed,
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: we can definitely do that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to experience our full conversation,
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: as always, you can find it on Brian's podcast, The Actor's Nervous System.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember what number it is.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: I should have gone and looked that up.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: But I think if you just look through and you find my name,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Amy Schloerb, that's the one that I'm on.
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  SPEAKER_01: So you can go find that and it will... Also, I've linked it up.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Haha, there we go.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: I've linked it up in the substack, just like here.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: And also if you're listening to it on Apple Podcasts,
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's in the show notes on YouTube.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think also in the show notes or it links back to Substack.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: You'll be able to find it.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: You're a smart cookie.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, please enjoy our conversation today and have fun.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: I did have one episode about self-consciousness and how that can come up while we're acting.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of similar to what you're talking about,
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: but it's like those thoughts literally appear while we're doing the thing.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is this casting director even listening?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Am I saying this line this way and things like that?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the ones that I'm often talking to people about being like,
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: so, you know, I see you wanting to do a good job for casting.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's what you're focused on.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: You're focused on like, what can I do to get this job?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: What can I do to get this right?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: What do they want?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Versus what does your character want?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because your character doesn't want to book this job.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Your character doesn't care about this job.
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  SPEAKER_01: Your character doesn't even know it's acting.
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  SPEAKER_01: Your character is focused on whatever is happening,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: you know, Oh, no, I forgot the thing I'm supposed to do on Saturday, right?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's what the character is focused on.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, for me,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: it's about bringing my focus,
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: using mindfulness to bring my focus back to the work rather than the actor stuff.
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  SPEAKER_01: And a trick I've been using recently is to,
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: before I'll even do a scene, I will literally just state both wants.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be like, what does Amy want?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Amy, you know, wants to book this job.
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  SPEAKER_01: Amy, you know, really likes this show.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Amy wants to do a good job for this casting director so that they bring her in for more stuff.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Amy wants, you know, yeah, Amy wants to book it, right?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then I'll go, okay, so what does my character want?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then it'll be, well, my character wants whatever my character wants.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I find that just acknowledging The elephant in the room of like,
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: hey, I'm an actor and I would like to book work.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
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  SPEAKER_01: Of course I want to book work.
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  SPEAKER_01: Obviously.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: What else am I doing?
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  SPEAKER_01: I find that really helpful because suddenly it's like,
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: oh, okay, now I can know in my body and in my mind when I'm focused where.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: So like, oh yeah, we're doing this take.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: I am fully present in this scene.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing it.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm, I feel like this is, you know, I feel in it versus, oh no, that one I was watching.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: That one I was,
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  SPEAKER_01: I was on the other side of the screen where casting is going to be sitting
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: and I was watching the work.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I was doing in that one.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do it again.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I find that, I find that really, um, really helpful.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like,
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  SPEAKER_00: because I have something similar where I'll be about to go into an audition
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: and I'll be like,
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: okay, I welcome all of my emotions because I need all of my emotions as an actor.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: This was something my second year acting teacher worked on this with.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, I acknowledge that I have anxiety and Sure.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: That I feel nervous right now.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the other side of that coin is I have ambition because I want to do well.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: You care.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and the minute I say that to myself, my heart will just like stop beating so fast.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's like acceptance, like if you name it, you can tame it.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you resist it, it persists, that type of thing.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's really true.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: And also there's something around,
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: and it's one of the reasons why in the workshop on energy,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: I had people just write down everything that took their energy, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: That takes the energy.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's just the acknowledgement of that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: Because so often we don't acknowledge the stuff.
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  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't want to acknowledge the nerves.
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  SPEAKER_01: We want to just push them away.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm not nervous.
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be nervous.
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  SPEAKER_01: I can't be nervous.
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  SPEAKER_01: That's not okay.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm not allowed to be nervous.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to do everything I can to not be nervous.
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  SPEAKER_01: Whereas if you just say, Hey, I'm nervous.
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  SPEAKER_01: And of course I'm nervous because I care about this.
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  SPEAKER_01: I want to do a good job.
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  SPEAKER_01: Then all of a sudden that part of you feel seen and validated.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that part of you just relaxes a little bit more.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, you didn't have to, you didn't have to do something to combat the nerves.
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  SPEAKER_01: You didn't have to do something to relax, just acknowledging it.
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  SPEAKER_01: Suddenly it's like, Oh, okay.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: It just unhooks it just a little bit, that little bit of self-validation.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's huge.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it really feels like magic, but it's just- I know.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a little bit of a mindset shift.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And what you were talking about before about part of mindfulness is like being with
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: the bad stuff too.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I had this-
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  SPEAKER_00: Physical theater,
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  SPEAKER_00: Scottish teacher,
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  SPEAKER_00: we were doing Lecoq and Clowning,
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  SPEAKER_00: and she was talking about you have to be comfortable being in the shit.
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  SPEAKER_00: In comedy, that's what you're doing.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're taking the drop.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're like, oh, this is bad.
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  SPEAKER_00: But you have to be really comfortable being that person.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that made me think of part of what mindfulness is.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Being in the shit and just like, okay, it's okay.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like this is how I feel right now.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm acknowledging how I feel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if I'm not allowing myself to acknowledge that,
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: it will get more tense and it will get worse.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it could cause chronic pain.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: It could cause all these things.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and it can happen both in the scene stuff.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then,
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: this is why I try to get actors to acknowledge,
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: you know, the disappointment of not booking.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because it is disappointing to not book.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: But what do we do instead?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, oh, I'm not gonna get my hopes up about that one.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna, it'll be fine
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: if I don't
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: book it.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: But as soon as I see someone say, I'm not gonna get my hopes up about that.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, you just hold on yourself.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Your hopes are already up.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: You would really like to book that job.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And of course you want to book that job.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so just, they think that the, they think that the crash from I'm really excited.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to be on this show.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: I would love to do this part, whatever.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: That being excited for it and then not booking it,
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: that the distance between those two points will be too much to bear.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it isn't.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's a part of them that already is up there.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So excited and really, and they're just resisting it.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, no, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna think about it.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: And if we can just acknowledge it, again, it's like another elephant that's in the room.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of elephants in this room.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: In the room of an actor, there's a lot of elephants.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many elephants in the actor room.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: If instead we can just be like, yeah, I'm disappointed that I didn't get that.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe I need to cry about it.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe I need to, you know, talk to my actor buddies about it.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I need to like, you know, Completely, like, take a couple days off or something.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever you need to do to recover,
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: giving yourself that time and that space,
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: instead of sort of operating at this very, like,
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: almost robotic, like,
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: controlled level of, like,
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to get too excited or too depressed about anything,
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: and I'm just going to kind of hold everything together,
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: and everything's fine,
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: and I can handle anything,
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: and I'm not allowed to get disappointed
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: because good little actors don't get disappointed about stuff.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because they know that they can't book every job.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, guys, you're a human being.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: And in order to portray human beings,
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: you have to experience, you have to have emotional experiences.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Let yourself have emotional experiences.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, that's my rant on let yourself want to book the job.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Let yourself feel disappointed if you don't book the job.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: It is okay.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: You will survive.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: No, I think that's really important.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: To do.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: But we are told by like so many people like,
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: oh, just you don't really, you have to go in and not want the job.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, Okay,
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to like mind control myself to like a Jedi mind trick
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: that I won't want it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think there is some kind of mindset shift that will just happen naturally
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: the more you audition and stuff.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not like a trick.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's no like trick.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I think you're right.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Actually acknowledging I was excited about this.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't get it.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: That sucks.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's power in that.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of power in that.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining me today.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you found this content helpful and inspiring,
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'd be so honored if you would leave a comment,
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: share it with your actor pals, check out my offerings below.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And also, you can find out more about Brian Zane on his website, brianzane.com.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And you can also find his podcast,
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: The Actor's Nervous System,
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: here on Substack or pretty much anywhere that you like to listen to your podcasts.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you can also find clips of the podcast on Instagram and TikTok.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, and I'll see you next time.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Bye!