Curiosity Didn't Kill the Actor (Recap: August)

When was the last time you were genuinely curious in an audition?

Not prepared.

Not trying to figure out what casting wanted.

Not deciding what the "right" choice was.

Curious.

What happens if I don't know exactly how this person feels yet?

What if this line isn't angry?

Why did they choose that word?

What happened five minutes before the scene?

What if the thing I've decided is true about this character...isn't?

Actors ask a lot of questions.

But somewhere along the way, we also get very good at answering them too quickly.

And I think that happens outside the work too.

"I'm not getting auditions because my materials aren't working."

"They don't cast people like me."

"You have to live in Los Angeles."

"Nobody watches independent films."

"AI is going to replace actors."

"Social media is ruining the business."

"Social media is the only way to have a career."

Pick your certainty.

The problem isn't that none of those things contain truth.

The problem is what happens when we stop asking questions.

The business doesn't currently reward certainty.

August was a particularly strange month for anyone looking for a simple explanation of where this industry is headed.

California announced nine television projects receiving incentives that are expected to generate around $608 million in production spending and thousands of cast and crew jobs. At almost the same time, Los Angeles County was considering a completely different program aimed specifically at movies under $1 million — projects currently too small to qualify for California's state film incentive.

So...

Is Hollywood production disappearing?

Coming back?

Moving elsewhere?

All three, depending on what part of the business you're talking about.

Then there is the audience.

The summer box office actually performed pretty well in dollars. Through August 23, North American theaters had brought in about $4.4 billion — around 6% more than the comparable summer period in 2019.

Good news!

Except the number of tickets being sold remains dramatically lower than it was seven years ago, and about half of this summer's money came from only five films.

Also, YouTube now represents roughly 14% of U.S. TV and streaming usage.

And two of this year's biggest filmmaking stories, Backrooms and Obsession, came from filmmakers who built their work online before Hollywood came calling.

So is theatrical dead?

Obviously not.

Is YouTube replacing Hollywood?

Also no.

Is the relationship between audiences, creators, studios and distributors changing?

Absolutely.

That's much less satisfying than a definitive answer.

It is also much more useful.

Curiosity keeps you from confusing a moment with a rule.

Actors do this constantly.

Three auditions come in for lawyers and suddenly:

"I guess this is my type."

You haven't heard from your agent in two weeks:

"They've stopped caring about me."

A comedic choice doesn't work in class:

"I shouldn't do comedy."

One casting director tells you they prefer tighter framing:

"This is how self-tapes need to be shot."

A reel doesn't immediately produce more auditions:

"The reel doesn't work."

Maybe.

But...What else could be true?

That question has saved me from a lot of bullshit over the years.

Not because the most comforting explanation is automatically correct. Sometimes the answer actually is that the reel isn't working.

Curiosity isn't positive thinking.

It doesn't mean replacing:

"My materials suck" with "My materials are perfect and everyone else is wrong!"

That's not curiosity either.

Curiosity is being willing to investigate before you convict.

Your craft depends on it.

We spend a lot of time at TFA talking about Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.

Those are questions for a reason.

They force specificity.

Who am I talking to?

What do I actually want?

Where are we?

When is this happening?

Why does this matter?

How am I trying to get what I need?

But the purpose isn't to complete six boxes and receive the Correct Acting Answer™.

The questions are supposed to open something.

Maybe the first answer leads to another question.

Maybe you discover that the character doesn't fully understand why they're doing what they're doing.

Maybe the scene gets more interesting when two things are true at the same time.

Maybe you prepared them as furious and then discover they are desperately trying not to become furious.

That discovery is the fun part.

Curiosity creates play.

And play gives you somewhere to go besides "perform this correctly."

One of the fastest ways to get trapped in your head is deciding what the scene should look like before you've allowed yourself to experience it.

You become the actor, director, casting director and critic simultaneously.

That is a lot of people to fit into one self-tape.

Curiosity also makes you better at the business.

I think actors sometimes hear "understand the business" and assume that means we all need to become entertainment lawyers, producers, social media strategists and experts on every new technology that comes along.

No, thank you.

I have enough tabs open.

But I do think we need to stay curious about the things that actually touch our careers.

AI is a good example.

This month SAG-AFTRA, CAA, UTA, WME, Cameo and others again pushed for protections against unauthorized use of performers' voices and likenesses. SAG-AFTRA continues to center its approach around consent, compensation and control.

As actors, we obviously need those protections.

But we also need to know enough to ask good questions when something lands in front of us.

What am I agreeing to?

Where can they use this performance?

For how long?

Are they creating a digital replica?

Can my voice or likeness be used somewhere I never intended?

What am I being paid for?

You don't have to become an AI expert.

You just shouldn't be so intimidated, angry or overwhelmed by the subject that you stop asking questions.

And honestly, that applies to almost everything in this business.

Maybe you've always heard that you have to live in Los Angeles.

Is that still completely true for the career you're trying to build?

Maybe you've decided casting only sees you one way.

Is that based on actual evidence, or on four auditions you got in a row?

Maybe you keep hearing that actors need to make their own work.

Okay.

What does that actually mean for you?

Does it mean writing a feature?

Maybe.

Or maybe it means shooting a three-minute scene with your friends.

Maybe it means finding a filmmaker whose work you love and asking if they need actors.

Maybe it means finally learning what a producer actually does instead of vaguely assuming somebody else will handle that part.

The point isn't that every actor needs to start producing.

The point is: don't let "that's not my job" become the reason you never investigate something that might open a door.

Two of this year's notable filmmaking stories, Backrooms and Obsession, grew out of filmmakers who were already making things, experimenting and putting work in front of audiences before the traditional industry came in.

That doesn't mean:

EVERY ACTOR START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL IMMEDIATELY.

Please don't take that from this.

It means there are more ways into the room than there used to be.

And if we're too attached to what an acting career is supposed to look like, we might miss some of them.

Curiosity is not the same as chasing everything.

This is important.

Because I know exactly what some of our brains will do with this.

"Okay. I need to learn producing. And AI. And TikTok. And editing. Maybe screenwriting. Should I start a podcast? Wait, do I need to move? My reel sucks. I should redo my website."

No.

That is not curiosity.

That is anxiety with a to-do list.

You do not need to respond to every change in the industry.

You don't need to join every platform.

You don't need to suddenly become a filmmaker because one filmmaker got discovered online.

You don't need new headshots every time you question your casting.

Curiosity gives you permission to look before you leap.

To ask:

Is this actually relevant to me?

Is there something here I want to explore?

What would happen if I tried this on a very small scale?

And sometimes the answer is: "Nope. Not for me." That's useful too.

Because now you've made a decision based on information instead of fear, habit or somebody else's career advice.

And maybe that's the bigger point.

A lot of this career asks us to live with unanswered questions.

Did they like the audition?

Why didn't I get a callback?

Does my agent believe in me?

Should I change my materials?

Am I doing enough?

Should I be creating my own work?

Is this city still right for me?

Am I behind?

We want answers because answers feel like control.

But this career doesn't offer much control.

So sometimes we create certainty where there isn't any.

We decide the audition was bad.

We decide we're not their type.

We decide nobody is watching.

We decide the industry is impossible.

We decide we're too old, too new, too specific, not specific enough, too late, too whatever.

And once we've decided that, we stop looking.

Curiosity keeps the door cracked open.

Not because everything is secretly going to work out.

But because you might not actually know what you think you know.

And that's a much more interesting place to work from.

FOCUS OF THE MONTH: Get Curious

Set aside 15–20 minutes this month.

Pick one thing you've been telling yourself about your acting or career.

Maybe:

• "I need new headshots."

• "I'm bad at comedy."

• "Casting doesn't see me that way."

• "I should be getting more auditions."

• "I need to create my own work."

Then ask yourself three questions:

1. What do I actually know?

Separate the facts from the story you're telling yourself.

2. What am I curious about?

Turn the statement into a question.

Instead of:

"I'm bad at comedy."

Try:

"What would happen if I worked on a comedic scene this month?"

3. What's one small thing I can do to find out?

Take the class.

Shoot the scene.

Ask the question.

Review your materials.

Have the conversation.

That's it.

You don't need to solve your career this month.

Just take one assumption you've been treating like a fact and get curious enough to test it.

See what you learn.

Stay curious.

#stayfocused