I think the tardiness of my reply to this question kind of says it all - balancing all the things I have to and want to do can be pretty rough - between rehearsals, teaching, auditioning and trying to have a personal life, I can get pretty overwhelmed (you'd definitely think I'd be better at it at this point, considering how long I've been doing this juggling act!) I've never been the most organized or self-disciplined person so the fact that all the work that I do is self-motivated can be really really challenging.
However, I'm not sure that I would want it any other way. All of the things that I do when I am not acting inform my acting - being a teacher definitely makes me a better actor - being an actor gives me something to teach, etc. There have been a few times in my life when I have had the opportunity to just be an actor and I have relished them - but I really don't think that I would want that for the rest of my life - I very strongly believe that actors need a vast array of experience to draw on for their work and doing things outside of acting is really key to getting that experience.
In terms of having a personal life, the things that I struggle with are finding time for the people in my life who are not actors - their schedules are so different from mine - and in terms of romantic relationships, I've found its really key to be with someone who isn't necessarily doing what I do but on some level, gets it. Our schedules are so wacky and our way of working can be really confusing to someone who has never been around it. We are asked to be pretty trusting and intimate with our co-workers in ways that people who have a more 9 to 5 kind of life seem really confused and daunted by.
All for now - I'm on my way to rehearsal actually and have to look over my lines!
1 comment:
amen, sister. amen. way to point up the fact that an actor must do more than act. it is easy to forget sometimes. or hard to remember. or both.
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