DIVA - Being Intelligent Part 2

For now I see myself retiring in Tuscany, 20 years later. I've never been to Tuscany myself but I've seen it in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun". Everything starts with a dream and I've been dreaming all my life. I dreamed to be an actress as a child and some years later, I started to live my dream, for real.

The word "actor" is associated with fame, glitterings, attention, glamour, and admiration to many but in real life behind the scenes and curtain, the first lesson an actor needs to learn is how to deal with rejections. Dealing with rejections is one of the most important part of the acting business.

Selling dreams and fantasies are of a natural job of an actor. An actor sells a persona that many audiences themselves sometimes hope they'd be or possess. From physical likes to the romantic scenes the actor played, a dream is seemingly alive. In Bollywood, the biggest movie "factory" in the world which churns out about 5000 films a year says it all. As Jonathan Torgovnik, the illustrator of "Bollywood Dreams: An Exploration of the Motion Picture Industry and Its Culture in India" says in his book , "It is about going to see the actors larger-than-life. It is about living the glamorous life for a few hours and leaving your daily hardships behind".

So to some audiences, the actor lives in a perfect world because the actor seem to be using the least amount of sweat and blood to earn a living. Because of the mistaken perception, many perceive actors as bimbos. Ironically, being bimbo is also a persona that sells well as typecasting in the acting business in many cases.

The whole point of "Being Intelligent" here means to have high level of emotional intelligence, the will power to overcome and breakthrough one's pessimistic mind, mental blocks and dejection caused by both internal and external factors in order to achieve the desired goal.

The secondary is to be able to deal with rejections and dejection such as; being typecast , unable to get acting jobs for months which may lead to many monetary pressures from immediate family members and relatives, disapproval from casting directors, directors and audiences, being misunderstood and misjudged etc etc. The acting business is also about the waiting game of the long overdue big break for the actor that can lead the actor into serious dejection which may last for months and even years. There's a term in the acting business which describe best, "The struggling actor".

Come back soon for "DIVA - Being Versatile Part 3".

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I'm still in the process of learning to be Diligent & Intelligent in everything I do. Just like how one can't drive or operate a vehicle simply by learning the basic or advance theory, one has also got to learn the practical part before getting the driver's license too. Which means to say, I'm now learning to put into practice of what I had learn in theory.

So where do I get these "ideas/theories" about acting from? Acting books, acting coaches, autobiographies of great actors/ great acting teachers and many veteran actors I met on set.

All the above are my daily struggles and my learning process in general as a working actress and I'm glad to share my 2 cents POV here with you.