In my final year of acting school, alumnus John C. Reilly guest-starred in one of our mainstage productions. While in town and hanging around our halls, he did a talk and Q&A during class hours, free for anyone to attend.
Note that I never pedestal celebrities… but he’s hilarious, and given my inclination for comedic acting, I attended.
He talked about his career, how earning his acting BFA from our program kickstarted it all, and gave advice to us blooming actors.
One such nugget of advice was more or less the following, to paraphrase:
“A buddy of mine was big into motorcycle riding, telling me how when caught in the middle lane between two semis… if he so much as thought about one of the semis, he would unconsciously drift toward that lane a bit.”
He then related this anecdote to why peak focus is non-negotiable for an actor.
Imposter Syndrome
Let’s back up for a second.
No matter how many times, with earnestness and honesty, my classmates and professors told me I was an extremely talented actor, I never believed it.
I’m a long-time sufferer of imposter syndrome – deadly for an actor. Here’s what my thought process might sound like while performing:
“i said that awkwardly… im not using my hands right… why am i standing here i need to do something with my hands… im good at acting but will never be great… why did i get admitted into this program if im not good… am i better than [so and so]… actually no one likes me at all they just all pretend to so i don’t get hurt… and you know what my face looks puffy from last night’s cheat meal at subway cuz i had two macadamia nut cookies after a footlong that’s like 200 grams of carbs”
If we’re going by the metrics of the motorcycle anecdote, a line of thinking like that could cause a 20-car pileup – performance wrecker.
I made focus a top priority
One day, I said the proverbial “fuck it” and dropped every technique, every book, and every “expert’s” advice…. and stopped focusing on the left and right lanes.
Around this time, I started playing in Windy City Darters. An epiphany. Darts train focus. The same focus I can use on stage and screen. Moreover, with darts:
- There’s pressure.
- There’s an audience watching.
- The more I thought about missing, the more I missed.
- Hyper-focus is required – it’s a game of millimeter precision.
- The less I used my “active” awareness and just… “did”… the more I entered into a flow state.
And when in a flow state, my 3-dart average drastically improved.
Better yet, imposter syndrome was reduced instantaneously when I applied that flow state to auditions and performances. Of course, none of this is a golden ticket to acting genius, but at the very least, it’s necessary to achieve a high level of performance.
For the actor, focus is the foundation for all technique that follows.
What are you focusing on?
It doesn’t have to be darts (although my bias strongly advocates darts as a seriously fun activity with little overhead to get started).
Take any activity – painting, baking, woodworking, billiards, knitting, photography, whatever – and use it to achieve your necessary actor’s focus.
