Saturday, January 27, 2018

Why Didn't You Go Into Acting?

Answering the questions people have
asked (or I have asked myself) about
my past, present, or future.
Somebody asked me that once after seeing me all dressed up like an 18th Century nobleman. To put it simply: I didn't want to be stuck in a dead-end job while trying to find my first big break. I simply didn't want a drama career badly enough to put up with the drama of endless auditions, constant rejections, and the potential for ripoffs, shady agents and bad deals.

A line from August Wilson's play Fences sticks in my mind: "Get yourself a trade. That way you have something nobody can take away."

So I got a trade: journalism. But the acting bug would come back to bite again in the Tanque Verde Swap Meet commercials (which I've discussed previously), and also in my living history. Being a person of the past allows me to make my own rules on my own terms -- even if it doesn't make money. You can only do so many costume dramas.

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