How to Be More Talented

I was asked last week

“How does one become more talented?”

My immediate reply 

“I don’t think anyone is more talented than anyone else

But I do think some are simply better at releasing it

Or at least, getting out of the way of it”

Let me explain

I started acting when I was 14 years old

I happened to be in a class room with one of the greatest Shakespearean directors in the world

He had just had a child and needed some stable income 

So he happened to start teaching at my school for the few years I was there

I had 4 years of training every week under his tutelage 

I got into NIDA at age 18 and had 3 years of training (50-70 hours per week) at one of the most prestigious acting institutions in the world 

Since graduating, I have worked privately with many of the worlds best acting and performance coaches

I have been in some terrible classes

I have been in some incredible classes

I have watched thousands of artists train in dark and dingy rooms around the globe

And in all that time

I don’t think I have never seen an artist be more talented than any other 

I certainly have seen some true freaks of nature out there 

A 52 year old mother in New York at 2am giving her soul to the camera 

A 60 year old Portuguese actor in London playing Romeo (on stilts, whilst playing an accordion, whilst holding an umbrella) 

Andrew Garfield on the set of Hacksaw Ridge (a performance which gained him an Oscar nomination)

But again

I don’t believe they were any more talented than anyone else

I believe they simply had the systems set up to help them release it

Lets get specific 

I’ll break down a time when I felt I was at the peak of my talent 

Once upon a time

I was cast in a film

From the second I read it 

I shot up in bed (meaning I sat up quickly, not did heroin)

I thought it was the most important Australian film I had ever read

And I deeply wanted to give everything to it

So this was my schedule 

I’ll describe 36 hours for you

Some of it was set up by me, and some of it was set up by the production team

… 

00:00 - wake up & warm up

02:00 - 2 hour session with acting coach (Elizabeth Kemp - it was the only slot she could give me as she was busy working with Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga at the time)

04:00 - sleep

06:00 - start again (run, breathing exercise, journal)

07:00 - email Angie (mindset coach) 

08:00 - Irish language practice with coach

09:00 - cast read through

12:00 - horse riding practice with trainer

13:00 - rehearse scene 33 with cast & director 

14:30 - Irish accent practice with coach 

16:30 - stunt work for scene 33 with trainer 

17:00 - rest, went fly fishing (it was Tasmania, so of course I took my fly rod)

19:30 - cast dinner

21:30 - sleep

01:00 - wake up & warm up

02:00 - 2 hour session with Elizabeth Kemp

04:00 - sleep

09:00 - start again (run, cold shower, breathe, vocal warm up)

10:00 - blacksmith training (if anyone needs some 1825 replica prison chains, yes I can forge some for you, just email me) 

11:00 - driven to set / costume, hair, make up

12:00 - lunch on set (I don’t eat much, bit nervous) 

12:45 - film scene 23 (30 second shot with no dialogue, it takes 6 hours) 

Etc etc 

… 

And the results?

I was super proud of the work I gave to that film

But was it because of talent?

I absolutely don’t think so

I truly think it was a case of schedules, routines, habits, rituals, and external accountability

I simply didn’t have the time or energy to let any doubts or indecisions get in the way 

I had to be at certain locations, at certain times, with certain external accountability

I only had time to just rock up and jump in

They did all the work (ps thanks to everyone who bossed me around on The Nightingale) 

Now, do I feel like I’m currently giving the level of work that I was giving during that time?

Nope

Is it because I’m suddenly less talented than I was back then?

Nope

I simply don’t have the systems set up right now to help me release to that degree

But why not Michael!?

How could this be!?

I could easily go into push mode right now

Beat the shit out of myself for not being more disciplined

But the truth is

I simply don’t care as much at the moment

If I really cared, I mean, if I really really wanted to give so much to acting right now

I wouldn’t be here typing about it 

I’de be too busy doing it

But I’m not

It ain’t good, bad, right or wrong

It’s just where I’m at

Right now, I have the systems set up to help me work on other processes I’m loving and curious about 

I really wanted to get a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu this year

I wanted to get to that level of play on the mats 

I gave myself twelve months to do it 

I signed up to a new gym 5 minutes away from my nest

Got all my supplements to help me recover from all the suffering ahead

I listened to the wizard John Danaher’s audiobook over and over again

I did 4-6 classes per week, every week

And I got my Blue Belt after 5 months

Cool huh?!

Not really

It’s just kind of obvious

It’s not me

I’m not some freak at Jiu Jitsu

I’m not more talented than anyone else at the gym

I just set up the systems to help me play & release my work 

Clarified my process, then did it, over and over

The hardest thing about it

Was occasionally, at 11:35, I had thoughts like;

“I could just not go today”

But that was always the moment I put my headphones on and played music from when I was 14 and began stretching my wrists

The switch would flick

And then suddenly 

Hey presto!

My body would wake up

“Time to roll”

There were 3 times in those 5 months where I felt like genuinely crying on the mats

Times where I felt like an utter failure

Like I couldn’t do anything well enough and I would never improve and I would be stuck forever

But I’ve worked at my other crafts long enough to know those are the most important times to be kind and patient

So I would take a breath

Give myself permission to suck

Keep going

And start again the next day

Okay 

To clarify

From what I’ve experienced

I truly believe we all have the ability to play and give as freely as we did as children

I do not believe in talent 

But I do believe in the skillset of setting one’s self up to win

So

“How does one become more talented?”

Create systems to remove doubt and indecision 

Hope this helps 

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