Who’s Advice to Listen to?
I use to train Jiu Jitsu with someone
Let’s call them “Mr. Helper”
Mr. Helper is a big sweetie
But every time we trained together
I felt a bit icky
There was a lack of harmony
My body felt heavy
Forceful
And there was a general sense of frustration
Why?
Well
What I began to notice
Was that Mr. Helper
Would tell me what to do
A lot
Advice advice advice
Now
Advice can be lovely
But there was something interesting going on
It wasn’t necessarily the advice that was being given
It was more so the factors around the advice
Here were some things I noticed
He would give me advice before I had even tried the movement for myself
He would give advice, and then give advice again, without letting me take the initial advice and try to apply it for myself
He would give me advice which I noticed was quite sloppy and unclear
And lastly
When we actually did rounds of sparring
I would tap him out
Multiple times
Quite easily
(Side note - I’m not the greatest at jiu jitsu, so this is saying a bit)
My point is… the advice he was continually giving me, he wasn’t actually able to apply himself
This was a big moment for me
I noticed it
Took a breath
And smiled
What a wonderful human being
Mr. Helper
Always trying to help!
Bloody kind and considerate
Clearly, he had some wonderful intentions
Just didn’t necessarily find the best way to go about it
But it brings up the question…
And this is, I believe, a bloody important question
Who’s advice do I listen to?
How do I know when to take someone’s direction?
In my 19 years of acting
I’ve heard so much conflicting advice in our industry
Over and over again
“Never have a plan B”
Vs
“Oh, you always have a plan B”
“Say yes to everything”
Vs
“Oh, no, you have to learn to say no”
Ugh
Exhausting
So…
Here is my advice
On taking advice
Lol
Okay
When someone gives me advice
I want to do one thing
Look at them…
I mean really look at them
Zoom out and see the person standing in front of me
Let me explain
Firstly
Are they listening to me?
Two ears
One mouth
If they are listening to me more than talking & telling me what to do
That’s a possible green light
Do I feel heard?
Do I feel understood?
Or
Is this ratio out of sync?
Do I feel like they are trying to fix me,
Before knowing me or my context?
Secondly
Craft
Do I respect their craftsmanship?
What do I mean by craftsmanship?
Well
What is their work like?
Do they have a skillset with some key ingredients
Namely
Growth Mindset - Are they curious? Or are they operating from a fixed place (where things are good, bad, right, or wrong)?
Responsibility - Do they take responsibility for the things they can control? And let go of the things they can’t?
Obey Nature - Do they listen to their body? Trust their instincts? Let their body lead? Are they willing to go slow?
Sacrifice - Are they generous? Do they give a piece of themselves through their craft?
Compassion - Do they believe in themselves enough to be able to be trust themselves, to be kind to themselves when the pressure is on?
So
Craftsmanship
Are they good at contributing something to this earth through their skillset?
I have taken more advice from blacksmiths, Jiu Jitsu fighters, swimmers and farmers
Than I have from acting teachers
Because I see a level of respect and care for their craft
Because I see how much they put into giving something back to society through their work
This is another possible green light
Thirdly
Results
Do they actually get results?
Meaning
Do they convert their words and ideas into action which allows them to work within reality
As opposed to just talking
Having cool things to say
But not being able to actually apply it in society themselves.
Results
Another possible green light
And finally
(& this is probably the most important)
The body check
How does my body feel when I’m around them?
Do I feel de-energised?
A sense of force, pushing, heaviness, closing off
Or
Do I feel energised?
A sense of expansion, light, love, honesty, openess
A feeling of trust?
The body knows (thanks Angie)
The body…. Knows
One last thing…
Did I ask?
Did I actually ask for guidance, advice, direction?
Or…
Is this maybe more about them, then it is about me?
Curious
So
If one or more of these boxes are being being ticked
I might take their little gem
And go see if I can apply it :)
If none of these boxes are being ticked
I might simply take a breath
Say “thank you”
And kindly move on.
Oh
Wait
One more last thing
(Just to flip this all on it’s head)
Sometimes
The best advice
Can come from the least likely of places
Like Mr. Helper
He created a response in me which led me on a path of clarity and direction
These days
I actually love training with him
He tells me what to do
And I get my little reminder to keep being careful about who’s advice I’m listening to
So I guess
In the end
He did actually help :)
Sending hugs
X
Actor’s DIY Kit
One
Identify & accept your secret sauce. What is the most generous thing you can give to the audience that no one else can? (Hint: Inner Child)
Two
Define somewhat of a harbour. Be clear & honest about what you really want.
Three
Clarify how you would behave in order to allow what you really want to come to you… then try behave that way.
Four
Create a process for responding to pressure with compassion… practice it often.
Five
Practice in a way which allows for you to actually get better.
Six
Clarify your process for opportunities. How do you give the work you really want to give, when it actually counts?
Seven
Clarify your game plan process. How do you prepare for your next role so you can give your best when you show up to that job?
Eight
Clarify your game day process. How do you make sure you leave set knowing you gave the work you really wanted to give?
Nine
Clarify your process for waiting. How do you live the way you really want to, regardless of whether you get the gig or not?
Ten
Accept that you cannot do it alone / by yourself. Therefor, think about who you are choosing to connect with & how.
Eleven
Try. “Fail Gloriously”.
Twelve
Start again.
Hope this helps
X
The Game Plan
Last week I received some news which made me pretty giddy
The dates have officially been locked in for a feature film I’m doing
It’s a nice little “green light”
Time to dip my toe in the water
The director is a genius and added two weeks of rehearsals into the schedule
So right now
I am approximately 12 weeks away from being on the floor
12 weeks
Now…
What to do with that time?
How do I prep in a way which will allow me to sustainably give my best in 12 weeks time?
What do I need to do…
To get where I need to get…
So I can give what I need to give?
I want to be carefully considerate here
Too little, and I won’t be ready
Too much, and I will begin from a place of exhaustion
When I was 25 I was cast in the lead role at the Sydney Opera House nine months in advance
I wrote down a plan
I would spend 2 hours every day in the garage working on the role
For nine months…
You can guess what happened
Not fun
Not helpful
And definitely not sustainable
So
Let's have a think
To begin
We start at the end
How do I want to feel when I put my head on the pillow the night before rehearsals start?
Clear
Open
Connected
Generous
Let’s work backwards from there
Let’s look at the areas I need to take care of in these 12 weeks
One: Life Logistics
Rent out apartment.
Take care of my health in the lead up.
Make sure I have a great water bottle.
Are my iPod & head phones good to go?
Share dates with necessary people to decrease chances of conflicts (I have cancelled attending a wedding in LA).
Clarify location details when filming (clarify important nearby details such as groceries, gym & laundry).
Make sure my finances are sufficiently organised to get me up to, and during filming.
Clarify what will be important for me to take with me (as I will be gone from home for 7 weeks).
Etc, Etc
Two: Build a Human (which will honour the script)
Chaos & Order
Find the balance between building a human being, whilst still honouring the script
A human being?
Well, what makes up a human being?
Brain (Logic)
Heart (Need)
Subconscious (Dreams)
Flesh (Physical body)
Bones (Structure)
Blood (Family history / memories)
Etc, Etc
Keep it simple…
Make a list to help my brain help me:
Print & Read Script (two day subconscious read).
Commence dream work.
Book necessary EA (get great help in order to do great prep).
Clarify the point of the story & the role of my character within the story with the director (is my character the protagonist? Or is my character's function to serve the protagonists journey, and what function is that?)
Clarify Technicals for each scene (Need, Logic, point of scene, environment, relationships, moment before, dreamwork etc)
Clarify Physicals with director (hair, beard, clothes, shoes, finger nails, mannerisms etc)
Research - is there anything the director believes is truly important for me to listen to, watch, read, etc in order for me to be this character?)
Go play openly :)
I want to keep it energising
I want to make sure I do less than I think I can handle
So at any point…
If I’m feeling overwhelmed
Stop
Breathe
Go be in nature, look at the horizon, exercise, drink water, hug someone I love, eat watermelon, call a dear friend, dance, play, go for a nice long drive :)
I’m the head of the department for my character
So take care of me in order to give more generous work
Hope this helps
X
Actually Get Results
In 2015
Mel Gibson cut most of my work out of Hacksaw Ridge
And I felt completely miserable
In 2017
Jennifer Kent directed me in The Nightingale
And I felt utterly fulfilled
Two years
Two totally different experiences
So, what happened in between 2015 & 2017?
2016 (obviously)
But what happened, specifically, in those 12 months?
Well, A few things…
Let’s discuss two
Time & Focus
Firstly
Time
Let’s insert a great quote here from the wizard, John Danaher
“Think about how much time people waste on any given day
Between phones, tv, computer games, social media, etc etc
Things which are literally designed to waste your time
And yet, people devote a third of their waking life to these activities.
If you could just take that wasted time
And learn skills
Skills which actually help you give the performance you want to, when you want to,
Within a few years…
You could reinvent yourself as an artist.”
Mmm
Now I have an extra third of my waking life back
But what do I now do with those hours?
This brings us to our second point
Focus
But which skills do I focus on?
Enter Pareto’s Principle
Which suggests that…
In an ocean of acting techniques
Only a very small percentage
Are truly effective across the board
Okay
So I want to devote almost all of my training, time and resources into those specific techniques
Which will then, in turn, help me give the work I actually want to, when I want to
And thus… the results will flow.
If you want to get good quickly
Learn where to place your focus
Not just the mental focus on the technique
It’s the techniques themselves
But...
What are the truly important techniques of the craft of screen acting?
Which ones are actually worth getting good at?
mmm
Curious
Hope this helps
x
The Call of Jealousy
I grew up in Africa
And no
I did not have lions in my back yard
They were at least 20 minutes away
But in order to see them
A tracker had to guide you to them
Sure, you could get lucky
Drive in the reserves and stumble upon them
You could be hanging on the outside of the car window and turn a corner and stumble upon four of them eating a buffalo about 4 yards from the road
(The fastest I’ve ever climbed through a window)
But in most cases
For people really wanting to observe lions in their natural habitat
A tracker is the best bet
But how does a lion tracker know how to find the lions?
Well
They track em
One track at a time
But
How does the tracker know where to start looking for the tracks?
This part I love
They listen
The lion tracker gets up before sunrise
Makes a warm beverage
Sits outside in the darkness
And listens
They wait
And wait
Until it happens…
The call
A deep bellowing
Unmistakable
For a lot of people
It’s the sound from a nightmare
But for lion trackers
This is music
They go still
They use their body as a compass
And they rotate toward the direction they think the sound is coming from.
This is their first step
To listen to the call
And then?
They go.
There is a saying among trackers
“I don’t know where I’m going
But I know how I’m going to get there”
What do they mean?
They know they will get to their destination (wherever that may be)
If they simply follow one track at a time.
A while ago
I was chatting to someone
About how lion tracking relates to acting
Where is our call in the darkness?
Our call to find our first track?
The topic of jealously came up
“Listen to what makes you insanely jealous”
Ooo
What makes me jealous?
Immediately my mind floods with mid-shots and close-ups
Scenes
Characters
Things that I lose sleep over
That I lie awake at night thinking
“God, if I could only give that”…
Sarah Paulson’s 40 second take in The People Vs O.J. Simpson
Ugh
She hits about 19 thoughts in one close-up
The full spectrum of her character is delivered without a single bloody word
Benicio in that monster one take wide-shot from Escape at Dannemora
UGH
Be still my heart
That level of generous performance
That, to me, is worth not sleeping for
It’s worth forgetting to eat for
If I could just squeeze my screen with everything I have when I watch those moments…
I’m going to stop immediately with listing things because I will never actually finish this.
What I’ve found
I think is both eerie
And yet makes complete sense
That the things I took note of years ago
Which made me insanely jealous…
Gave me the direction to find my first tracks
That one shot in The Nightingale
Is eerily close to that shot I have obsessively watched in There will be Blood
That one take in Lost Boy
Is eerily close to that shot I’m addicted to in Boogie Nights
The most exhilarating part about this?
I have no idea where my next track is
The scared & controlling part of me is frustrated by this
The curious & open part of me is exhilarated by not knowing
I have no idea what will make me jealous tomorrow
But I think it might be time to wake up early
Sit outside with a warm beverage
And listen for the call of jealousy
What’s my point?
Listen to the call
Listen to what makes you insanely jealous
And follow it
Hope this helps
x
Dear Graduates
Once upon a time
I was riding a camel
(I still don’t know why)
I was 16 at the time
And the guide up ahead asked me how I was feeling about entering my last few years of high school
I mumbled some kind of sulky teenage response
He turned around and said
“Mate, just put your head down for a couple of years,
It will be over before you know it,
and then you might not have to guide camel rides for the rest of your life”
Mmm
I would actually love to experiment with being a camel ride guide
But I got his point
Regardless if I work my arse off
Or I’m a complete lazy bones
Time will pass
And I will reap whatever I have sown.
Right now
The average 3rd year acting student at drama school
Has half a year left in their studies
The heads are starting to rise
And the finish line is in sight
Some might be desperately trying to escape the confines
Others might be trepidatiously looking over the edge of the nest
Wondering if they will fly
Or fall to a fiery death (bit dramatic)
But the end is near
You have been crammed full of tools and techniques
And had more bizarre experiences than any non-drama-school uni student could possibly imagine (or understand)
But
The majority of the experience has been had
And these last 6 months will be over before you know it
You are doing something you will never have the opportunity to do again
Sure, you can keep going to acting classes in the decades to come
But when else in your life
Will you dedicate 3 full years of your time & energy
To doing things like voice, movement, history of theatre, Alexander technique, improvisation, music, accents, mime, clowning, dance, stunts, etc etc
Consistently
Every day
With incredible facilities
And incredible facilitators?
I’m currently in a library leaning back in my chair
Thinking about those years for me
God
11 years after graduating from NIDA
I would give anything
To just once more
Wake up early
Dress in tight fitting black lycra
And lie down on those cold wooden floors again
(Whilst fighting for a position closest to the gas heater)
If I close my eyes
And take a second to actually place myself in that moment…
I feel tired
I feel over it
I feel ready to leave
Let this be over already…
But when I think about rolling over onto my side
And look at who is around me
What a bloody motley crew of human beings
I see Bri-Bri fighting the balance between complete dedication & getting the giggles
Matty is right there next to her in the trenches
Andrew is playing his guitar
I can hear Kurt thinking “Oh, you know what…”
Dave’s hair is perfect
Katie and Guyman are singing & moving with swag
Morgie smells of delicious banana bread
Gabe is having a complex conversation with Gideon about superheroes
Benedict isn’t here yet - he’s outside smoking with Nadim
Meyne is sketching in his notebook
Rob is drinking coffee (whilst Alan is trying to play some kind of prank on him)
Jenny is doing some kind of interpretive dance that I don’t quite understand
Sam is asking “where’s Branden?”
Harry is busting out notes like a pro
Batch is running a stand up routine
Silvina is figuring out if mercury retrograde is to blame
Michelle is finding someone to hug tightly
On and on
It’s like a weird experimental group of new Sesame Street characters
And it took me far...
Far too long
To realise
That this motley crew...
This is my family
Regardless of where I am in the world
There they are
Shared suffering sure as heck does something to bring a group of humans together
We went through experiences that I will never have the opportunity to do again
No more rockstar exercise
No more animal workshop
No more same time, same place, every, single, day.
I never would’ve thought that once I was out in the industry…
I would be working alongside them on set
Walking in the city protesting with them
Acting in things they had written
Holding sound gear for them in things they were producing
Running lines for their self tapes a decade later
Supporting their petition they started
Being by their side on their wedding day
Having late night phone calls once their new baby was finally asleep
Whispering in that director’s ear to hire them (just so we can hang out in the trailer)
Of course, we were not all the best of friends
We still aren’t
Some speak every day
Others havant spoken in years
But I’m not talking about liking each other
I’m talking about love
The doing part
To celebrate the extraordinary highs
To give flowers at an opening
To give standing ovations, even when the work sucks
To just be quiet and hug when no more words can help.
I was once waiting at a traffic light in my car
I looked to my right
And standing there was someone who I graduated
We hadn’t spoken in years
We looked at each other
In silence
And smiled
For a long moment
Until the light turned green
And we nodded as I drove away
Yep
Those 3 years
We did it
And we did it together
And for that
We will always have a bond
Always.
To the grads…
Look around you
Like it or not
This is your family
This is the group you get to go influence the industry with
So
Take care of each other as you slowly step into this new professional world
Oh… the places you’ll go
x
Peaks & Valleys
Ups and downs, smiles and frowns
I parked my car this morning before heading in to teach the 3rd year actors at NIDA
I gave my phone a little glance before I exited the vehicle
Message received
08:45 - “…forwarding your agent this email I got from xxxx.
They want you for the lead role in their feature film, shooting in xxxxxx, USA”
Oh, cool!
What a way to start the week
Onwards.
I stepped into class and we started again
Focussing on the things we could control
Building unique systems and process to help us technically give the work we want to, when we want to
I noticed myself pacing the room
Slightly angsty
Mmm
We took 5 for a bathroom break
I gave in to my curiosity
I pulled out my phone
Downloaded the email app (I usually don’t have emails accessible on my phone)
And discovered a thread of emails going back and forth
My face at this point was about 4 inches from the screen
09:05 - “interested in Michael for the lead role “XXXX”, we are shooting in Late July 2022…”
My heart is pounding
09:08 - “Is he available at this time and able to work in the US?”
My breath is shortening
09:10 - “Casting is quite urgent and I'll have to push this to the directors if he's keen.”
Back and forth
Producer to casting to agent, back to casting, back to producer
The details
The glorious details
Lead role. USA. July
Cast
YES
Script
YES
Concept lookbook
OH YES PLEASE YES
And then…
09:13 - “Unfortunately it'd be too tight on this one…”
I stop
My eyelids give up and I let them close
Just like that
It’s gone
Done and dusted
My Monday morning roller coaster lasted approximately 28 minutes
I exit the bathroom
My back hurts
My neck feels heavy
My throat is tight
I step back into the classroom
And we start again
We get back to the important work
The simple, doable things
The setting up of little habits that compound over time
A bunch of things happened outside of my control this morning
A glorious example of the peaks and valleys of this industry all within an hour of time
Those ups will happen
And following them will be the downs
The balance
The reestablishing of order
This too shall pass
I might not be flying to the USA in July…
But I can still focus on giving my all to an audition I have tonight
Or take half an hour to sit on the headland in the rain with binoculars and watch the whales begin their long journey North
Or… simply take an hour to lie on the couch and give myself permission to feel what I’m feeling
To feel the disappointment
The frustration
The hurt
Then take a breath
And get back to it
Onwards
x
How to Serve
Once upon a time
I was on set
With a very well known actor
We were rehearsing a scene
This scene happened to include the inciting incident
The moment which catapults our protagonist onto their journey
The story needs this scenes
Without this scene there is no story
Now
As we were rehearsing
This actor turned to the director and said
“I don’t think I’d actually be that upset in this moment
More just a bit disappointed
Maybe I can rest my hand on his shoulder gently?”
Silence…
The director turned to me with a look of sheer terror on his face
Why?
Because in making that suggestion
The actor revealed something
They revealed they didn’t understand the Point of the Scene (POS)
Let alone the Point of their Character (POC) within the story
Sheep and goats
Amateurs and Professionals
Amateurs do what works for them
Professionals do what works for the story
Amateurs fight for what they want
Professionals fight for what the story needs
So
Know the POS
Know your purpose
Know why your character is in this script
Know why we are all standing around on this set spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next few hours
Trying to film this one scene
There is a reason
A point to it
And if you know what the point of the scene is
You can steer your work toward that
And therefore
You will serve
Serve the scene
Serve the story
Serve your tribe
Allowing directors to take a big, deep, calm breath
And thank god that they hired an actor who is here to give generously
Here to give what actually helps this scene and story
That’s some damn fine generosity right there amigo
But how does one find the POS?
Simple
Generally speaking
Look at the last beat of the scene
The last few lines or last little description
It will be there
Somewhere
It might be obvious
It might be slightly hidden
But it will be there
Whispering to you
“Serve me”
“Be more generous”
To clarify…
How to serve?
Know your place
Know your Point of the Scene (POS)
Know your character’s function in the story
Then go get em Tiger
You generous actor, you!
x
Self Taping
What’s your process today for Self Taping?
Everything between receiving the audition in your inbox till sending it off?
Well
Firstly
Let me define my end state
I would like self tapes to feel
Easy, Meaningful, and Generous
Now
Let’s build toward that
Prep:
One - Clear yes, no or maybe
Two - Book necessary External Accountability (reader, coach, etc)
Three - Human Moment Prep (6-8 technical questions)
Day Of:
Four - Clear Focus (Set the timer for 45 minutes & write down how I would like to feel at the end of that designated time slot)
Five - Ritual (Breathing exercise and 90 seconds of honesty in front of the lens)
Six - PLAY
Seven - Share the work (Edit & Send)
And if it’s all too much to handle?
I ask the reader to hold an iPad up and I read it for the first time in the take
My point? Build what works for you
How would you like to feel at the end?
Then start backwards
Keep growing
It’s a living process
This will all probably be different tomorrow ;)
x
No One Way
There is an actor that I really love
Ever since I watched him as a kid
I thought we was a technical genius
A master of his craft.
Last night
I was at a film festival promoting something we shot back in 2020
It was lovely to see my old family again
The group of people who came together during a lockdown to make a movie
Now…
One of my cast mates in this film
Actually happens to know this actor that I love quite well
So…
I pulled him aside
Picked his brains
And asked for all the goss
I wanted to know the secrets
His decisions on set
His rituals and routines
The subtle things he does before takes so as to help him release his magic
What did I find out?
“Well…
He hardly ever knows his lines
In fact
A lot of the time
He gets a permanent marker
Writes his difficult lines on some gaffer tape
And sticks it on his mark
So when he forgets his lines during a take
He can just look down
Take a second
Re-group
Say “ah, yes”
And then get back to it…
He says “ah, yes” a lot”.
I laughed
Of course
A lovely reminder
There is no one way to do this gig
Permission to build it your way
Permission to do what works for you
And if writing lines on tape helps you give Oscar winning work?
You do you boo boo!
Hope this helps
Sending hugs
x
Tumbleweed
As always
I have no idea what I’m doing
(I’ve never met anyone who actually does)
I know there’s lots of times I like to pretend I do
Giving me a sense of control
But it doesn’t take much for life to pull that comfortable rug right out from underneath me
And for me to faceplate on the floor of reality
Here’s my reality right now
(As I see it)
Last October & November
For various reasons
I declined eight offers for professional acting work
Films, Theatre, Short films, continuing season’s of TV shows
And now
Tumbleweed
Nada
Silence
Mmm
The peaks and valleys
The ups and downs
The waves of this industry
I’ve been feeling frustrated about this in the passed week
Then I realised
I love it
I feel like the more my fears are urging me to sprint
The more this world is telling me to think about the marathon
To think about sustainability of my contribution
I heard a really lovely quote yesterday
“Any time you feel the urge to speed up… slow down”
To me
I read this as…
Breathe
Go back to process
What do I love about this craft?
How do I audition my way?
A way which allows me to put my head on the pillow feeling fulfilled & grateful?
What’s actually most important to me?
Who do I love doing this with?
What’s the easy & honest next step?
I can feel an itch
I want to play
I want to contribute
I want to use the skill set I’ve been working on
To give human moments
To help share meaningful stories
Mmm
Curious
A wonderful actor I’m working with just messaged me
He was feeling the pressure
Then his cat jumped on the table
The presence
The play
The curiosity
And the pressure “melted away”
This
More of this
More presence
More play
More curioisty
:)
Sending hugs
x
Dreamed a Dream
I was in my kitchen
Standing on the ground
I had a horse named Zeus
He was sitting up on the highest shelf
And no matter how much I tried to coax him
He wouldn’t come down
Then I woke up
Curious
For the following questions…
I will be answering as a chosen symbol from my dream
Which in this case
Will be the horse
I will choose to interpret this any way I want
I get to decide what this means for me
Here we go…
Question One: Who are you?
I am the horse named Zeus
Question Two: Describe yourself?
I am golden
I am regal
I am stubborn
Question Three: What is your purpose?
I am here to transport people from one side to another
To transition people through change
Question Four: How are you here to help Michael?
Michael
Look at me
Up here
Sitting proudly
I’m above all others
And guess what
I’m sitting on a shelf in a kitchen
Not getting anything done
Not contributing anything worthwhile to this world
Not collaborating with others
No matter what you say
No matter how much people to to coax me to come play
I’m stuck here up in my own world thinking how great I am
This is pride
This is hubris
And what have you learned about hubris?
It comes before the fall
Michael
Be on the ground
Put your feet in the soil
Stand on the earth
Look around you
At the wonderful people around you to connect with
Go play
Be open
Be grounded
Be humble
Live
Rather then sitting proudly on a kitchen shelf and slowly turning stale
Curious
Sending hugs
x
Convert Curiosity
When I was a kid growing up in Africa
I dreamed about going on adventures.
After school
I would remove my shirt and shoes
Run outside in my khaki shorts
BB gun and pocket knife by my side
I would make a fire
And proceed to walk through the jungle (my backyard) in search of whatever adventure arose
I would stalk Vervet monkeys
Munch of mulberries
Maybe even wade into the pond and try catch fish
(I don’t know how many times those poor goldfish had to deal with me chasing them around)
This…
This is how I wanted to life to be
This is how I expected it to be
Michael, The Explorer
The next adventure
The next person to learn from
The next track to follow
No idea where it was going to lead me
But being brave enough to follow my curiosity
Despite the fear and danger of booby traps and lions
(The booby traps were set by me, and the nearest lions were at least 45 minutes away from where I lived)
But when I woke up as an adult
There was a difference between my expectations and the reality I was living
I still had those dreams, desires of adventure, and urges to follow my curiosity
But I wasn’t acting on them
The gap between those two worlds felt vast
One world of adventure, exhilaration, terror, growth, learning, love, joy, courage
One world of predictability, staleness, boredom
Don’t get me wrong - I love times of predictability, routine and plateaus
But I wanted the balance
The dichotomy
The plateau juxtaposed with growth
The stillness juxtaposed with action
The concrete juxtaposed with mud
The order juxtaposed with chaos
And I was at the point where plateaus felt lonely without the balance of the other side
I munched on this
Sat down with a guide I really trusted
And spoke about the vast gap between those two places
And what I found…
Was that the gap wasn’t as large as I initially though
In fact
It was tiny
A single stepping stone in a small puddle
Or a little jump across a small stream
One little stepping stone
One little thing
One, simple action
Was all I needed to bridge those two worlds
Examples?
Send that message
Write that email
Book those dates in the calendar
Ask that question
Say that thing out loud
Cross the street
Follow that sign
Let my body lead
Walk out the door
What’s my point?
Convert curiosity into action
Sending hugs
x
Less Than
I sat down this morning at a cafe
Underneath one of those big trees that produce those itchy-balls in autumn
In my childhood, we use to collect as many as we could
Start playground wars
And have “itchy-ball fights”
Then go back into the classroom after recess had ended
And proceed to spend the rest of the day scratching ourselves senseless
Agh…
I had a big article planned for today
Was really excited about it too
I was ready to start my Monday with a bang
Wake up early and be super productive
Then I got 2 hours of sleep…
So
Out of respect to the principles of productivity
I’m going to do less than I think I can handle
Scratch my to-do list from five things down to two
Rest well
And start again tomorrow
I’m pretty proud of this
Six years ago I never would have even considered the idea of doing less
In this kind of moment
I would have wanted to push through
Called myself weak
And tell myself to toughen up
Just get it done
That mindset did actually get me some results
But It just wasn’t sustainable
And what’s more
When I looked at my heros and mentors
The people who were getting the results I really wanted to work towards
They all seemed to go slower in order to go faster
And do less in order to do more
So here’s to sustainable performance
Here’s to doing less than I think I can handle
Sending hugs
x
What Works for You
Q&A: ‘Mike, sometimes I pick up a script and feel overwhelmed with the 1000’s of things I’ve learnt I COULD do with it… I want to keep growing my toolkit and explore new things, but how can I find which specific ‘tools’ are strongest for my process, to use as my foundation?’ - C
Hey C
Love this
Thank you for clicking “send”
Something I have noticed
In working with both graduates and non-graduates
Is a sense of
“I’m not doing enough”
I see this manifesting in unsustainable behaviour
Trying to do twenty things
But not actually being able to do any of them at a desired level
Which keeps them in a plateau-like state
Never actually improving
Again
Amateurs do lots. Professionals do less, and do it better.
As someone who finished NIDA with an actual process list of approximately 200 things I believed I had to do in order to give work that I believed was acceptable
(Which of course, was unsustainable, and led to me constantly feeling like I was never doing enough = burnout)
My approach now tends to be the opposite
Do less & do it better
Go look in the mirror (figuratively or literally)
And think about a few things
What kind of career do you really want to have?
What do you actually want to contribute to this industry?
No good, bad, right, wrong
Just see what pops up
Now ask yourself the question
Is what I’m currently doing actually getting me the results I want?
Back in 2016
I sat down and explored when acting was actually meaningful to me
When did it feel like I was at my most generous?
When did It feel like I was actually contributing something meaningful?
When was it worth doing for me?
For me, at that time
It boiled down to the concept of having “honest conversations”
Which led to a very sobering moment
I had to ask myself the question
Why am a trying to become some fancy character actor
When I can’t even be honest on screen yet?
I realised the most beneficial thing I could do
Was give up
Start again
But this time
Play the long game
Slow down in order to progress further
Build a strong, simple base
A base that would carry me for the years and decades to come
So
Step one
What are the best experiences you’ve had acting?
The most energising, meaningful, fun, alive experiences
When did you feel most at home?
Step Two
What are the patterns behind those experiences?
What did you do that influenced those experiences?
Keep it simple
Were you honest?
Did you focus on what you could control?
Did you get help from a coach or great rehearsal buddy?
Did you take your time?
Did you listen to music?
Did you have a great sleep the night before?
Did you exercise the morning of?
Did you drink lots of water?
Did you warm up?
Did you have a clear objective?
Did you learn your lines?
Did you focus on your breath?
Did you build your character’s relationships?
Did you build your character’s environment?
Did you have a clear moment before?
Did you have a little ritual?
Did you understand the purpose of the scene?
Did you understand your characters purpose within the script?
Did you have a Chekovian Psychologiuc Gesture?
Bla bla bla
Etc, etc
Find the patterns
Step Three
Take those patterns, principles, rituals
And distill them
Which ones actually work best for you?
And build off them
Focus on practicing those few things
And focus on practicing them well
If you notice that you’ve had wonderful experiences when you were honest, knew your lines, and had a clear objective
Then practice doing those 3 things well
Do them so well it becomes second nature
Once they are in the body (unconscious competence)
Then think about what simple skill would advance your growth next
One skill at a time
Build that base baby!
Something I love about non-graduates
Or even non-actors moving into acting
Is that they don’t necessarily know what they should be doing
So their mind isn’t overwhelmed with options
(like graduates can sometimes be after 3 years of learning hundreds of techniques)
I have watched professional athletes, Victoria’s Secret models, ARIA award winning musicians
Advance faster in acting because we focussed on only doing a few things well
We focussed on what actually worked for them
(Quality over quantity)
Everyone has patterns and principles behind meaningful & energising moments in their life
The key is to allocate the time and space to discovering and distilling them
Building a foundation which will help you perform well, and your way
No matter the arena!
A strong foundation acts like a tree trunk
It supports all the wonderfully detailed branches and leaves to come
But the priority
Was giving a tiny seed of intention
All the room to grow well slowly
Some people might think a tree trunk is boring
I think it is the most wonderful, sexy thing in the world
I think it is what influences one’s longevity and quality of work.
Wanting to stay curious, grow and explore is bloody honourable
But if everything you learn stays at a shallow level
What value has this actually brought to your process?
If you were to spend an entire year practicing what actually works best for you
I guarantee
You would progress further than someone who wants to try get good at twenty techniques in 12 months
C
I see myself at 26
Having all the passionate intentions in the world
Having all the willingness to work hard
But feeling all the frustrations of not actually advancing
Which brings up the question
What is the most generous thing you could do?
Slow down, get better, give more?
Or keep trying to cram 20 shallow techniques in at a time?
My point…
Do what actually works best for you
Sending hugs
x
Trust the Sprouts
There is a great actor I’m working with at the moment
And something else he’s very good at
Is growing plants
So here is a process for growing flowers
(Go with me on this)
Rich, Nutritious soil
Accomodating environment
Plant Seeds
Feed every day (water & fertiliser)
Monitor & Maintain
Appreciate result
Start again
mmm
Curious
Did you see it?
There is a moment here I’m interested in
Actually there are a bunch
But let’s just focus on one
Feed every day
Why?
If the seeds are under the soil
And are not flowers yet
And all I can see is dirt
Then why feed them every day?
Process + Time
There is trust in a process of growth
And there is time
These two things combined
Equals sprouts
Now
Sprouts are not flowers
So one could just throw out the pot and say “it doesn’t work”
But any caring gardener knows
Sprouts are evidence
Evidence that you are on track
Keep going
Mmm
Curious
Let’s do the obvious and apply this to acting
Do you have a process of growth you trust enough to be patient with?
And what sprouts do you have which provide evidence that you are on track?
Hope this helps
x
Hermit Crabs
I’ve been staring at pictures of hermit crabs this past week
I forgot some really basic info about them that was common knowledge when I was a curious kid
When the hermit crab out grows it’s shell
It moves to a larger one
Damn nature
Awesome
However
This is an incredibly vulnerable time for the crab
Because in order to move into a bigger shell
It first has to remove it’s protective home
It’s shield against danger
And wander into the open
Leaving it susceptible to all the glorious chaos Mother Nature can posses
One would think it would be easier for the crab to just chill
Take it easy
Stay the same size
So it could just remain in it’s current home
And not have to go through all the treachery of exposing itself to the world
Why put itself through the naked process of growth?
Even looking at a hermit crab without a shell
I actually laughed out loud
It looks so feeble and awkward
A sense of
“Oh? THAT’S what you really are!?”
But the thing is
If the crab can follow it’s calling
Make it through this vulnerable time
And find a new home to spend the next cycle of it’s life in
Well…
I guess that’s when the grab gets to look back at me and quietly smile
With a sense of
“Yeah, Sheasby, that was scary, and I did look silly, but damn, this new shell is beautiful, I’m really grateful for it, and I’m really proud of myself that I was willing to be brave enough to venture into the chaos to find it. How’s your new shell? Oh wait… you’re still in your same old one”
Mmm
Alright Mr Hermit Crab
Let’s boil this down to a question
Where am I intentionally keeping myself safe and small
So I don’t have to feel the discomfort of growth?
Curious
Sending hugs
x
Balancing Chaos & Order
08:00ish: Start Again
Wake up
Write down dream/s & dream symbol exercise
Brainstorm on MIQ (Most Important Question I wrote down the night before. This mornings’ was “what makes me feel most free?”)
Rockpool swim (Cold shower if tide is too crazy - Mother Nature occasionally says “please respect me & give me space today, Michael”)
Coffee
Breathing - 1x round of Wim Hoff to help shift my physiology & focus on what’s actually important to me
Journal - Clarify Purpose, 3x thankful for, 3x opportunities for, 3x most important tasks for the day
09:30ish: Conscious Content
Walk out the door & travel to work
I use this time to listen to an audiobook or podcast that helps me progress in a desired direction
10:30ish: Deep Work #1
Practice, Writing, Coaching or Meeting
This might be at the library, outside on the headland, a cafe, a colleagues’ studio, or a friend’s office space
13:00ish: Nutrition & Rest
Eat good food
Maybe 15min siesta
14:30ish: Deep Work #2
Practice, Writing, Coaching or Meeting
16:30ish: Admin
Emails, calls, tick boxes, errands, etc etc
Turn my computer off as I say out loud “And now, I walk away”
17:30ish: Sweat
Exercise until I at least sweat
Jiu Jitsu, Strength, Pads, Sprints or Cardio
19:00ish: Nutrition & Connection
Eat good food
Connect with people I love
Maybe watch an episode of Futurama or Youtube clip on something random
Right now I love watching documentaries on Koi fish farms in Japan
20:30ish: Deep Work #3
Practice, Writing, Coaching or Meeting
22:00ish: Progressive Thought
Three questions
One - Best thing about my day?
Two - What am I ready for tomorrow?
Three - What is my MIQ? My most important question to start tomorrow pondering
Phone left charging in the cupboard as I say out loud “And now, I walk away”
23:00ish: Sleep
Free health care
…
Weekends
Connection - Hang out with people I love and feel energised by
Adventures - Yesterday was standing literally behind a gigantic waterfall in the Blue Mountains with a dear friend. Then we went yabbie hunting. I’m 32 years old & I painted my face with mud.
…
The point of a schedule is not to build a prison or to feel trapped
Aim to find your own healthy, meaningful and energising balance between chaos and order
Enough structure to help yourself progress toward meaningful goals
Enough freedom to help yourself be agile with life
If I’m feeling overwhelmed, I scratch things out, and do less than I think I can handle
And then I start again the next day
Curious
Hope this helps
x
Do Nothing
Once upon a time
I was rethinking auditions
I had four coming up in the following two weeks
And I really wanted the generous wealth associated with those jobs
But
I also deeply wanted to stay in bed and watch my favourite show
I was enthralled with it
It was taking me on an imaginative journey I simply loved
I felt so alive watching it (ironically)
So I had a little think
What if I
Just for the next two weeks
Ran a little experiment
What if I did nothing?
I mean
What if I did as little as possible to get the job?
Now
This needed some clear planning
Because in order for me to do nothing
I had to be clear and honest about what nothing actually looked like for me
So I began combing through all the shoulds
What are the stories I have been telling myself?
What are all the things I think I should do in order to get the job?
Let’s start small
Do I need to learn lines?
I remember the time during a call back when a director said to me
“Mike, no-one ever got the role because they knew the lines”
But I grew up on Shakespeare
I went to NIDA during the years of the great Kevin Jackson shouting passionately
“THE WRITER IS GOD”
So to let go of the lines feels really scary for me
I feel naked without them
Solutions?
I could maybe just hold the script and make up some dialogue in the room?
I mean
As long as it’s honest and connected
I’ll be fine
And if worse comes to worse
I can write out my dialogue on a big piece of paper and kindly ask the reader to hold it in front of their head
It’s only for two weeks
Okay
Next
Do I need to get dressed?
Brush my hair?
Mmm
Why?
Has anyone ever got the job because of the costume they wore in the audition room?
Maybe
But for the kinds of jobs that I actually want?
I mean
What do I actually think is important?
What do I actually think is worth working towards?
What actually means something to me?
What are the performances that light me on fire?
Do they have pretty clothes or gorgeously kept hair?
Nope
For me
It’s all about honest eyes
Someone pulling their heart out of their chest
Holding it vulnerably out to the world
Allowing us to see into their wounds through the glassy windows of the soul
That’s what I love seeing more than anything
That to me is worth working towards
That to me is worth staying up late for
Missing meals for
Forgetting to go to the bathroom for
God I forget how much I love this craft sometimes
Okay
Keep going
It’s just a two week experiment
But I feel strange about not looking clean and perfect
I grew up in South Africa
I went to a very “old school” school
They only got rid of the cane when I was six years old
And walking down the school halls at the age of seven
If I didn’t say “good morning, Sir” and take my hat off
One particular teacher would pull my ear and lift me onto my tippy toes
“Are you forgetting to do something, Mr Sheasby?”
His voice would boom
Must be perfect
Must be polite
Must show respect to elders
Again
It’s just a two week experiment
Lean in
Ugh this is uncomfortable
Take a breath
Keep going buddy
What do I actually need to do?
I don’t really need to learn lines
I don’t really need to make myself look perfect
What else don’t I need to do?
Let’s keep stripping it back
What is acting?
Start again
As always
Let’s boil it down to the essential component of living
Death
That’s a downer
But it provides meaning
The meaning of life for the majority of Homo Sapiens’ experience has been survival
Because it was so incredibly difficult
For the last two hundred thousand years
A small scratch could mean bye bye
Side note - how amazing was the introduction of penicillin?
And that wasn’t even a hundred years a go!?
Wow
Michael
Concentrate
Next
What was an essential component that allowed humans to survive?
Connection
Connection meant working together, safety and security
Connection between humans allowed us to go from the bottom of the food chain, to the top
Connection = Survival
Next
What has been an essential component in helping humans connect?
Stories
Meaningful stories
Sharing meaningful stories
Stories helped us connect, which helped us survive
Meaningful stories = Connection = Survival
How do we share meaningful stories?
Stick to basics
Write, Sing, Dance, Paint, Act
This is where acting comes in
Acting can be a tool, a vessel to help share meaningful stories
Acting = Stories = Connection = Survival
So what is essentially required from acting in order to be effective?
Well
I think it has to ignite the mirror neurones in order for it to effectively be meaningful
To help the tribe actually be moved, feel something, laugh and cry, learn
But, how does one ignite the tribes’ mirror neurones?
Ahhh
By igniting mine!
It has to ignite something internally for me
Make it human
Human
I don’t mean the species
I mean make it vulnerable, alive, present, real, dangerous, loving, messy
Human
What else?
Every scene starts and then ends
It’s a moment in time
That’s it
A Moment
How about we just go with that for now
Human
Moment
Acting is about giving a human moment
Give a human moment = share a meaningful story = help the tribe connect = help humans survive
Boom
My version of nothing
I need one tiny thing to help make my work human
And I need one tiny thing to help make my work have a clear moment
(I’ll save sharing those two little things for another time)
Fear is coming up again
What about all the other technical work I should be doing?
The things I learned from decades of training?
Slow down
It’s just a two week experiment
But what if I ruin my reputation in those two weeks?
Do something to get black listed from casting rooms?
I was late for Kevin Jackson’s class once
ONCE
One time after three years of practice
He turned to me quietly and said
“It only took one ice-berg to sink the Titanic”
Haha!
I miss drama school
I miss the family I had there
The trust that was built by being vulnerable and looking silly in front of my class mates
Over and over again
Every day
For three years straight
With that same group of artists
How fortunate
Take that lesson buddy
Keep being willing to look silly
Besides
It’s just for two weeks
And if it’s done with love
With an honest pursuit of craft and curiosity
You will be held by the tribe
Be willing to do nothing
Be willing to step off that ledge
And follow your curiosity
…
So off I went
I’de watch my show with a big smile
Until the wee hours of the morning
Fall asleep when my body told me it was time to rest
Wake up half an hour before my audition
Jump out of bed in my white long-johns
Put my Ugg boots on
Hop on my motorcycle
Ride to wherever the audition was
Grab the sides on my way into the room
(On one occasion I did quickly write the dialogue on a big piece of paper for the reader to hold)
And I’de try my best to give a human moment
Then I’de say thank you and scurry out
Jump back on my motorbike
And go clamber back into bed
To continue watching my show
The results?
Out of the four auditions I had during those two weeks
I got two
And was the director’s choice for the third
The fourth one I never heard back from
Curious
What are my thoughts looking back on this experiment years later?
I’m glad I did it
Because it really reframed things for me
Made me see things in a different light
All the shoulds
All the work I felt I had a duty to do in order to simply give my work
Let’s get to the point
As I write this I’m giggling
The irony is
I put a hell of a lot of work into doing nothing
There was a lot of thought, planning and execution
But more so
There was a lot of energy required to lean into the fear of doing things differently
Doing them in a way which made my body feel like It might get kicked out of the tribe
I guess that’s where the self care & kindness comes in
The listening to the body
The following of curiosity
The asking of meaningful questions
What is actually important to me?
Where is beauty in my life?
What makes my body feel energised and alive?
Where is wonder for me?
What makes me feel enchantment?
What is worth doing?
What is worth doing less?
What is my version of doing nothing?
What gives me meaning for my short little time on this soil?
Curious
Hope this helps
x
PS - I do not condone riding a motorcycle in the city wearing pyjamas and Ugg boots. Please be safe.
Do Less, Better
When I graduated from drama school
I tried to distill everything I had learned into one single word document
As simple and clear as I could make it
I had a list of approximately 200 “important” points
Two hundred
Which meant anytime I had an audition or job
I felt my duty was to tick every single one of those 200 boxes
In order to build a good character
So I could feel like a good actor
And get my gold star for the fridge
Now
When I actually got an audition or job
I would block out every day I had available in order to prepare
Buy a case of red bull (I was 21)
Lock myself away in the garage
And apart from bathroom or sleep
Refuse to come out until I felt like I had done everything I needed to do
Can you guess what kept happening?
No surprises here
I would get to the 3rd or 4th day
My adrenaline dump from getting the role would have worn off
And my lack of sleep, rest, nutrition would have caught up to me
Dreams would meet reality
And I would fall over
“Body says no”
But
I would’ve only done about 5 - 10 of my 200 “important” tasks!
What followed was the valley of despair
I would spend the rest of my prep time feeling like a failure
I should be working harder
I should be all out obsessive
I should be doing everything to make this work extraordinary
I would eventually rock up to set feeling tired and scared
And spend the majority of time thinking about the other 190 things I didn’t do
Thinking about how I should be more prepared than I actually was
Thus
I stayed in the zone of “not good enough”
Now
When I look back at this time
I see a beautiful intention
I really wanted to give great work
And feel validated in an industry I loved
Pretty normal desires for a hungry young amateur one would think
I just needed a bit of guidance with my approach
An adjustment of the “how”
I had a little think
Got some really great external accountability
And commenced an experiment
I started watching actors
And what I noticed from watching them
Frustrated the living heck out of me
It seemed the better the actor
The less work they did
The actors who wanted to rehearse over and over
Who wanted to ask a hundred questions on set
Who had clearly spent the last week killing themselves with preparation
Seemed to be a bit poo
And by that I mean they carried an underlying insecurity into their work
Which came through on the screen
And the actors who rocked up with an Oscar or huge resume of work behind them
Did less
Way less
They had a kind of ease
Or grace
They knew their lines enough
They hit their mark
And they asked a question if it was actually necessary and helpful for the scene to work
And if they made a mistake
They shrugged and did another take without getting flustered or beating themselves up
I thought this wasn’t fair
It looked too easy
I scoffed
“But look at all the work I’m doing”
Hard work equals success right?
Oh?
No!?
I think I might have been telling myself a story based off my belief systems I acquired growing up
Belief Systems
B.S.
Time for another experiment
What if a did less?
I don’t mean from 200 down to 20
I mean 200 down to 2
Two things
What if I experimented with only allowing myself to do two things in order to prep for an audition or job?
Okay
Obviously I need to learn my lines
Hang on
What about that time I apologised to the director in that call-back for not knowing my lines perfectly
And he replied with
“Mate, shut up, no-one ever got the role because they knew the bloody lines”
Maybe that’s just my B.S. too!?
Ugh
Alright
Start agin
Clean slate
I know nothing
Now
From this place…
What do I actually need to do?
In order to get where I actually need to get?
So I can give what I actually need to give?
Do. Get. Give.
Since graduating from drama school
The jobs I am proudest of
I have done the least amount of work on
I still read that sentence and think “how does that make sense?”
I’m guessing a huge part of it
Is based around the idea that the key to not caring
Is being very clear and honest about what you do truly care about
So… the key to doing less work
Is being very clear and honest about the work that is actually worth doing
Which allows for work to become far more sustainable
I feel safe and strong in knowing that what I actually need to do is taken care of
Which opens me up to play
Something else I have noticed…
Giving up on trying to do everything
And only doing one single thing really well
Builds a muscle
Your body gets to feel what it’s like to experience good work
Even if its just one tiny, minuscule moment
But that experience compounds
And if you can learn to do one tiny thing very well
You can learn to replicate the formula
It will bleed into other areas of your performance
And life
So
Lets play “would you rather”…
Looking at your acting process
Would you rather do 10 things averagely?
Or do 2 things bloody well?
Quantity vs quality
Amateurs do lots
Pros do less
But the few things they actually do
They. Do. Well.
My point?
Do less
And do it better
Hope this helps
x