IN MY OPINION:

WILLIAM REYNOLDS:

STAYING POSITIVE>>>IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS AS AN ACTOR:

Going over your auditions immediately after they happen is a great way to learn and grow as an actor. It’s important to have a way of working that allows you to be specific and look step by step at what happened in the work and in the room. When doing this it’s also important to remember that it’s not just what didn’t work that needs your attention. To truly get yourself to the next level, you need to spend just as much time looking at and improving what went right. It is in our DNA as a species to remember the negative aspects of an experience more than the positive. It’s an important survival instinct, and we all have it. If our ancestors hadn’t remembered that a saber tooth tiger was dangerous and went to pet it instead of run, we wouldn’t be here. Survival as an artist though, requires an equally strong focus on the positive. How are you supposed to repeat and improve on what went right if all of your focus is on what went wrong? If what you want is to experience the confidence and freedom of the good moments again, you need to examine the causes and conditions that created them, and you need to do it with the intensity with which you would examine the causes and conditions of a less than satisfactory outcome.

It takes diligence to remember and learn from positive experiences, but if you don’t make the effort, the power of the more easily retained negative memories will take over and potentially color all of your experiences—including your next audition.