It was the early 90s. I was living in Los Angeles and working for Steven Spielberg. Not as an actor in his movies but as a waiter in his restaurant.
I was a successful waiter, but I wanted to be a successful actor, so I was auditioning. I was auditioning a lot. I would get close to booking something. There were a lot of callbacks and many “on avails”, (that’s actor speak for “If the person they want doesn’t want the job, they’ll settle for you”) but no acting jobs.
One day while working on the sub, one of my shipmates (Steven Spielberg’s restaurant was a Submarine shaped restaurant that served gourmet submarine sandwiches.) told me about a casting director named Mariko Ballentine, who taught a life changing commercial audition workshop.
I called Mariko Ballentine, we only talked on the phone. I never took her workshop, yet Mariko Ballentine changed my life! She changed my life by asking me one simple question: “Are you doing what you think they want or are you doing what you do?”
I said, “I’m doing what I think they want.”
To which Mariko Ballentine replied, “Stop it,” and my life changed.
Before have my life changed by Mariko Ballentine, when I went on an audition, instead of being myself, or making the role my own. I tried to do what I thought the casting director wanted, even if it went against my instincts. And I came across as fake and unnatural. Because I was.
After talking to Mariko Ballentine, I showed up to the audtion and “do what I do.” My auditions were fresh, original, unique, and best of all, fun! I started booking commercials like a fiend!
When it comes to your creative work, ask yourself, “Am I doing what I think they want, or am I doing what I do?”
When you try to give the people who show up for your art what you think they want, you’re giving them something that they’ve already seen. But when you “do what you do,” you give them something that can only be done by one person…you!
“Doing what you do” can be scary, because when you “do what you do,” you are vulnerable. You have to vulnerable in order to make a connection with your audience. After all, art is about connection!
As you create, whether you’re an actor, painter, writer, singer, dancer, or whatever, “do what you do.”, because that is what the world wants to see. The world wants to see what happens when you “do what you do.” Because that, my dear artist, is where the magic is.
I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
