“Actors are rogues and vagabonds. Or they ought to be. I can’t stand it when they behave like solicitors from Penge. … I’m a would-be rebel. The good girl who’d like to be a bad one.”

Helen Mirren [imdb.com, unknown date]

But being “bad” [at least in a good way, not self- or socially-destructive] can require courage to explore your shadow side.

Arianna Huffington has commented about how challenging that may be for women: “Fear is universal; we all have fear. There are two areas where women have more fear: one is our looks and our bodies, and we invest an enormous amount of time there. And I think there is an obsession now, which you see in the extent of plastic surgery… And the other area is speaking out. Women are still terrified of speaking out.”

But – perhaps especially for actors – those kinds of fears can impact men as well.

Arianna Huffington is author of the new book: On Becoming Fearless

[Photo of Helen Mirren from "The Queen"]

Related pages:
the shadow self
eccentricity
courage / confidence
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Helen Mirren, Arianna Huffington book, celebrity rebels, self confidence book

Tags: Arianna Huffington, critical thoughts, Helen Mirren, insecurity, self concept, self confidence, self esteem.
11.22.06 |
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