“I’m not blonde with tanned skin and tall and skinny. I looked very different – and they said I looked like I was from another time.” (imdb.com)

A recent newspaper article notes she has since gained acclaim for her work and has at least three films putting her in Oscar contention: “Take Shelter,” “The Help” and “The Tree of Life.”

The article continues:

But before she was everywhere, she says, she was nowhere. “I would be attached to these beautiful projects, with Al Pacino or Terrence Malick and Brad Pitt, or Helen Mirren and for some reason … the companies would just keep getting sold,” she recalls. “It was like, ‘Gosh, I am the most unlucky person.’”

In what appears to be a Chastain characteristic, however, the glass was always half-full. “I took advantage of the delays and kept working. The great thing is it created a blank slate,” she says. “A director could see me without having knowledge of a performance that might have typecast me, so I took advantage of that a lot. This year … is the flip side of that.” //

Chastain started her arc toward the other side by earning a scholarship at Juilliard, and banging around in such TV shows as “Law & Order: Trial by Jury” and “Veronica Mars” for a few years until all of that hard feature work just took off. And now she’s having to deal with some of the biggest challenges of her career, including figuring out how to swing into the mainstream of success, keeping her open heart and earnest eagerness intact.

Already she laments feeling treated differently once she’s revealed as a movie actress. At a recent dinner party, a lively conversation quieted once she told the strangers she was talking to what she did for a living. “Immediately, I could see their eyes change,” she says. “The conversation stopped being this free, equal thing. They separated from me. But I don’t want that to happen — how can I play normal people if I’m separate?”

Working next to Pitt showed her what being separate is like: “There were paparazzi trying to get pictures of him, and when the film came out, do you know how many people were asking me what he was like as a parent? That’s none of my business!” she says. “I remember thinking that for your whole life, there’s going to be someone who wants something.”

Her openness and sincerity, qualities that she telegraphs so clearly in her performances, are precious commodities and, at this stage, Chastain keeps them on her sleeve. It’s almost hard to imagine that one day she’ll have to draw them in a little deeper and keep the things that allow her to play an idealized mother, or the embodiment of grace, out of sight for her own protection. She already says she’ll stop doing interviews when the questions become about her, rather than the work.

“I love talking about the films, I love cinema. But me … that’s so uninteresting,” she says.

Many would disagree, even if the sentiment makes sense. For now, Chastain’s hat trick of performances threatens to undermine the career she’s worked so hard to build up.

No matter how award season wraps up, she’s going to have to fight hard to prevent her “it” status from flipping into celebrity of blockbuster proportions. Expect more indie films with strong characters, or perhaps a return to the theater. Whatever she does, however, she’ll do it with grace.

“Right after ‘Tree of Life’ came out, I started hearing about strategies for my career,” she says. “And I made a decision that I wasn’t going to do anything based on a strategy. If I don’t continue to challenge myself and risk failure, I have no business being an actor.

“I’m not an actor to be a personality. I want to see every part I take like a master class. And you know what? I’m going to fail sometimes. And that’s OK. Because when you fail, you learn more.”

From Jessica Chastain wants to be an actress, not a celebrity, By Randee Dawn, Special to the Los Angeles Times December 15, 2011.

The challenges of fame

Ayn Rand wrote a commentary in the Los Angeles Times, two weeks after Marilyn Monroe’s death on August 5, 1962.

Referring to the “sordid and horrifying childhood” of Monroe, Rand wrote:

“To survive it and to preserve the kind of spirit she projected on the screen – the radiantly benevolent sense of life, which cannot be faked – was an almost inconceivable psychological achievement that required a heroism of the highest order.

Continued in post: Actor’s Privacy and The Dark Side of Fame.

Also see more related articles below.

Top photo: Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer in The Help. Bottom photo: in The Debt.

~ ~

Marilyn Monroe

Ayn Rand wrote a commentary in the Los Angeles Times, two weeks after Marilyn Monroe’s death on August 5, 1962.

Referring to the “sordid and horrifying childhood of Monroe, Rand wrote:

“To survive it and to preserve the kind of spirit she projected on the screen–the radiantly benevolent sense of life, which cannot be faked–was an almost inconceivable psychological achievement that required a heroism of the highest order.

“Whatever scars her past had left were insignificant by comparison.

“She preserved her vision of life through a nightmare struggle, fighting her way to the top. What broke her was the discovery, at the top, of as sordid an evil as the one she had left behind – worse, perhaps, because incomprehensible.

“She had expected to reach the sunlight; she found, instead, a limitless swamp of malice.

“It was a malice of a very special kind. If you want to see her groping struggle to understand it, read the magnificent article in the August 17, 1962, issue of Life magazine.

“It is not actually an article, it is a verbatim transcript of her own words–and the most tragically revealing document published in many years. It is a cry for help, which came too late to be answered.”

“When you’re famous, you kind of run into human nature in a raw kind of way,” Monroe said. “It stirs up envy, fame does. People you run into feel that, well, who is she – who does she think she is, Marilyn Monroe?

“They feel fame gives them some kind of privilege to walk up to you and say anything to you, you know, of any kind of nature – and it won’t hurt your feelings – like it’s happening to your clothing. . . . I don’t understand why people aren’t a little more generous with each other. I don’t like to say this, but I’m afraid there is a lot of envy in this business.”

[From Ayn Rand On Marilyn Monroe (August 1962), Posted by ehehr1955.]

Many creative people, including actors, actively pursue fame, or at least endure it, as a way to advance their careers. But fame may also be driven by hidden psychological needs, and can lead to harmful expectations, distorted thinking and deep emotional challenges.

With all the attention about her movie “Brokeback Mountain,” costar Michelle Williams said at the time she and her then fiance Heath Ledger considered moving to Amsterdam or Greece or somewhere “with no paparazzi or gossip magazines, where we don’t have to feel so self-conscious, because that is the death of a spontaneous, creative, real life. I can’t live my life that way and pretend I’m not bothered by it and that everything’s fine. It deeply disturbs me.” [Interview mag., March 2006]

See comments by Williams about portraying the iconic star in the post:
Michelle Williams on Interpreting Marilyn Monroe.

Scarlett Johansson on being groped

The 2006 Golden Globe Awards provided another example of how fame can distort attitudes toward stars. Scarlett Johansson was interviewed by designer Isaac Mizrahi, who actually groped her, claiming he wanted to see how her dress was made.

She graciously said later, “Someone I have never met before fondles me for his own satisfaction. Like he doesn’t know how a dress works. He’s a guy that’s starting his TV career and he’s making a bit of an exciting moment for himself. I can’t be angry at him.”

But his outrageous behavior was an example of how celebrities are often treated.

When you are famous enough, it seems, you are no longer simply a human being to some journalists, for example, who seem to use fame as an excuse to set aside ordinary considerations of respect and propriety.

And people who “need” fame may tolerate a lot of disrespect to get more attention.

Virginia Madsen on sexism

Virginia Madsen (“Sideways”) noted that Lindsay Lohan has been asked questions the media would never ask of boys: “In every interview I read, somebody was asking her about her weight and, ‘Do you throw up in the bathroom?’ I mean, no one asks teenage boys, ‘Do you have pubic hair yet?’ Whereas they’ll ask a teenage girl, ‘Are you still a virgin?’”

> More in my article: The Dark Side of Fame.

~~

Hudgens chose to act in “Sucker Punch” – and wear risqué costumes for the role – because she found the movie’s underlying message empowering.

She said the outfits represent a kind of female empowerment fantasy: “If you imagine yourself going into these action situations, she’s not gonna show up in sweatpants.

“You want to be the best that you can be and be the most ferocious. I mean, the costumes gave us a sense of confidence and power.

“The way that I carried myself was different.” [Los Angeles Times 3.23.11]

~ ~ ~

Hudgens sometimes visits Venice Beach: “I love going to the drum circle down there. Every now and then someone will let me join in and bang on their drums, and I just love people who are completely free. Even if they’re drug addicts, who sometimes freak me out.

“I’m figuring out how to be a better person while observing other people.”

She is striving to be more aware and “present-oriented” – and strong – and has been studying the book The Four Agreements, by don Miguel Ruiz.

“It has honestly changed me, almost. You really have to stay strong, because times get tough. Especially in this business. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. There’s so many amazing actresses who got taken advantage of.

“Someone like Natalie Wood, one of my idols — who knows what happened to her? She was on a boat that was mysteriously in the water, and now she’s dead.

“A lot of women get walked all over on by not standing up for themselves, and that’s just not what I’m about. I’m figuring myself out now as a young adult more than I ever have. It’s like my eyes are opening and I’m awakening to controlling my future.”

[From The Actor's Craft: Vanessa Hudgens has left 'High School' behind, by Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2011.]

According to an Amazon summary, The Four Agreements “reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering.”

The Lefkoe Method also provides an approach to dealing with limiting beliefs, and is acclaimed by many people, including personal growth and success author Jack Canfield.

You can try it for free at ReCreate Your Life.

Also see articles by Morty Lefkoe, including ones about dealing with stage fright.

~ ~ ~

Video: Shy actors: Vanessa Hudgens, Sigourney Weaver, Taye Diggs

Hudgens says “When I was young, I would not talk to anybody if I didn’t know them. I’d hide behind my mom if she tried to introduce me to anyone.” In middle school, she got into fashion, “which tends to make you a little more popular,” she notes, and acting. She said, “When I was on the stage, I felt like I was hiding behind a person, and I adored it.”

Visit my TalentDevelop Channel on YouTube for other videos on personal development topics for actors and other creative people.

Many creative people report feeling incompetent, inadequate and having low self esteem or self-regard at times. But there are ways to shift those feelings.

A number of film actors report they don’t even watch their own movies.

When you can be seen in close-ups on twenty foot high theater screens, it may be especially hard not to criticize your appearance and performance.

That sort of criticism may be based on perfectionism, but also can be related to poor self-concept or fraud feelings.

Kate Winslet has admitted that before going off to a movie shoot, she sometimes thinks, “I’m a fraud, and they’re going to fire me… I’m fat; I’m ugly; I look like a whore! [laughs] [Interview mag., Nov, 2000]

[From my article Being Creative and Self-critical.]

Reese Witherspoon says, “I have absolute amnesia about every movie I have ever made. I won’t watch them because if I did I would spiral into a state of self-hate…” [wenn.com 21 Dec 2010]

Bill Nighy has commented, “You come to realise there is this huge disparity between what you think about yourself and your work and what other people think about you and your work, at first you either think they’re insane or that it’s a conspiracy to make you look stupid. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re right, and you’re sometimes quite good at what you do.”

Even someone as accomplished as Meryl Streep admits she has “varying degrees of confidence and self-loathing…. You can have a perfectly horrible day where you doubt your talent. It could be about not feeling able to achieve a certain scene or about an emotion you feel you weren’t able to get to… Or that you’re boring and they’re going to find out that you don’t know what you’re doing… any one of those things.”

[From the page Self-esteem / Self concept - which has a number of other quotes by actors.]

So what can you do about low self-esteem or self-confidence as an actor?

Developing yourself as a person and an actor, taking classes, getting into commercials or community theater or any performance work can help feelings of low self-esteem.

There are specific products and programs that can help.

The Self-Esteem Supercharger, a CD program from Learning Strategies can help enhance confidence.

According to the site, “Many professional and recreational athletes have found listening to the Self-Esteem Supercharger before a game or match improves their performance.”

Professional soccer player Michael Cestone says, “I had tried subliminal tapes with limited results, so I had to try the Paraliminals because they were different. I was desperately looking for something to help me prepare for the season. I noticed results immediately.

“The first time I used the tape I felt more focused and was able to read the game better, as well as make faster decisions. That was only the beginning.”

Learn more about The Self-Esteem Supercharger and other items in the section:
Self concept / self esteem Products and Programs.

> Also read more (and see video by Jack Canfield) about the Natural Confidence program by Morty Lefkoe.

Also see post: Impostor phenomenon: Gerard Butler – “Have I ever thought I was a fraud? Maybe 18 hours a day.”

Also see post: Building self-confidence: changing limiting beliefs and helping others.

~~

dealing with self-criticism, building self confidence, self esteem confidence, building self esteem, impostor feelings

“My life was crushed when they told me ‘No.’ But I was 17, it was a long time ago and rejection like that only makes you stronger, gets you asking — how can I better myself?” [thetvaddict.com]

On body image

[Have you noticed any pressure in Hollywood regarding your size?]

“I actually noticed it more when I was younger which is why I stopped, it was getting to my self-esteem. But once I learned I am not my dress size and to never let anyone put me in a box, I was more content with being myself and letting the world see my light shine.”

[Young, Fat, & Fabulous youngfatandfabulous.com]

Also see more quotes on Body image.

women and talent, women developing creativity, negative body image, acting and rejection

Scarlett Johansson has noted that sensitivity can have a dark side: “I think I was born with a great awareness of my surroundings and of other people. Sometimes that awareness is good, and sometimes I wish I wasn’t so sensitive.”

Everyone has some sensitivity to inner experiences and emotions, to the moods of others, and to many other sensations. But highly sensitive people have unusually strong awareness and reactivity, and are more likely to be shy.

From my article Using Your High Sensitivity Personality As an Actor.

Also see more posts on the main site on High Sensitivity.

highly sensitive actors, introverted actors, shy personality, introverted personality, high sensitivity personality

And then I took it a step further because they wanted me to look really downtrodden, so I actually drank wine so I was hung over and I put mascara in my hair to give myself really bad roots.

Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”): Is that what we call Method?

Benz: It’s called “I want the job.” I signed in and sat down, and they came out and were looking around, and I heard them saying, “Well, she signed in, but where is she?” I finally said, “I’m right here.” And they said, “Are you wearing prosthetic makeup?”

Parsons: Wow, you had the best compliment and the worst insult in 24 hours!

~~~~

Lea Michele (“Glee”) I’ve never been through a TV process before. I’ve been on auditions, but I’ve been working in musical theater in New York since I was 8 years old.

I came out to L.A. after my most recent Broadway show, and I just wanted to be on “Grey’s Anatomy.” I wanted to be a bloody victim of some kind of car crash, and I end up going out for “Glee.”

I had to sing two musical theater songs and a pop song, plus read 800 sides. That whole part was comfortable for me; it was normal. But the whole “You’re going to go to the studio, then you’re going to go to the network”—I had no idea what any of that meant.

And maybe that was good, because I didn’t understand it and just thought of it as a callback. For my last callback, I got into this terrible car accident pulling into the Fox lot, left my smoking car on Pico Boulevard, and ran into the audition with glass in my hair.

They were saying, “We heard Lea Michele just got into a car crash!” I was like, “No, I’m here, I’m totally fine.”

It was such a Rachel Berry thing to do: literally leave the smoking car on Pico and run to the audition. But I auditioned, and they told me in the room that I got it.

I hate auditioning.

Jim Parsons : I love auditioning.

Julie Benz (“Dexter”): Me, too. It’s a competitive sport to me.

Parsons: Me, too. Go, fight, win! First of all, I enjoy working on anything.

Benz: I look at it as, it’s literally your time to be an actor that day. And it’s a performance; that’s all it is. I don’t look at it as a job; it’s my time to play the part how I want to play it. And I throw my material away when I leave. You learn to love it.

Michele: I want that to be my mantra. I get really, really nervous. I come from the world of singing at auditions, which is a whole added stress.

~~~

Back Stage: Do you remember your worst audition?

Benz: I have a tendency to just say what I’m thinking. I walked into this room, and it was a big movie, and the director looked at me and goes, “You remind me of my ex-girlfriend,” and went on and on about how horrible his ex-girlfriend was.

He hated her so much and said I was the spitting image of her. I finally looked at him and said, “I should just leave. I don’t even think I should audition.” And I left.

Michele: My problem is, going on auditions, I was brought up so when you get in that room, you do whatever you can to get the job. So whatever they ask me, I say, “Yes, I can do it!” I went in for a gymnastics movie, and they had a form you had to fill out, asking things like, “Can you do back flips?”

I filled out the whole thing, completely lying about everything I could do. And I got in the room, and they said, “It says here you’re working on the beam.” I said, “Yep, working on the beam, hope to get to the vault soon!”

I completely lied. And when I got a callback, I realized I couldn’t go in. I couldn’t do anything I’d said I could do.

From Prime Time – Who’s in the Running: Television Actors, By Jenelle Riley, Back Stage, November 18, 2009

acting talent, acting performance, training as actor, developing creativity, creative expression, audition confidence, acting careers

Here are some quotes from the article: Ian McKellen reflects on ‘The Prisoner,’ Gandalf and gay rights, By Matea Gold, The Los Angeles Times.

In his view, Hollywood still hasn’t come that far in its attitude toward gays.

“The conventional wisdom is that if you are gay, you cannot play the romantic straight lead in a movie,” he said.

“They’d rather have ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ The proposition from Mephistopheles as you sign the agreement that you will become a Hollywood star is that you will lie about yourself. That’s selling your soul. This business may involve disguise, but it’s about telling the truth. And I don’t think a closeted actor in this day and age can act as well as an actor who is out.”

Shy but confident – Despite his strong sentiments, McKellen insists that he’s “a very shy person.”

Coming out gave him more confidence, but “it is not easy being something that society for generations has taught everybody is beyond the pale.” To this day, he sometimes ducks questions from cabbies about whether he is married, exhausted by the notion of explaining himself to a stranger.

“There are still times in my life where I pull back from being totally honest,” he said quietly, “and I can’t imagine a single straight person who would understand that.”

Once frustrated that Hollywood wasn’t throwing more big film roles his way, McKellen now appears to be content with what he has achieved. He can’t imagine formally retiring — “Going to live in the country? No.” — but is no longer yearning for parts that have yet to come his way.

“If I didn’t actually act again, I don’t think I would be any less happy, because I would always assume I was going to work. But let’s say I lost a leg and couldn’t work. Well, there’s an awful lot I would enjoy doing. I might get down to some reading.”

Photo: McKellen as ‘Two’ in The Prisoner [AMC series].

Related pages with quotes etc:
Identity
Self concept / self esteem articles
Sexuality
Androgyny / gender

building self confidence, celebrity and personal growth, self esteem confidence, confidence building, building self esteem, building identity, search for your true self

As a young girl growing up in Arkansas, Julie Adams longed to be an actress. Even though the odds were against her, she believed in the inner voice that encouraged her toward her dream — and it ultimately helped her find success in movies and television.

“I’ve come to realize that whatever part of myself forced me to strike out rather haphazardly for Hollywood is the only real wisdom I possess.

“That part of me seemed to know that no matter how difficult achieving my goal might be, or even if I never achieved it, I would be happier striving toward my dream than if I tried to find security in a life I was unsuited for.”

~ ~

Julie Adams is 82 and has been acting since 1949. Publicity photo from Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

Related: Intuition articles and Intuition quotes

acting talent, acting performance, training as actor, developing creativity, creative expression, acting self esteem, acting passion, entertainment psychology, acting careers

I want us all to look at our beliefs and thoughts about acting and the business (they are two entirely different subjects, you know!).

The purpose of this is to bring to our consciousness any conflicting intentions or beliefs we may be holding that are sabotaging our success.

You can’t JUDGE the “business” or the “jerks who won’t let you audition” and expect to successfully get in a room to do that very thing!

And you really, really want to want to act because if you are conflicted, you will create sabotage around what you think you want!

Some examples of this look like the following: 1. I really want to act BUT I can’t make enough to support my family/am too old, fat, or the wrong type. I don’t have an agent. I don’t know how to get started. It’s a horrible time to begin blah, blah, blah.”

She continues with more helpful examples of self-limiting beliefs and thinking, and also reminds actors:

The business can shift your focus to it being “a job”, and lose the creative essence that is the core of acting. Remember the joy of sharing your heart that made you want to act in the first place. Celebrate yourself and your gift. Ultimately, you stay in joy and create what you want.

Quotes and photo from Official Dee Wallace Blog.

Also hear podcast interview with Dee Wallace by host Brad Swift of the Life on Purpose Institute.

Dee Wallace is author of the book Conscious Creation

Hear new podcast interview with Dee at Inner Talent Interviews.

acting talent, acting performance, training as actor, developing creativity, creative expression, acting self esteem, acting passion, entertainment psychology, acting careers