Self-esteem and identity and being an actor
Jackie Earle Haley just achieved an Oscar nom for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Todd Field’s “Little Children.” His reaction was enthusiastic: “Jubilation. Pure unbelievable joy. This is a day of all days.”
Fellow “Children” nominee Kate Winslet recalled his audition for the director: “We read together; he gave the most breathtaking audition I’ve ever seen in my life. And Todd gave him the job on the spot.” [Hollywood Reporter Jan 23, 2007]
“I started acting when I was 5 years old,” Haley has noted. “And I was pretty well known for a while. Your self-esteem and your identity start to become wrapped up in that celebrity, and when that starts to fade away, your self-esteem and your identity start to fade away with it. Those roles that I played and the success that I had, that is not who I am. It’s part of who I am, but it’s not everything. So when it drifts away and you start to feel increasingly insecure, it’s kind of a long battle out of that.”
“That transition from child to adult actor is so incredibly elusive,” he adds. “The roles that were coming to me as a young adult were not that great, but I was taking them anyway to pay the rent. And the more bad roles in bad movies I took, the less anybody wanted me for a good role in a good movie.”
[photo: Phyllis Somerville and Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children."]
Kate Winslet said of her acclaim for the film, “I literally feel like I’ve never been nominated for anything before in my life. You don’t understand, I am a girl from a small town in England who was told that she might have a career in acting if she was happy to settle for playing fat parts.” [Entertainment Weekly Feb 2, 2007]
That kind of experience early in life can endure as self-critical thoughts and insecurity, especially for sensitive people. As I mention in my article Being Creative and Self-critical, Winslet has admitted that before a movie shoot, she still sometimes thinks, “I’m a fraud, and they’re going to fire me… I’m fat; I’m ugly.”
Highly creative and talented people are, according to research on giftedness, often susceptible to perfectionism and unreasonably high standards and expectations that can lead to exaggerated criticism.
For more quotes by actors and others on these topics, see the pages self-esteem / self concept, identity, body image and intensity / sensitivity - and the Highly Sensitive blog.
~~
More Sections
January 27th, 2007 at 5:39 am
That’s exactly why I’ve loved Kate Winslet in just about everything she’s done … She’s clearly sure of herself, but still vulnerable enough that she dives so deep into each character to make sure she gives a perfect performance
March 27th, 2007 at 5:32 am
Self esteem has become one of the most prevalent personal development issues in this day and age. I enjoyed your article it sparked an interest that I have. I have another article on self esteem on my site that I invite you to look at.
Thankyou for such an informative article.
Terry
http://www.psychic-aus.com