“Mustering up enough self-esteem to say, ‘I want to be an actor,’ was a big turning point.” Julia Roberts [Parade mag. Nov 9 2008] 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 [...]
Body image issues can be particularly acute for people in entertainment, which also provides most of the icons and role models of appearance. In her new memoir Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain, Portia de Rossi writes about a dark side of pursuing a “perfect” look. “Anorexia was my first love. I didn’t [...]
In a recent interview, Amanda Seyfried says she isn’t comfortable with her new fame and status: “I mean, why am I considered an ‘it girl?’” she asks. “Because I’m in a lot of movies right now or am on the covers of magazines? I just hope there is something solid behind that. “Because here’s the [...]
Emma Watson Acting in the final two “Potter” movies, and thinking about choosing college (maybe Columbia University), Emma Watson recently talked about criticism of her work as Hermione, and modulating her perfectionism. “I will look back on this part of my life and I know it will be special, but it used to be that [...]
James Earl Jones, who is getting a lifetime achievement award Jan. 25 from the Screen Actors Guild, still radiates wonder at being part of the acting profession. “What fascinates me is that every actor is given a charge, a task — no matter what your motive was in taking the role, even if it’s just [...]
“Actors and actresses, because that’s their career, can be sort of self-obsessed.” Kristen Bell says that for her new film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” she “just looked into the depths of the most hard-to-admit or vulnerable or bad characteristics of my own personality and what an actress can become if given that kind of self indulgence [...]
“It’s all been a big sham.” “Sometimes I wake up in the morning before going off to a shoot, and I think, I can’t do this; I’m a fraud. They’re going to fire me — all these things. I’m fat; I’m ugly…” Those admissions by Kate Winslet [Interview mag. Nov 2000] were made after her [...]
Escape into comedy Amanda Bynes began professionally acting at the age of seven, and at age thirteen became the star of her own tv series The Amanda Show. Bynes says she understands the feeling of being an outsider, one of the themes of the film “Hairspray” – in which she plays Penny [photo]. “I grew [...]
Jackie Earle Haley on insecurity 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 [...]
“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 [...]
Weeding out the weak? In a Backstage article [Crossing the Line by Nicole Kristal] acting coach Carolyne Barry comments, “I think that there are a lot of teachers out there who are on power trips and ego trips and truly believe that by demeaning people they can make [actors] work harder. Well, that will work [...]
Claire Danes on wanting acceptance Claire Danes admits that when she was growing up, she “wanted desperately to please, to be a good girl. I wanted acceptance. I still do.” Like many artists, she sought acceptance in renown: “A part of me desired fame because I associated it with love. That was a total mistake. [...]
Kate Bosworth – always learning Kate Bosworth [photo from "Superman Returns"] thinks “all actors are insecure.. I certainly am… I think almost all artists are insecure. I don’t ever watch myself and think, ‘That was great, I hit it out of the park!’ Never… “One of the things I love most about this job is [...]
Ian McKellen on timing Ian McKellen admits in a recent article that it has taken time and life experience to develop the self-confidence that now helps fuel his dynamic roles. “Suppose it had been me who played Tom Jones [1963], not Albert Finney?” he said. “There was never any question of me playing those sorts [...]
Cherry Jones Cherry Jones [left], earned a Tony nomination for her acting in a stage production of A Moon for the Misbegotten [2002] but was “nearly paralyzed by a profound case of stage fright” according to a Time Out New York article. She said it was from “Living up to the greatest performance I have [...]
A state of gratitude “I love to act because it’s the only aspect of my life beside God and family that I am truly passionate about on a daily basis.” Michael Ealy [currently in the Showtime series “Sleeper Cell”] continues, “I thank God for not only the gift of creative expression but also surrounding me [...]
“I know what it’s like to loathe oneself. To feel that deep self-loathing. “It’s painful and ugly and f**ing unwanted. “And it got in the way. I can dip in there, into the old black-Irish melancholy. “You think ‘Am I smart enough? Am I equipped enough to deal with it all?’ “You don’t want it [...]
Sometimes I feel competitive when I see somebody else in a movie that’s really beautiful and really big, or when I’m vying for a role and I can’t get in and it’s the usual suspects — Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Connelly, all great actresses. Then I feel like a loser and I get sad. [...]
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