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.

Howard says “The Hollywood scene, these parties, freak me out. I’ve never had a sip of alcohol in my life. I wasn’t interested in losing control.

“There was alcoholism in my family, so I saw the negative effects and how difficult it was to recover.

“When I was in high school, I would never go to parties because I would be embarrassed to say no. Consequently, I had almost no social group.”

She also notes: “When I work on a film, I always tend to relate to the crew. I struggle immensely with celebrities of all forms. I get clammy hands and turn a little purple.” [From Too Good to be True, by Peter Davis, Papermag.]

In creating and playing her character, she found, “I learned some interesting things about myself. Fisher is unapologetic about anything she does or says, and I am not; in fact I am apologizing all the time.

“I liked that she was almost hedonistic in her approach to life, and I connected to that side of myself that wants to be fearless.

“Also I learned that moving through the making of this film with the many obstacles, I watched Jodi [director Jodi Markell] do so with such grace, and I tried to follow her example, to handle whatever life throws at me with that sense of wonderful grace”, she says with a slight laugh, “and I hope I continue to do that going forward.” [incontention.com]

I don’t know her, and I’m not saying she is shy or a highly sensitive person, but in a number of her interviews – and her comments above – Bryce Dallas Howard talks about thoughts and emotional reactions that sound to me like shyness and high sensitivity.

And many other highly talented actors do share those qualities.

The trait of high sensitivity is experienced by 15 to 20 percent of us. In my video On Being Sensitive are quotes by and about Winona Ryder, Heath Ledger, Amy Brenneman, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, and Ellen DeGeneres about their experience of sensitivity.

Also see my related video Shy actors: Vanessa Hudgens, Sigourney Weaver, Taye Diggs – and the Highly Sensitive site.

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

“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

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

When I was little, my mother had a host of rules of “gentlemanly” behavior that you had to follow on a movie set if you wanted to be labeled a “professional.”

Of course, Mom was wrong about a lot of things. As I have grown older, I’ve learned to keep the good rules and punt the others.

For example, “You must always hang up your costume after you’re wrapped” and “You must never be late.” Good rules.

But here’s her big mistake: “You must always serve the director. It’s his movie and his vision that you are honoring. So always, always try to accommodate any note that he or she gives you, even if you think it’s wrong.”

That one’s tricky. I’ve learned there is a gray area between truly collaborating with a director and following his every edict.

I’m happy to say I have learned a few lessons from the young performers with whom I’ve worked during the course of my 43 years in the entertainment business. One of my best teachers was Abigail Breslin..

Continued in Lesson From a Young Actress, By Jodie Foster
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break the rules, Jodie Foster, personal development acting, finding courage

Jurnee Smollett gives credit for much of her success and powerful performance to her mother, Janet, who “had a very socially active life.”

“She marched and she did the sit-ins and she did voter organizing,” Smollett said. “It built that whole warrior spirit inside of all of us.

“She told me, ‘You’ve been given this talent for a reason. It’s not for you to gloat in the fame, because there are always people around who will pat you on the back, but you have to know at the end of the day, you are to use this talent for a bigger purpose.’ ”

[Los Angeles Times, Dec 24, 2007.]

Related Talent Development Resources pages:

Fame / celebrity
Perspectives on talent
Perspectives on talent : teen/young adult.
Social activism
Social activism : teen/young adult
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Jurnee Smollett, celebrity and personal growth, find your purpose

“Jack, an actor, had excellent verbal skills but a poor physical presence on stage.

“With my help, he decided that he had to take responsibility for that aspect of his career and invest his daily exercise routine with new meaning, transforming it from a chore into something much more valuable.

“Now, when he worked out, he paid less attention to how many reps he was doing and more attention to feeling strong and confident in his own skin.

“Jack used ‘I take responsibility’ as his meaning-making mantra and used it to motivate himself to change his stage presence.”

[Image: Edge 500 Manual Treadmill.]
~~

personal development acting, acting performance, Acting Resources, creative meaning

Nervous excitement

“With any film and even theater, you never get over being scared and overwhelmed, because it’s a new character and that brings on a whole new set of circumstances.”

Alison Lohman is talking about one form of anxiety that actors experience, and may try to avoid or stifle.

But there can be value in that kind of energy, she adds: “That’s the exciting part of it – it’s those nerves that bring you to a higher level and makes you more hyper-aware. It makes your performance better.” [Quotes from Hollywood Reporter]

Anticipatory anxiety

Psychologist Eric Maisel notes in his book Performance Anxiety that fear can show up even before an event like an audition, and this anticipatory anxiety may be hidden, so you don’t even recognize it.

You decide, for example, not to go to the audition, telling yourself, “Oh, I’m not right for that role,” or “I’m sure that part’s pre-cast,” or “That director’s never liked me.”

You’re as worthy as they come

As many people point out, acting is not for the faint-hearted.

Author Monroe Mann [book: The Theatrical Juggernaut: The Psyche of the Star] says, “If you want to succeed in this business where the supply for actors is high and the demand is low, you better get any trace of negativity or pessimism out of your system from the outset…

“If you don’t think you are just as good, and just as worthy of success, as the stars, then you are doing yourself a grave disservice.”

Varieties of treatments

Anxiety can show up in various ways; it is not just a matter of stage fright, and it can undermine your self-concept, self assurance and drive.

If it is too strong, maybe you should look into getting help: cognitive behavioral therapy, medication, or nutritional supplements can all be helpful.

Related pages:
Anxiety relief products/programs
Anxiety relief books
Supplements
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acting book, anxiety products, performance anxiety book, entertainment psychology

A recent newspaper interview [Shedding the wings, by Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, July 9, 2007; photo: Myung J. Chun] notes that “she wants to major in something ‘basic, like English,’ rather than garnering further training in the arts.”

“I didn’t like being around that competitive energy that comes with that,” she says of one summer spent in an acting class. “All those musical theater kids that think they’re gonna be the next Kristin Chenoweth.

“They’d sit there and they’d prep their songs endlessly with so much thought. I just knew what my song was about and I came in and sang it, and the teacher went, ‘That’s what you all should be doing, right there.’ And I didn’t outline the song or this and that. You just have to stop thinking sometimes.”

That perception was also articulated by Jennifer Lehman, a film acting teacher, consultant and scriptwriter, in our interview: “Our thinking mind is different than our feeling mind, and if we start thinking, we shut down creative expression – for actors, anyway.”

Lehman thinks a creative experience “is a very full experience, multidimensional. But if you’re making a mental choice about something, then your experience becomes limited to only that. A creative experience has many layers all at the same time. If you’re trying to juggle a bunch of ideas, it’s going to limit your availability to feeling states.”

Related page: Awareness – thinking
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overthinking creativity, competition between actors, entertainment psychology, creative experience characteristics

“I did other things for money; you know, the normal, boring stuff – I temped, I did waitressing.

“But I actually quit a play early on in my career – it was one of the first things that I ever got cast in, but I quit because there was something about it that I didn’t like.

“I didn’t think the director was the right guy to be directing it. So I’ve never felt that every situation was great for me and therefore I would have to stay.

“To me, being creative is a very fragile thing, the environment in which one can create is a very particular one, and somehow I’ve always felt the need to be very protective of that….”

She thinks you need to acknowledge the fickle nature of the profession: “Actors are beggars and gypsies, that’s just the way it is. And in many ways, I take what I can get. But I do search high and low for stuff that interests me.” [quotes from imdb.com]
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Holly Hunter, integrity in art, developing creativity, high sensitivity personality