I just wanted to take a moment to address something I've heard many times over the years since making the decision to become an actor....and that's LUCK.
I've lost count of the times that people have said to me, "Oh, you're so lucky you got that role" or "Wow, you're lucky they noticed you" or "You got picked up for that role? You're so lucky." I've found that I actually, now, take great exception to people when they refer to my wins or successes as the result of luck. What this tells me is that regardless of my years of training in improv and working with award winning coaches and practicing my craft on a daily basis that these people honestly believe that I wouldn't have gotten this far without the intervention of divine providence; it's, too a certain extent, almost insulting. I would much, much rather be recognized for my skill and talent than for being lucky.
Lucky is when you nail all six Powerball numbers on a big jackpot or when you find a $20 bill on the street when you're flat broke or when you're the 1 millionth customer at the supermarket and win a big prize. Skill and talent are what you need to blow away decision makers and land that breakout role or that big national commercial. Now I'm not discounting those folks who seriously believe that luck played a major factor in their success, if that's their mindset then all the more power to them. But for me, I want my skill and talent to do the talking for me and show the world that this is where I belong.
Any thoughts??.....
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I agree! I share this with my students.
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I agree with you @Jonny. People saying you are lucky is a poxy patronisation.....usually armchair psychiatrists use this phrase. Yeah...Anyone “Can” get lucky once....A one trick pony does not cut the mustard long term in your craft. Just ignore banal conversation. Someone recently said to me “You must have been lucky to play Cleopatra” .....No luck involved, at the time I was a junior secretary and saved up to pay for LAMDA school in London. Then I had to get a job where I was the back end of a horse in a pantomime, to get Provisional Equity. That was just the start. Hundreds of auditions later I got the theatre role. This was some time back, but at least I got the teeshirt. Luck does not last, but talent will out!
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@Joey I just love and agree totally with your input in the above thread. People who belong together, for whatever reason, will gravitate.
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That has been my experience for 30 years, Debbie Croysdale . Makes the countless hours of networking and prep worth it!
Semantic argument really. "Luck" is the timing factor which in many cases, really is entirely out of ones own control.
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@ML I don’t dispute that you “can” be in the right place at the right time. But that will not form long term continuity of success. The wheels of time grind slow, but when they grind, they grind. Talent may be on a slow burner but eventually its the talent that commands the execution of time. I would not participate in a thread that lacks intellect, so disagree.
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@ML I understand where your coming from, we are all on a treadmill in the system, where free time may not be able to be planned. Occasionally windows of opportunity come when least expected, but “chance” cannot guarantee fruition of the long term agenda.
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If every effect has a cause, luck does not exist.
As the little girl says in the Tostito's commercial... "Why not both!"