Hi Superstars,
I’ve got a question for you: how do you keep your skills sharp during downtime between projects?
For me, I like to reconnect with my passions—cooking, hiking, playing basketball, and catching up with friends. I also take classes to stay sharp and watch interviews with actors I admire, so I can learn from their journeys and be ready when it's my turn to answer those same questions.
I believe it's important to find a healthy balance between life and art—because without life, there’s no art, and without art, there’s no life. How can we truthfully play someone else’s life if we’re not fully living our own?
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Hi, Omari Washington. I think those are great ways to keep your skills sharp during downtime between projects! I'm not an actor, but maybe while actors are out and about, they could look around for things that are going on and turn them into acting clips later on.
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To add to that Omari Washington -it is also important for an actor to be well read. I know a little about a lot of things. I agree that actors need hobbies and between jobs is a good time to practice sharpening our skills. We need to be well rounded individuals to be the best actors we can be. Acting is being.
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We stay busy by organizing our own jam sessions, one for ukelele, the other for rock, blues, funk, reggae, soul etc. so our fingers don't forget the chords. Making music is part of our soul.
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Finding other ways to express our creativity is always a good practice. Creative is one of the seven faces of intention.
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Dear Mr. Washington. God Bless your positivity! We all need it in this field! I have been away from this game for 12 years (two job changes and two heart attacks). I am now retired. I joined SAG-AFTRA January 11, 2025. I have gotten NO SAG-AFTRA background work!!!! My local SAG-AFTRA Office is Philadelphia, PA. I think I need to do a new Self-tape. your thoughts. I also write TV/Movie and songs!
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Omari Washington I totally agree that tithe more fully we experience life the more we can bring to our acting. I love/need to be in nature, be with friends, play with my kids, continue to take acting classes. I also continue to work on myself through yoga and therapy to soften blocks to my emotions
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Omari Washington, I completely agree that staying connected to life outside of the craft is essential for bringing truth to the work. I’ve heard so many actors say their best performances came after seasons of simply living: observing, feeling, growing. And you’re right, those interviews with seasoned performers can be goldmines. Their journeys, struggles, and breakthroughs often mirror what we’re going through in our own ways.
Thank you for starting this conversation. It’s a needed reminder that living fully is just as vital to our creative growth as practicing craft.