PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Humility" (Part 2)

For the past 12 weeks, Paden Fallis has posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds. Our goal is not to demystify the work of the actor or explore their careers, but to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working process. This is part 1 of 2 in the final question of this initial series. ACTOR’S ROUNDTABLE: HUMILITY (PART 2) If there’s one thing I love to see in the work of an actor, it is sincerity. If there is one thing I hate seeing, it is arrogance. I’ve always believed that the only way to approach the work is with a healthy belief in your own abilities combined with an even healthier dose of humility towards the work. All of you in this roundtable are accomplished, talented, and serious about the work you do. You’ve all experienced great successes and accolades. Your passion and commitment are why you were chosen for this ongoing discussion. So, the final question posed to you is this: how do you stay humble?  - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

WILLIAM BELCHAMBERS Jack Nicholson was once asked “What makes you so wonderful?” to which he replied, “The only thing wonderful about me is my paycheck.” Actors will always strive to be noticed, but the moment that they do become known, it quite often falls apart in a heap of “stop looking at me” or “stop following me around!” Most of the time for the working actor like myself, you simply go about your job and take the pay and hope that another job will be forthcoming. To remain humble is easy in British theatre—you just do your job. I believe that some actors who get exposed to TV and film early, or before they have had a bit of time treading the boards, can get a warped ideal about what they want from the business. What all actors should want is just to do the best work possible and to get on with as many people as possible. Love the work, love the people, and enjoy the craft. A carpenter doesn’t need a round of applause for making a beautiful table; he just knows the table is beautiful and that others will appreciate it.

PAGE CLEMENTS I can honestly say there has never been a time when I looked on the work and felt entitled. The rewards and accolades have been there, but failures and bumps in the road have been there also—therefore I know humility intimately. Those who love the arts and enjoy the work are who truly inspire me, especially when they continue to stay grounded. We must, after all, remember that the “celebrity factor” is a fleeting and superficial element to it all. I love the attention as much as the next person, but I feel much more pride if the story and characters are fully brought to light and the audience leaves the performance talking about the content more than the performance. I am humbled when I have been honored or praised for a job. I try to remember that there are so many in the world who want to do what I do and haven’t had the opportunity to do so, for a myriad of reasons. Furthermore, there simply isn’t enough work for all of us who strive for it, so embracing every minute is paramount to anything else! This career is about entertainment, but it is also about education, community support, and duty. To think of it with a sense of arrogance or entitlement is far from my scope. This business is very tough and competitive, with a new rejection around every corner, making the successes all the sweeter. If I succeed either in performance or in my classroom, I hope it is because I have inspired others to love the opportunity and embrace every facet of it with respect and honor.

NELSON LEE It feels like the issue of humility has been a theme running in the background of all our discussions. I think that’s because a sense of humility is the backbone to any good work. I doubt it’s coincidental that some of the greatest actors I’ve ever met or worked with had not a touch of arrogance in them, while some of the worst human beings I’ve ever encountered have been boastful, untalented schmucks. Arrogance and pride is blinding to an artist, as it keeps us from seeing our weaknesses. The easiest and most effective recipe I can think of for humility is to dedicate yourself to always learning and growing in whatever endeavor is undertaken. Then constantly seek out and surround yourself with people and projects that demand the same. I realize more and more as I get older, how important it is to have people around you who will remind you of who you are whenever you stray and forget. There is no better mirror for us than the respect of our peers.

LAURIE OKIN I believe every actor has not only the right, but the imperative to take pride in the work they do. I don’t think anybody is served by too humble an approach: We are called upon to attack the work with ferocity and passion, and to do that, we must have self-confidence and trust in the process we are trained to partake in. Being proud of the work, however, involves pride not just in oneself but in the material, the rehearsal process as a whole, the director, and every other part of the production that goes into the stew to create the final product. If we can keep this reality in mind—that the piece would not be what it is without all of those elements—then it seems pretty impossible to be arrogant about anything. When we get accolades from the audience, I think the key is in recognizing that they are responding to what they experienced, not an isolated and empirical judgment of us as actors. I think it can be a real temptation, though, to take that praise more personally, because we are also always looking for validation in a field that involves such risk-taking. I don’t think it would be possible for good work to continue to be done if there is arrogance involved, because arrogance prevents vulnerability, and you can’t have good work without that.

THOMAS WARD This is a very difficult question to answer sincerely. It’s a legitimate question, but I instantly want to make jokes because there’s nothing less humble than talking about how I try to stay humble. I’d like to say spirituality, yoga, my kids, or a gluten-free diet. None of that is the truth. The truth is that I don’t have a choice. I’d like to say I’m exclusively “in it for the art.” And I am to some extent, but I enjoy performing because it feels good. And ultimately, I just want to feel good for as much and as long as possible. As for acting itself, I had a great experience playing Guildenstern in a stellar production of Hamlet when I was in grad school. It was the chaos following the play-within-the-play scene and Hamlet (played by David Furr) was giving me the “will you play upon this pipe” stuff. In a rehearsal I was playing it very macho, going toe to toe with him, ready to fight, testosterone boiling. The director (Ray Chambers) pulled me aside and said, “You know, he’s the Prince of Denmark.” It was a distinct epiphany for me. Know the play. Know where your character fits into the play. Serve the play, not your ego. It was as if the director had said, “You know, the play is called Hamlet, not Guildenstern.” I adjusted to the note, giving Hamlet the power that Hamlet is supposed to have, and the scene was instantly better. There has to be something selfless about what you’re doing. You have to be serving something greater than yourself, whether it’s the play, the audience, your colleagues, the people who the story is about, or the paycheck that will help you feed your family and pay the rent. It’s a trade. It’s a manual labor kind of job and not everyone can do it, but some can and do.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

William Belchambers is an actor who trained at R.A.D.A and has spent most of his career in theatre, in England, Europe, and U.S.A. Currently performing at The National Theatre, London, he has also spent seasons at The Globe and The Royal Shakespeare Company. Page Clements has been a professional actress, vocal instructor, and private coach in NYC for over 20 years. Currently an instructor of voice, dialects, and Shakespeare at the T. Schreiber Studio & Theatre in New York, she has just completed an instructional video for actors and public speakers to be released later this year. She has appeared in over 50 productions throughout the country, received the Favorite Vocal Coach and Dialect Coach Awards from Backstage in 2009, and is a member of Actors Equity Association. Nelson Lee left his native Canada for New York to pursue training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Since then, he has appeared in various television series, including Blade: The Series, Virtuality, Oz, Covert Affairs, Hawaii Five-O, and the Law & Order franchise. Recently, he took to the stage for the world premiere of Zayd Dorn’s play, Outside People, at the Vineyard Theater in New York, and the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) production of Maple and Vine in San Francisco. He currently resides in Los Angeles. Laurie Okin is a Los Angeles-based actress who has been seen over the years in dozens of national commercials, as well as guest starring on The Office and as a series regular on PBS’s Copshop. She has also appeared in Samantha Who?, My Own Worst Enemy, Friends, and MadTV. Laurie also has an extensive background in the theatre and is a company member at The Road Theater and Rogue Machine Theater. Thomas Ward is an actor and playwright based in Minneapolis. He appeared in the Off-Broadway premiere of Craig Wright’s The Unseen at the Cherry Lane Theatre. He has performed regionally with Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Georgia Shakespeare, WaterTower Theatre (Dallas), and the ZACH Scott Theatre (Austin), among others. He was previously profiled by stated.

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