Acting School: Inspiration 101

by Bob Fraser

"Get the knack of getting people to help you and also pitch in yourself. A little money helps, but what really gets it right is to never ... I repeat, never, under any conditions, face facts." ~ Ruth Gordon

This is probably the most important quote about acting I have in my large collection. And I, for one, listen very carefully to Miss Ruth Gordon because she had a long, successful career spanning over 70 years. She was an actor, writer, producer and director who worked at the highest levels of show business for most of her life. 

She made her film debut in 1916 (at the age of 20) and her last film was released in 1988.

She wrote (along with her husband) two of the best Tracy–Hepburn movies, Adam's Rib and Pat and Mike. She was one of the regulars at the famous Algonquin Round Table.

She acted, wrote and directed in radio, Broadway, film and TV. After making a nice living in show business for more than 5 decades, Miss Gordon became a star, when she won an Oscar at age 72.

She thanked the Academy, saying, “This is very encouragin'.”

Ruth Gordon stayed a star for the rest of her life.

In other words, this quirky little lady, from Quincy, Massachusetts, did it all.

The advice she gives us – to "never face facts" – is very important advice for anyone who wants to have a long and prosperous career in show business.

Let's examine the facts that Miss Gordon was telling us to ignore:

We’ll start the "faux facts" (what those of us from Wyoming call utter hogwash) that you will hear all during your life in the biz.

Things like: "they only hire their friends," "your type isn't working nowadays," "don't send your picture, they only throw it in the trash," "your chances of success are microscopic," "if you're not beautiful, talented and connected – forget it," "if you do extra work you'll never be considered for a part," "all the work has gone to Canada," "everybody sleeps their way to the top," "nobody my age is being hired these days," "it's all about getting lucky,” etc. etc.

My fellow actors, there are literally thousands of these "facts" floating around in big time show business. The people who promulgate this sort of balloon juice will be insistent that they know the "facts of life," and belligerent if you even hint that they might be misinterpreting things.

You must learn not to listen.

Don't get me wrong, there are also a lot of real facts that get bandied about too:

"There are 135 thousand members of SAG and only about 5 thousand make any money at all." "The average actor makes about 600 bucks a year." "The stars get big bucks and the rest of us get gornisht." "It takes ten years to become an overnight success." "It's all about getting lucky."

(You may have noticed that the "lucky" idea made both lists – I'll get to that.)

Again, it won’t help to face these facts. It’s like complaining that the rain is wet, you know?

I'm personally acquainted with more than a thousand actors. I have movie star friends who collect some of the biggest paychecks in the business. I know Oscar winners, Emmy winners, Tony winners and at least one actor who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

I also know a lot of actors who are totally unknown to the public and yet they can afford to buy second houses in the country.

I know quite a few actors who are "worker bees" and bring home a decent paycheck year after year and, though you’d recognize their faces, you probably don’t know their names.

I know actors who have their own theatres, produce their own films or teach in their own studios. I know many hundreds of successful actors.

I also (sadly) know a lot of actors who have given up.

The main and most obvious difference between the successful actors I know and the "never was's" is that little trick of the mind that allowed the successful ones to ignore "the facts" and just keep pressing on.

To paraphrase the secret of success in the real estate industry - "What are the three most important things in an acting career? Persistence, persistence, persistence."

In order to persist, we must ignore everything that might convince us that persistence won’t work. In other words, we must ignore "the facts."

Now, what about luck? Almost every successful actor I know pays a small tribute to luck. There is a good reason for this. It is the most universally accepted definition of luck which says, "luck is preparation meeting opportunity."

We can see it at work in most careers.

For instance, Harrison Ford (famously) took many years off to earn money as a carpenter so that he wouldn't lose his house. When he got the lucky break of being near the auditions for American Graffiti (because he was installing a door) preparation met opportunity and Ford walked through that door to became a huge star – 14 years after arriving in Hollywood... bringing to vivid life a famous line from Milton Berle, "If opportunity isn't knocking, build a door."

That's luck. But, without a persistence of purpose, Harrison Ford might have just finished installing the door and faced facts; "Who am I kidding? They think of me as the carpenter. My chances of actually getting a part in this movie are microscopic ... and besides, they only hire their friends."

Do yourself a super-sized favor – take Miss Gordon's words to heart.

"Never, I repeat, never, under any conditions – face facts."