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So I'm sitting at my desk working on a project when very
gradually the left side of my face decided I had no right to tell it
what to do anymore. There was still feeling in my face, but the muscles
had stopped responding to my brain's commands and drooped listlessly.
This new day-to-day companion of mine is called Bell's Palsy and, as of
this writing, I've had it for 40 days. Currently, I'm embracing the
victory that I can twitch my left cheek and lip just a little.
My niche in the New York City market is being the music theatre guy who can play the other ten characters in the show. In the print world, I'm the flexible-faced guy who looks great through a fish-eye lens. Commercially, my marketable expressions relate trustworthiness and comic cluelessness. My voiceover career is dependent on my lips as articulators. In five minutes, all of that was disrupted. As the left side of my face continued to slide downwards, it felt like every part of my multi-faceted career had been taken from me. Who am I if I don't have my face? I felt a strong pull to hide under my bed at home until it was all over, hosting my own pity party.
You know what? There's something about 33 Chilean miners being pulled from the earth and a good friend working through Stage 4 Breast Cancer to put things in perspective. A dedicated and loving husband helps too. I chose to talk about it. I changed my Facebook profile picture to reflect my current Palsy Chic and chose to post about how I was changing up my career strategy. From that, I have had a wonderful outpouring of encouragement and support from family and friends. Here are some of the things I continue to learn.
BEING SAVVY IS BEING FLEXIBLE. No matter what our appearance, there are roles for us, even if our market is limited. A bit of grotesqueness had been thrust upon me in October. So, I contacted my on-camera commercial and print agents and encouraged them to submit me for Halloween spots. I responded to calls for background actors for anything requiring hospital patients or low-brow types, informing them I had Bell's Palsy and would be a shoe-in. My voiceover agent continues to submit me for charactery campaigns, knowing that even if my face suddenly healed, I could recreate the Buddy Hackett sounds that were coming out of my mouth naturally. Last week, I was upgraded on the set of the Onion Sports Network because they needed someone who looked like a creepy Russian Olympic Committee member. I still have the same skill set and experience. My brand has just temporarily changed.
LEARN TO PRIORITIZE. It is far too easy to overbook ourselves when we see an open space in the calendar. When the Bell's Palsy hit, I had to set my mind to prioritize vital recovery and rest. I allowed the time to open up for ten doctor's appointments (including chiropractic and acupuncture), a schedule of taking four prescriptions and four more natural supplements, and an MRI. I also turned down five gigs for which I had time in my calendar, but which would have taken up psychic energy for memorization and working of music. It's amazing what we can do when we make that prioritizing decision. What is that urgent for you? Practicing your vocal technique? Getting to the gym? Writing your screenplay? Make the choice to prioritize it and the time you need for it will open for you.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR A FRESH APPROACH. Voice teachers had been telling me for years to relax my jaw and lips. Well guess what? I don't have them now and my singing has improved because I HAVE to place the sound around the soft palette with the tip of my tongue pointed up and back. (One of the ways I know I've approached a note in my upper range correctly is that I feel like my left eardrum is about to explode. It hurts, but it's tangible for now.) I also just finished a multi-character two-person play and my facial expressions were pretty much limited to those of Carol Burnett's "Nora Desmond" character. Well, limitations free you to make more creative choices and I explored differentiating my characters with different toolboxes: pitch, regionalisms, vocal texture, resonator choice, and the rhythm of the character's heartbeat.
PEOPLE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE IF YOU'RE CONFIDENT. This is something I hear consistently from casting directors and agents. No matter what your body type, confidence is sexy! Since the Bell's Palsy began, I continue to meet casting directors and agents and keep my appointments with my clients. It's really as simple as explaining why my face looks this way and then, with that done, jumping in and doing what I do. People have been totally fine with it. I even did a video for It Gets Better Broadway, reaching out to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered youth, relating how even with my face in this condition I have a husband who looks upon me as the most handsome man in the world and that if they just hang in there they will be around to have something great too. This leads me to the last point...
OUR MISSION IS TOO IMPORTANT TO ACCEPT DEFEAT. As an actor, I have the privilege and the responsibility to help my audience go through whatever they need to process at this moment in time. I have been developing this craft for forty years now and am damn good at it, so I choose to raise my voice in song, to bring life to as many characters as a script can hold, and to hit my audience's "soul spot" with a story-be it on a commercial or at a music stand.
So, what is your mission? What gifts are you going to bring into the world with your craft? What long-term vision burns so strongly in the deepest part of you that you could lose your legs, not have a penny to your name, or have your lover of twenty years walk out on you and you would still find a way to report to set the next morning? Name that mission, post it over your mirror to remind you every day, and you will be able to shift with whatever adversity life may throw at you.
My niche in the New York City market is being the music theatre guy who can play the other ten characters in the show. In the print world, I'm the flexible-faced guy who looks great through a fish-eye lens. Commercially, my marketable expressions relate trustworthiness and comic cluelessness. My voiceover career is dependent on my lips as articulators. In five minutes, all of that was disrupted. As the left side of my face continued to slide downwards, it felt like every part of my multi-faceted career had been taken from me. Who am I if I don't have my face? I felt a strong pull to hide under my bed at home until it was all over, hosting my own pity party.
You know what? There's something about 33 Chilean miners being pulled from the earth and a good friend working through Stage 4 Breast Cancer to put things in perspective. A dedicated and loving husband helps too. I chose to talk about it. I changed my Facebook profile picture to reflect my current Palsy Chic and chose to post about how I was changing up my career strategy. From that, I have had a wonderful outpouring of encouragement and support from family and friends. Here are some of the things I continue to learn.
BEING SAVVY IS BEING FLEXIBLE. No matter what our appearance, there are roles for us, even if our market is limited. A bit of grotesqueness had been thrust upon me in October. So, I contacted my on-camera commercial and print agents and encouraged them to submit me for Halloween spots. I responded to calls for background actors for anything requiring hospital patients or low-brow types, informing them I had Bell's Palsy and would be a shoe-in. My voiceover agent continues to submit me for charactery campaigns, knowing that even if my face suddenly healed, I could recreate the Buddy Hackett sounds that were coming out of my mouth naturally. Last week, I was upgraded on the set of the Onion Sports Network because they needed someone who looked like a creepy Russian Olympic Committee member. I still have the same skill set and experience. My brand has just temporarily changed.
LEARN TO PRIORITIZE. It is far too easy to overbook ourselves when we see an open space in the calendar. When the Bell's Palsy hit, I had to set my mind to prioritize vital recovery and rest. I allowed the time to open up for ten doctor's appointments (including chiropractic and acupuncture), a schedule of taking four prescriptions and four more natural supplements, and an MRI. I also turned down five gigs for which I had time in my calendar, but which would have taken up psychic energy for memorization and working of music. It's amazing what we can do when we make that prioritizing decision. What is that urgent for you? Practicing your vocal technique? Getting to the gym? Writing your screenplay? Make the choice to prioritize it and the time you need for it will open for you.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR A FRESH APPROACH. Voice teachers had been telling me for years to relax my jaw and lips. Well guess what? I don't have them now and my singing has improved because I HAVE to place the sound around the soft palette with the tip of my tongue pointed up and back. (One of the ways I know I've approached a note in my upper range correctly is that I feel like my left eardrum is about to explode. It hurts, but it's tangible for now.) I also just finished a multi-character two-person play and my facial expressions were pretty much limited to those of Carol Burnett's "Nora Desmond" character. Well, limitations free you to make more creative choices and I explored differentiating my characters with different toolboxes: pitch, regionalisms, vocal texture, resonator choice, and the rhythm of the character's heartbeat.
PEOPLE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE IF YOU'RE CONFIDENT. This is something I hear consistently from casting directors and agents. No matter what your body type, confidence is sexy! Since the Bell's Palsy began, I continue to meet casting directors and agents and keep my appointments with my clients. It's really as simple as explaining why my face looks this way and then, with that done, jumping in and doing what I do. People have been totally fine with it. I even did a video for It Gets Better Broadway, reaching out to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered youth, relating how even with my face in this condition I have a husband who looks upon me as the most handsome man in the world and that if they just hang in there they will be around to have something great too. This leads me to the last point...
OUR MISSION IS TOO IMPORTANT TO ACCEPT DEFEAT. As an actor, I have the privilege and the responsibility to help my audience go through whatever they need to process at this moment in time. I have been developing this craft for forty years now and am damn good at it, so I choose to raise my voice in song, to bring life to as many characters as a script can hold, and to hit my audience's "soul spot" with a story-be it on a commercial or at a music stand.
So, what is your mission? What gifts are you going to bring into the world with your craft? What long-term vision burns so strongly in the deepest part of you that you could lose your legs, not have a penny to your name, or have your lover of twenty years walk out on you and you would still find a way to report to set the next morning? Name that mission, post it over your mirror to remind you every day, and you will be able to shift with whatever adversity life may throw at you.
The Savvy Actor mission is to empower actors to think like small
business owners by creating and implementing an effective business plan,
branding their unique product, and developing marketing strategies that
get them noticed and in the door; ultimately merging career and life
into one of abundance and success!
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