What kind of career do you want?
Storytelling stuff worth sharing
Many of you checked in on me, Rebecca, Gaia, and Odin after Helene passed. First off, THANK YOU.
Second, we are safe and escaped any real damage. Just had to spend a few hours cleaning up branches. Very fortunate, and very much sending all love and wishes for speedy recovery to any others in the storm’s path who were not as fortunate.
Storytelling Tip o’ the Week
Sadly, last week Dame Maggie Smith passed away. Her obituaries and articles of praise and remembrance are all over the place, so I just want to share one little nugget of a story I read years ago in an interview with the cast of Downton Abbey.
By the time she was cast as the Dowager Countess, Maggie Smith had already put together a massive career in stage and film. She had nothing left to prove. She could have played the diva card daily, and no one would have blinked.
BUT!
Every day, the first person to appear on set, fully dressed and made-up, was Dame Maggie Smith.
She would find a corner and do all the silly lip trills and vocal warm-ups and tongue twisters that actors learn in 101.
She would quietly run her lines and walk her track.
And then, when cameras rolled, she would crush it. Every time. If you watched the show, you know it’s true.
Here’s the thing.
No one ever “arrives.” That’s a myth created by jealousy and fear.
Also, whatever your storytelling lane and whatever your instruments, you must warm-up, and practice, and continually refine your talents into skill. The only way to be ready for “action” is to invest in preparation. There are no shortcuts to this.
Rest in peace, Dame Maggie.
Balance
A quick shout out to my buddy Cedric Hameed for the success of his first published collection of poetry, Balance!
It just keeps climbing various bestseller lists over on Amazon!
Grab the ebook at Ibis Books or the paperback at Amazon.
Quotable
I saw an interview clip with Glen Powell this week. He is the star of the recent hit movies Twisters, Hit Man, and Anyone but You.
But his true big break moment was as the cocky fighter pilot “Hangman” in Top Gun: Maverick.
Glen almost wasn’t in that movie. See, he really really reeeeeally wanted to play the character of “Rooster,” who is the co-lead in the film. “Hangman” is a decent-sized role, but doesn’t have the arc or emotional weight of “Rooster,” who is also directly descended from the original Top Gun, being “Goose’s” son.
Glen got a call from his agent while at a July 4th party that he hadn’t been cast as “Rooster.” And he was suuuuper bummed. So bummed, in fact, that when Tom Cruise himself called to offer him “Hangman,” he was like… “Meh.”
Tom insisted on a meeting.
They sit down, and Tom Cruise asks him, “So, Glen, what kind of career do you want?”
Glen says, “Yours. I’m trying to be like you.”
Tom nods and says, “OK. How do you think I built my career?”
Glen says, “You only take great roles.”
Tom shakes his head. “No. I take great movies, and make my role great.”
Talk about a mic drop!
As Glen then explains, it’s better to be a great player on a great team than the only All-Star on a team that always falls short of the championship. He shifted his mindset.
Glen took on “Hangman,” and it changed his entire career and life.
“I take great movies, and make my role great.”
—Tom Cruise
The Podcast
A reminder to check out my convo with Meredith Garretson, star of the hit TV show Resident Alien. She took some time out from tech rehearsal of her Off-Broadway show, Blood of the Lamb, and we had a wonderful time talking about acting, the different types of intimacy that stage and camera require, the specific challenges of building a brand new TV character from scratch, and the joy of evolving that character over multiple seasons.
Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend!
Jason “Lip Triller” Cannon
"No one ever “arrives.”"
Well, Dame Maggie Smith has arrived.
May she rest in peace!