Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.
-Benjamin Franklin
There is a story about Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and his practice routine in which he would shoot 1,000 free throws and be the last man leaving practice. This was also at a time when he was considered one of the best in the league, dominating the game. Here was a man at the top of his game and had achieved many personal records and team championships, and still practiced longer and harder than others who had done less.
This is the work ethic that inspires me. It’s not simply about being the best. That’s an achievement but not a goal. For a goal implies a future mark that when achieved is over; it has an end. Sure it’s something to aspire for and train for but what happens after that goal? Perhaps there is a new goal to keep one going but what if there isn’t?
There should be no end to progress in my mind. Even with all the achievements, medals, and awards there should still be something to aspire to; to strive and work towards. My coach has always talked about how there is always work to be done. Even in an Oscar winning performance there can be more play, truth, or character development. We are never finished with our work and it continues on unto the next character, film, play, or whatever it is.
The thing I love about acting too is that there is no prime. With physical sports such as basketball the body begins to decay and while you can still progress and push there is a prime age. A twenty year old will be able to outplay a seventy year old at basketball as the body changes physically with age. Whereas with acting we reflect nature and truth and that truth is independent of time. Yes it is expressed in a moment of time, but that moment of time is as truthful when we are seven as when we are eighty-five.
So in acting there is no prime age and with that, progress is unending. There is always work to be done, more truth to strive towards, and more empathy and understanding to explore. There is always room for more play. Which is why I love this story about Michael Jordan so much. It’s not about being the best because you can always be better. I knew coming into this craft that I was no artistic genius and that there will be people more naturally gifted at me in this, which is fine because I cannot control that. I can control how hard I work though, and so I want to be the actor that works the hardest, fails the biggest, and pushes forward the most.
I haven’t fully arrived there yet, and I never fully will. For again there will always be room to work harder, opportunities to fail bigger, and moments to push harder in. That is what inspires me day after day to keep fighting, struggling, and progressing forward in this great craft!