Gwyneth revealed in an interview this week the reason she stepped away from acting.
She was lonely.
I know this may be hard to believe because she is a highly successful actor, and the temptation is to think that life must be peachy. The reality can be somewhat different.
Gwyneth went onto explain:
“I don’t want to be in a hotel in Budapest by myself, away from my family, for six weeks anymore.”
Believe it or not, loneliness can be quite an issue for an actor. You have to travel from one job to the next, sometimes being away from family and friends for long periods.
You also have to deal with the adrenaline rush. You may have to go on stage each night or onset during the day and your adrenaline spikes due to performance excitement. Then once you are done, you are alone in a hotel room.
I’ve experienced this myself. It can be hard at times to deal with this but having a strong support network of friends and family certainly helps. Plus, you have the camaraderie of your fellow actors and crew. It’s essential to make friends with them and socialise. It keeps you sane.
That’s not all of the downsides of being a successful actor, here is another one that actor, Ian Bartholomew, who has been playing an abusive husband in Coronation Street has been affected by.
Psychological association.
He has spent so long in the mind of the character that it began to affect his real life and he asked the producers if they could bring in a psychologist to help, which they did.
Personally, I think learning method acting is the way to deal with this. He did the right thing if he was feeling overwhelmed, which he was, but it needn’t get to that stage if you are method trained. You become familiar with the state of being them (the character) for long periods and being able to come out of them at will. It’s part of the daily practice of method actors. The constant practice of going into an imagined character and circumstance and out again.
So there we have it, being a successful actor isn’t all a bed of roses but then again neither is anything else usually. There is always some sort of downside to anything you do but the upside…well, it’s quite an upside. The thrill of acting and performing is an irreplaceable feeling.
Something to think about!
Brian Timoney
The Master Of The Method
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