What if I told you that most actors don’t lose jobs because they’re not talented…
They lose jobs because no one knows where to put them.
Today, we fix that—without labels, without limits, and without the word “type.”
What if I told you that most actors don’t lose jobs because they’re not talented… They lose jobs because no one knows where to put them... Read More
About
Transcript
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What if I told you that most actors
don't lose jobs because they're not talented.
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00:00:05,238 --> 00:00:09,442
They lose jobs because no one knows
where to put them.
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Today, we fix that
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without labels, without limits
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and without the word
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type.
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This is casting actor's guest.
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Well, hello everyone.
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Jeff dries back here.
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Welcome back to casting.
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Actor's cask, where we demystify the
business and craft of acting so you can
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do your best work, and yes, book the
job.
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Now, listen today's episode is one I've
wanted to do for a long time because
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there's a word floating around the
industry that does more harm than good.
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I promise you,
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the word is
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type.
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Guess what?
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I don't use it.
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I don't use it today.
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We're replacing it with something far
more useful, far more empowering
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your brand
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and specificity,
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your casting promise.
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Because here's the truth, you don't
control whether you're caste, but you
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absolutely control how you are
perceived.
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And perception
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that's where opportunity lives.
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We're going to continue that and talk
about brand.
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But first, this is that moment where I
get to say thank you for tuning in to
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casting actors.
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Gasped listen if you'd love to continue
on listening to the podcast.
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I implore you to check out the website,
casting actor's cast, all one word dot
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com.
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There you're going to find all kinds of
information.
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A course, a book.
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That's available to you.
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A free book, if you fill out the form
that says, dive into the talent pool,
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it gives me your email address as well
as your name.
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And then it's a downloadable pdf.
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Also there's a free video available
there's all kinds of stuff happening on
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the website.
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It's just an opportunity for you to get
not only more information, but also
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there are previous episodes of the
podcast that you can get right there.
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We're also on YouTube.
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So, you know, I'm trying to do
everything I can to get the word out,
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but I need your help as well.
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Please get the word out.
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If there's a question that you have
using that form, you can ask me
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anything about the business, anything
about casting, anything about your
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situation.
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I am happy to answer it, and there's a
good chance I could answer it on the
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air.
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Why not?
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So there's all kinds of things that are
taking place on the websitecasting
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actor's cast, all one word com.
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Please check it out.
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I think you'll find it very, very useful
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and if not, let me know.
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Let me know what I can do to make it
better.
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I'm always always trying to improve.
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I'm always trying to bring new, fresh
subjects.
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You know what?
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We're over 418
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episodes, something like that.
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So it's kind of crazy
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that we're still going this strong.
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I'm kind of surprised myself, but I
need your help by contributing to the
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podcast, by contributing and asking
those questions, and again, checking
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out the website,
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listening to the audio book, all that
that stuff that's out there.
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All right, that's enough shameless
promotional
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information.
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Let's just talk about this.
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And the first way to start, I think, is
talk about what brand actually means.
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So that,
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by definition, once we understand it,
then we can start retooling
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our thinking about how we are being
perceived by others,
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what it actually means, and also what
it doesn't.
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So I want you to
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think about simplifying it this way.
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Your brand
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it's not a gimmick, I promise you.
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It's not a costume,
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it's not a personality
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you fake.
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Your brand is the consistent
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emotional experience
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people have,
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watching you.
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Pretty good.
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Right?
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Casting is an asking, who is the most
talented actor?
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We're asking what happens when this
person enters the story
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that is your brand.
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Now I mention casting promise.
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And here's the phrase I want you to
remember, here's your casting promise.
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It equals
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what you reliably
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deliver
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on screen,
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not once, not accidentally,
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reliably.
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Now here are some examples.
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Without labelling.
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You could say I bring grounded
authority under pressure.
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Or you could say I deliver
unpredictable emotional truths with charm.
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Or you could say I make intelligence
feel dangerous or playful.
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Notice, these are not boxes.
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They are experiences.
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So let's now talk about the three part
brand framework.
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Let's make this actionable.
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It's one thing to talk about it, but is
definitely another thing to work at it.
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So there are some steps I want to share
with you.
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Step one
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essence,
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you have to ask yourself, what energy
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do I naturally bring into a room?
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Not what you want to be,
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what already shows up.
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Now here are some examples,
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calm, intensity,
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quick humor,
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emotional transparency,
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controls, stillness.
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You see, those all contribute to that
first impression that you're making,
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that
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first
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impression that creates your brand.
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Step two,
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strength in behavior.
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Think about this.
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What do you do well on camera?
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Specifically?
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Do you listen well
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do you react?
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Well, truthfully.
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Sincerely.
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Are you holding tension
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or shifting?
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Tone?
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Quickly.
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See, this is where your craft meets.
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Your essence.
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Your strengths are something you need
to explore.
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You need to feel confident and
comfortable with those choices.
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Step three is what I call the casting
promise statement.
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And you see, I would combine them,
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like, for example, you could say, I
bring essence,
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whatever that essence is, through
behavior,
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whatever that behavior is, creating
impact,
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whatever the impact is,
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ok?
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Hope to help solve.
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That makes sense.
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So here's an example.
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For example, you could say, I bring
grounded calm through active listening,
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creating,
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quiet authority.
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You see, that's powerful, that's
usable.
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That is castable.
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And that is your acting promise.
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So here's why this works from the
casting point of view.
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Let me give you what I think is the
real insider truth.
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When we are casting,
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we are assembling a puzzle.
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We don't need ten brilliant actors
doing everything.
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We need clarity.
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If I can understand you in ten seconds,
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you're working.
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If I'm confused,
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you're not getting called back.
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Now there's a trap that's out there to
avoid.
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And we're going to cover that trap
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right after this.
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Welcome back we're talking about
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your brand, and we're so talking about
your actor promise and the trap to avoid,
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something that actors do all the time.
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Actors say, I don't understand.
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I can play anything
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well, listen, of course you can.
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That's not helpful, because casting
isn't about your range, it's about your
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entry point.
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Your brand
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gets you in the door.
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Your range keeps you in the room.
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Make sense.
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So it's not just, it's like, gosh, how
else can I say this?
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It's a lot like
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getting aside and creating a whole play
based on the side.
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Yeah, I think a little bit of work on
the backstory
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and where you're coming from, and the
relationship with the other person, and
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your listening skill set, and all of
those things are good for the side.
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But when we're talking about the whole
play, creating
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a world in which you're creating a
whole play or a whole
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episode,
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what you're doing is giving yourself
way too much.
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You lose a lot of clarity.
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It's about working with the side that
you have and making that truthful,
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making that inspirational, making that
interesting,
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making that authentic.
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So I think that that's kind of a neat
way to look at it, and that's why I
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also like the acting promise,
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because the acting promise is really
about consistency.
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And when I see that consistency
demonstrated
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in your auditions, but also in your
picture and your resume,
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I get a good sense about who you are on
a professional basis.
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And I also get a good sense about what
the roles are that
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you could do in a heartbeat, just
because of that clarity.
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All right,
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moving on from there here's your action
step.
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I want you to do this because I think
this is incredibly useful,
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right down your casting promise.
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So you might have to go back and listen
to what we're talking about.
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We're starting with essence and
behavior.
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I want you to test it.
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I want you to adjust it.
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I want you to own it.
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Because when you control your brand,
you stop chasing opportunity,
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and you start becoming recognizable
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and recognizable actors.
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They work.
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They really do.
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So thank you so much for listening to
casting.
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Actors cast.
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If this helps you, I want you to share
it with a fellow actor, and we'll see
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you next time.
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I'm Jeff arise back
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