When you’re just starting out as an actor, wrestling with reservations about taking on a particular role, especially when it could pay a few bills or even your rent, poses a challenge.
Then again, actors who go the distance tend to work with intention instead of throwing themselves at anything and everything. In the latest episode of “What No One Tells You,” William Stanford Davis (aka Mr. Johnson on “Abbott Elementary“) told IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking that while “people are afraid to say no,” that one word is key to setting yourself apart.
“They think that saying no means that you’re not gonna get a job,” said Davis, “or that some type of bad spell is gonna be put on you because you said the word ‘no.’ The word ‘no’ is one of the most important things you can say in this business.”
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Davis cited a test he gave while teaching acting classes in Los Angeles, where he asked students if they were willing to do nudity. Many, as he said, immediately responded, “Oh, yeah, sure,” but to Davis, this meant, “They didn’t think about the question.” If they’re willing to do nudity, that’s absolutely fine, but not even trying to understand why your character might strip down indicates they would “do anything for a job.” Instead of just saying yes to everything, actors should consider why they’re the best fit for a role and use that to guide their choices instead.
Besides advising what to say “no” to, Davis also highlighted why actors should “always be learning.” By keeping their minds open, actors can tap into new ways of performing to elevate their presence.
“For me, it was just some little things, like every experience we have is filtered through your five senses,” Davis told Future of Filmmaking. “That was like, ‘Oh my God,’ that was like an ‘Aha!’ moment for me. That was like, ‘Ok, I can stop pretending. I can stop acting. I can only just behave now.’”
He added, “Emotion for emotion’s sake is a lie. Emotion has to be based on the truth, and if I’m telling the truth all the time — if I’m really locked in — the truth of what this character’s going through, the emotion’s gonna be there to save me. It takes a tremendous amount of study to perfect it, and I don’t think anyone perfects it. I think you’re constantly learning, you’re constantly growing.”
Watch a clip from his episode of “What No One Tells You” below.
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