Lessons Learned From Dreams

I had a dream that I was visiting David Gallagher on the set. It was in between takes and I complimented him on how good he was in the scene. He said to me that he doesn't think so, and that he sucks as an actor.

I then told him something that has been ringing in my head since I woke up this morning. I told him:

"The best critiques come from the people that don't have a clue how you do it. I am not an actor. I don't know how to sell a character and make it believable. You do. And if I say that you've done a good job in selling Simon, in making Simon believable to me, then you are a good actor."

I then went on to say different things like how Matthew Lawrence and Matt Damon can sell characters as well and how Hayden Christensen couldn't sell a believable Anikan Skywalker even if that is the only role I have seen him in.

The break between takes ended and David Gallagher went back to being Simon Camden. He was on his marker, and before the director could yell "Speed!", he turned to me and smiled.

Like I said, what I said to him in my dream has been ringing in my ears since I woke up.

The best critiques anyone can give anyone else come from the people that have no clue how to do the things a person does in the field of art, be it acting or artistic works worthy of gallery space. When you can connect to the common denominator in that kind of way, you know what it is you are good at. They don't have to necessarily get it. They just have to show that you were able to get to the bare bottom line as to what it is you are doing, what makes that role important to the overall context of the work. If your intent was to make a person smile and they smile, you succeeded in your intent. If your job is to make a fictional character as real as possible and you make people believe even for a second that you are the person you are portraying, then you have succeeded in your intent.

Just because someone says that you suck at doing your job and they don't know jack shit about how to get to where you are right now doesn't mean they are wrong. If anything, it means that they could be right.