I wanted to follow up on Tammy Hunt 's great post about not learning our lines and using that as an excuse for not giving our all in acting. In my experience, this often happens because we have a lurking belief in the background that we aren’t good enough. Rather than risk ‘failing’ by fully committing—learning our lines well and giving it everything—we hold back. If we don’t get good feedback, we can tell ourselves, Well, I hadn’t really learned my lines anyway.
It’s a strategy to cushion the blow of disappointment. And while it makes sense, it doesn’t actually help us grow as actors. What does help is understanding why we do it. Once we have more awareness, we can make different choices.
Here are three things we can do:
1. Who is the avoider/excuse-maker? How did they develop?
Get to know this part of you—the one that avoids learning lines (or anything else). How old do they feel? Are they a teenager? A child? Don’t overthink it—just go with what comes to mind first. When did this part develop? Was it in secondary school when exams started to feel overwhelming? Or in PE class when you dreaded being picked last? Understanding where this pattern started can give us insight into why it still shows up.
2. How is this avoiding/not-fully-invested part trying to protect you?
This might seem counterintuitive, but every behavior we develop is originally there to protect us—even the ones that don’t seem helpful anymore. If we view them as having a benevolent intention, it changes everything. The ‘not-fully-invested’ part likely developed to shield you from the shame or humiliation of failing. Ouch. No wonder it still tries to step in.
3. Have compassion for that part.
Once you recognize how hard this part has been working to protect you, show it some appreciation. Our inner parts respond to being valued and validated. Let it know that you’re an adult now, not a child or a teenager. You’ve survived plenty of ‘failures’ and are still here. You’re okay. More than that, you’re safe.
You can reinforce this by giving yourself a hug, taking deep breaths, or doing anything that creates a feeling of physical safety. The more this part trusts that you’re okay, the less it will feel the need to hold you back.
So next time you catch yourself avoiding, I invite you to take 10 minutes to check in with that part. Get curious. The more you befriend it, the less power it will have over you.
I’d love to hear how it goes!
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This sounds like a helpful exercise, Alexandra Stevens! A great exercise!
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Thank you Maurice Vaughan . Glad you think so. Could be useful for anyone really, not just actors.
You're welcome, Alexandra Stevens. I was thinking the same thing. Other people can use this exercise. Thanks for sharing it.
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I love the compassionate approach you’ve offered here, Alexandra Stevens, especially identifying the "avoider" part and seeing it not as a flaw but as a protective mechanism we developed somewhere along the way. That shift in mindset from shame to understanding can be transformational, not just in acting, but in any creative pursuit. Thank you for putting this into words so beautifully.
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You're welcome Ashley Renee Smith . Yes, you're right. It's a helpful approach for any creative process.
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There is never an excuse for not learning your lines. This is a disaster in theater that will shut a show down after one night. In film, it's money being thrown down the toilet. If the shoot is spending roughly $75K per 8 hour day, that's $156.25/minute.. That's only a movie with a $2M budget. Does anyone want to throw away $156.00 a minute because an actor who's job is to know their part, doesn't bother to learn their lines?
Now if the role is purely exploitative, in bad taste, or beyond one's comfort zone, any great director will adapt to fit the actor's comfort. No director will hire you just for one shot. That's on the integrity of the director and there is always an alternative to shoot a shot.
Ultimately, know your lines. Let's get the shot in 3 takes and move on. For every minute that's shown on screen, there is 10 minutes shot for nothing (or a Director's cut.) that's a waste or $1,560.00/ minute. It adds up if the actor or any part of the cast and crew isn't prepared to execute the assignments planned for the day.