You just never know when an acting job, even if it seems smaller than we wished or lesser than our abilities and talents deserve, changes your career path. Summer of '07, I did a small role in a play in Los Angeles than I wouldn't normally accept at this stage of my career. But, it had good people attached and also filled the void during the TV hiatus period. So, I did COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA at the CTG Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. For many, this would be a dream job in L.A. theatre, but I've been in over 150 regional theatre shows, 10 National Tours of shows, 5 Broadway shows and earned a Tony Award Honor for the revival of BIG RIVER in 2003 in my 31 years as an actor. So, taking a role that had 4 minutes of actual stage time seemed easy and, of couse, at least gainful employment. Well, here's where serendipity takes it's first step. The show was solid, but far from a rave with the critics. To my amazement, 3 months later, I received a call from the Manhattan Theatre Club in NYC offering me the same role in the Broadway revival of COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA, a four month Broadway run. Well, that alone was a coup as I didn't have to re-audition and the run began just after Thanksgiving '07 and ended March 16, '08...virtually the exact time of the Writer's Guild strike which paralyzed the TV/Film market in L.A. Well, once again gainful employment during a frozen job market. I couldn't say "no", so off to Broadway once again. Well, there I am in NYC with my "4 minute" acting gig and so fortunate on so many levels. Now, just to show you that opportunity begets opportunity, during the run of my show in NYC a long established casting director sees the show and my "4 minutes" and thinks I'm great and believes her main client needs to meet me. She researches me on IMDB.com and views my reel online and tells this client that he needs to meet me. I receive a call from my NY agent saying that Juliet Taylor called and that I'm being summoned to Woody Allen's apartment for a private meeting with this iconic film maker. I went. I was met by one of Mr. Allen's assistants who greeted me and asked if I would like a drink and to have a seat and relax. In 1 minute, a second assistant met me and explained how I came to be called to this meeting and why I was there and how to pronounce my last name. In another minute, a third assistant met me and explained some of the "ground rules" for today's meeting. She said the meeting may only last a few seconds or a few minutes and not to feel bad if Mr. Allen doesn't personally greet me, shake my hand or dismisses me after just a few seconds with him. Many people often get cast in his films after such a meeting, he just needs to get a sense of you physically. Also, don't feel as if I need to "carry the conversation", just be myself & answer any of his questions and don't offer my hand to shake unless he offers first.
Well, Juliet came out to greet me and ushered me into the screening room in his home and I was warmly met by Woody Allen who extended his hand for a shake. We did. We talked for about 5 minutes and he explained that he wanted to meet in person and get a sense of me in consideration for his Spring Project. We talked about my "4 minute" show, when it ended, if I lived in NY and how long I would be in the city before returning to Los Angeles. He thanked me several times for coming to meet him and shook my hand again before Juliet ushered me out the door and thanked me once again. It was as normal as a meeting could be. Done. Not yet. The next morning, I got a call from my now giddy agent saying that Woody Allen loved me and they wanted to know if I'd like to be in his next film beginning April 14 thru May 30, '07. I accepted the offer to be one of a group of friends to Larry David, the star of the film. Done. Nope, not yet.
After settling and accepting the terms of the deal, my now giddier agent called with 3 items of interest. First, my deal was done and I am officially in the film. Second, not only am I one of the group of Larry David's friends in the film, I'm now his best friend and I have many scenes as Larry complains about his life to me throughout the film. And third, there is a message to me from Mr. Allen. That being that he is thinking of me, he's thinking about me, he's thinking that I may be a sculptor (which my character is now) and that he's going back to the scenes between Larry's character and mine and will re-write them to reflect my persona. Done. Well now, you can see how we never know what will come from any job that we take and how the biggest coup of my career comes from the shortest time on stage in my professional career. The message? Keep working. Keep busy. Get out there and make something happen. Don't wait for the jobs to come and find you, just find something to do, even if it's just 4 minutes...you might get a call from Woody Allen!
Lyle Kanouse

I'm actually writing this story from Puerto Rico, where I have a beautiful view of the turqoise ocean and am filming A PERFECT GETAWAY with Timothy Olyphant! It all started with a little postcard. Whenever I have something new to say or a tv show appearance to promote, I send out a postcard to casting directors. My card crossed the desk of Anne McCarthy/Jay Scully casting and they were looking to cast America Ferrera's directorial debut-a short film for television. They told my agent that America saw my reel and wanted to offer me the part. The role was smaller than I normally would accept at this stage of my career, but it was to work with America, and shoot on a Saturday, so I figured why not!? I then sent the casting director a thank you note the next week, and was called in to audition for another one of their projects! This time, a feature film that would shoot for a week in Puerto Rico. I was put on tape and didn't hear anything for 3 weeks. On the way out of my audition, they thanked me for doing the America Fererra job, and they said how many actors would rather not work at all than accept a smaller role. And they've seen so many times how work begets work. I thanked them again for all the opportunities, and realized what a true statement it really was. Three weeks later, I got another call from them saying the director would like to cast me in his film! I believe that when we do the best we can and enjoy EVERY role, no matter the size, it will ALWAYS lead to something bigger and better! In fact, I'm living proof of that!

And now I have a few days free to finish this website and get out my first Actor Inspiration Newsletter!. When I look at the photo we decided on for the Actor Inspiration background--I wanted it to be something serene, some place magical, somewhere that just takes you away when you look at it. I am now sitting in front of that very place as I type this right now! Be careful what you wish for--it most likely will come true in ways you can't imagine!

Naomi Watts contemplated suicide at the beginning of her career - because she wasn't getting the breaks she needed. The Oscar-nominated actress was struggling to make it when she first moved from Australia to Hollywood and it was all beginning to get too much for her. She said: "In some ways I still have a hard time believing that it's all come together for me. I remember spending a lot of time in my car weeping.

I actually remember driving along Mulholland Drive thinking, 'I'll just take a right turn here. Maybe I'll just go over the cliff because I can't take it any more. But I never had the guts to quit." However, the blonde beauty says her friends, such as Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman, gave her the support she needed during that hard time.

She added in an interview with Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "There was always some small part coming up which saved me from total poverty, and I always had good friends behind me, such as Nicole. She knew what it was all about and kept reminding me to hang in. She would tell me, 'All it takes is one film.' and that turned out to be 'Mulholland Drive'. It was a lifesaver because I was about to be evicted from my apartment."

Imagine the world today without the Harry Potter books and movies. They almost didn’t happen. J.K. Rowling recently said she contemplated killing herself after her first marriage to Jorge Arante ended. according to an interview posted online by student journalist Adeel Amini, Rowling said, “We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable. Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted,” Rowling said in the interview, parts of which were published in Edinburgh University’s Student magazine, that she sought help from doctors and spent nine months receiving cognitive behavioral therapy, according to Amini. Amini provided the Associated Press with an audio file of his 29-minute conversation with Rowling. She has acknowledged that characters featured in the series called Dementors were inspired by her illness.

After she left Jorge, friends helped her pay the security deposit on an apartment where she wrote Harry Potter. And the rest is history! Fortune magazine ranks Rowling, who wrote seven Harry Potter novels, as one of the richest women in Britain, with an estimated wealth of $1 billion.

Cherry Jones, earned a Tony nomination for her acting in a stage production of A Moon for the Misbegotten [2002] but was “nearly paralyzed by a profound case of stage fright” according to a Time Out New York article. She said it was from "Living up to the greatest performance I have ever seen” [Colleen Dewhurst's, in 1973] and felt she was "wrestling with this ghost. It's creative panic."

Julianna Margulies said about being in the play Ten Unknowns at Lincoln Center in 2001, “We [actors] are such a sorry lot. We're all so insecure.. Earlier this week, I went home after rehearsal and basically cried on my pillow, saying, What have I gotten myself into? I'm not good enough to do this play." She came back the next morning and reported Donald Sutherland looked at the rest of the cast and said, "I've been vomiting."

These examples indicate some of the aspects of stage fright, or performance anxiety: it isn’t a matter of your level of skill or talent, and it can be related to other emotional challenges such as impostor feelings.

Actor and coach Wendy Braun [wendybraun.com], in her article “How To Stay Up During Down Times” [Back Stage West Mar30-Ap5 2006] talks about the “roller coaster of emotions” that actors experience, and asks, “Where have you been giving your attention?... Remember that what you focus on expands. Comparing yourself to other actors’ success can put you in a state of panic and lacking.

Those feelings and ways of thinking can fuel stage fright and other kinds of anxiety about our abilities and ourselves.

In her article Breathing Out Stage Fright, Linda Dessau of Genuine Coaching Services notes that stage fright “comes in many different forms. For some, it's a nervous energy that disappears as soon as they begin performing, or a familiar sensation that's always under the surface but feels manageable most of the time. For others, it's so debilitating that they can't get through an audition to even be part of a performance.”

In another article, Preparing For Performance, she suggests shifting the way you think about being on stage: “Imagine the performance as a way for you to wrap up your most precious gift - the expression of your creativity - and deliver it from your heart to the heart of each and every person who's there to receive it... now the performance IS NOT ABOUT YOU. It's about your gift and doing your best to deliver it... and creating an experience that other people can take away and cherish.”

This article is from The Inner Actor. Check out this site for more articles on the psychology of acting.