THE ESTABLISHED ACTOR’S MANIFESTO

An established actor has a brand whether they like it or not. You, the actor, are the selling point. If Apple proceeded to make bad products you would associate it with bad quality. You would be repelled by the sight of an Apple logo. That can be said of brands that have failed you despite the many times you gave it a chance. Internet Explorer comes to mind. The actor is a product, a brand and an entertainer, with whom your project, your film, is your vehicle. You deliver too many bad films, your name becomes associated with poor quality. That is the case with Will Smith. It wasn’t the slap. Please try and think of a Will Smith film you last saw in theaters. ‘King Richard’, for reminders, was a Box Office flop. The last successful domestic Will Smith film that wasn’t a property or sequel was 2008’s ‘Hancock’.  Success for an actor shouldn’t necessarily only constitute box office success. It means repeat viewing after it’s theatrical run: People quickly associate critically acclaimed films to your name. However, with enough stinkers the scent will soon accompany you.

Tom Cruise is the opposite. He has managed to guide his career carefully in strategic similarities to the likes of Apple or another good brand. Cruise has created opportunities that many other established actors could have afforded but, unfortunately for these inept or unenlightened strategicians, they have opted for poor products. Will Smith rejected ‘The Matrix’ in favor of ‘Wild Wild West’, Tom Cruise rejected ‘Salt’ in favor of the objectively better film ‘Knight and Day’. Cruise has managed to associate himself with projects that challenge and hold his audience’s collective attention, long after the fact. It has been slow and often understated, but from ‘Risky Business’, ‘Mission Impossible’ to ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, he has proven the process is doable. Many established actors are simply not good filmmakers, so what then do you do? Partner with one! Dwayne Johnson has the charm and power that mere mortals can only dream of, but yet he has constantly chosen either weak projects or weaker directors to execute his products. Tom Cruise on the other hand, has Christopher McQuarrie, Leonardo DiCaprio has Martin Scorsese, but Will Smith has no name directors with poor past projects, and when he then decides to work with a name director, they need him more than he needs them, example M. Night Shyamalan, and Ang Lee. Seek out the best, surround yourself with the best, accept criticism. Critics are your guide, your distant mentors. Hone their advice, don’t challenge them. Why are they saying the things they are saying? You may make all the money at the Box office but lose your soul to the spirit of impermanence. Look at Michael Bay. With enough annoying, repetitious, mindless projects he ends up lost to box office failure and irrelevance. A short unguided career, with only the halls of past glories to wander in.

Find Directors that will challenge you, find writers that have proven their grit in their critical acclaim and not box office prowess, e.g avoid filmmakers of The Fast and Furious or the Transformers series.

If Box Office is not your goal and just the pure love of acting your verve, emulate the careers of Cate Blanchett, Denzel Washington, and Daniel Day Lewis. Shut the eff up, get rid of your social media accounts, avoid controversial nonsense. DO NOT OVER EXPOSE YOURSELF.  Your enigma is part of your appeal. You want audiences to imagine who you are, so when you deliver a performance it’s a revelation. You want audiences to ask, “I wonder who this actor really is?” And when they hear or see you in an interview that juxtaposes the character you have just embodied, your audience will adore and respect you more. e.g many were not aware that Christian Bale has a Welsh accent, Dev Patel is so affable and Daniel Day Lewis so disarmingly genial. You leave them wanting more from you, but you only give them your next performance, not your holiday pics or opinion. The audience is now more susceptible to your performance. Gallivanting on social media with pictures of you and your family in Malibu, or Paris, singing ‘Imagine’ and speaking with authority on topics you clearly have no authority on, leads you, your brand and product into pariah.

Once you expose yourself and or your family through the world of social media, you make yourself a target. Do not show images of your babies or kids going to school; you are not the royal family, you are an actor. Do not tell us your political leanings; James Woods we would have been better off not knowing you support an idiot. We don’t need to know your political views Alec Baldwin, Stacey Dash, Jon Voight, you are actors. The constitution gives you the right to talk but also the right not to, for your career’s sake exercise the later.

You can either be Apple or by the writing of this article Tesla. Elon Musk was born to privilege in apartheid South Africa; we were pretty sure we knew how he leaned politically, but we opted not to bring it up, until he confirmed it. We didn’t need to know any of this; you are a car company. Neither do we want to know where Tim Cook or the late Steve Jobs leaned politically. It was the gift the public gave them. You, the established actor are the same. If you must use social media, follow the examples of Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves. Why? They both keep it politically neutral, vague, friendly and family private, (We don’t need to see your kids, as adorable as they might be Chris Pratt.) Actors, stop defending controversial figures like the confessed pedophile Roman Polanski or suspected child rapist Woody Allen, it’s not worth it and more importantly simply immoral.

You are an actor, celebrity was a recent attachment. Remember why you became an actor, and if the answer is fame, well do us the favor and dismiss everything we wrote here and keep on going strong. Good luck on your next reality show. Seriously, leave.

Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, are some of the names that have given us little, in regards to their private lives. And we really don’t need to know either. Denzel Washington is such a private figure we didn’t even know his son John David Washington was a cast member of ‘Ballers’. Honestly we didn’t even know how many children he had, and that is perfectly fine. Because this is a business; and your family, your private life is yours, keep it yours. We hate to hamper on Will Smith, but his lose of potential hurts more than should be stood for. If a petition starts going around demanding the Smiths not be interviewed anymore (this is before the slap), your career needs a serious critical rethink. Smith could have been a Tom Cruise, the last box office star, but ill advised, misguided projects and simply poor filmmaking have hampered his once promising career.

The old studio system grew archaic in its approach to modern day film making, but one thing they understood and stands true today was that the star’s story was important. What will your story be, loud, overexposed or reclusive, enigmatic, and cautious?