Letters to the Editor
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Good writing, great subject
As the wife of a struggling actor, I appreciated this article very much. Birkenhead was candid and humorous, and hadn't let the "biz" poison him (too much!). He does talk about the fact that "home ownership and marriage are pretty fragile things for people who sometimes wonder if they'll ever work again." This is such a true observation. I support my husband's choice of career 100% (and thankfully, I have a great and steady job of my own). But life often feels like a rollercoaster for us, with my husband's career completely at the whim of casting directors who are failed actors/writers/directors themselves. He has a great audition for a really good part, and then we play the waiting game, and then we don't hear anything after 3 days, and then by day 4 or 5, I can see the disappointment on his face. It hurts my heart, even though I know he has better defense mechanisms than I do. We are also not white -- our families are from India --and the racist/stereotypical comments he gets really blow our mind. One casting director told him he's "not Indian enough" and proceeded to cast a very dark skinned, shorter Indian man with thick lips for that same part. The conceptions about race and ethnicity are so narrow, and casting directors are sometimes the most uneducated when it comes to the tremendous diversity out there in the real world. The thing that keeps us going, with all of this, is his passion for the craft, our belief that he can and will succeed, and the support of family and friends. And a sense of humor about all the b.s. that you do experience in this career! We keep ourselves entertained with the foibles of big stars -- people that he's worked with on various tv shows. Which actor wears a tooth whitening retainer in between each and every take? Which actor can't pronounce any names at all? Which actor fumbles medical jargon really badly, and she works on a hospital drama?
I don't know if being a writer will be any easier for Birkenhead, because there's just as much pressure to be productive, to have something ready to talk about and pitch, etc. But I wish him all the best as he tries a new path in his life. And I'm definitely sharing his article with my husband!