Hello Tuesday! Eddie the Eagle: Lesson One: Money and Olympic Dreams

On Friday night I went to see "Eddie the Eagle", a true, funny and inspirational story about Eddie Edwards who had Olympic dreams despite his profound lack of preparation, athletic talent and financial support.Yet, he became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, teaching us all a couple of fundamental life lessons. I decided to import those lessons to my acting career in particular and to reflect a little about them in here, in this blog. Since I have a problem in summarizing stuff, I'll post a lesson per day in the next couple of days. 

LESSON ONE:

 
The film made me think about my financial life and the importance of money in achieving our dreams.

Eddie didn't have the right look neither he had a privilege school or family to back him up, especially when he needed sponsorship and the approval of the British Olympic Committee. Luckily his mom had some savings to help him out. I have to thank my piggy bank who saved me when I wanted to take that acting course, when I needed to buy that travel ticket to an agency meeting or to a casting. My family helped me when they could, they took me to the capital which was 4 hours away from my little town so I could attend modelling castings, competitions and agency meetings. 

My first photoshoot when I was 12 - turning 13. 

 As I got older and since I didn't make it straight away, I started taking responsibility for my own artistic journey. I did all kinds of part time jobs and some of them were absolutely soul crashing but self - victimization would only get me stuck and comfortable in my own failure and would stupidly justify my lack of action - I can assure you because I went through that as well, a dark place I don't wish anyone to visit.

15 years old.

Sooner or later I had to shift my paradigm and attitude. I know a lot of people who refuse certain jobs simply because they hold a superior education or simply because they find themselves superior than those  jobs. Maybe I got contaminated by these thoughts and this lifestyle. The thing is: until you get that big break, live as much as you can and work everywhere, explore skills, build a second resume, go and live and get yourself  busy doing acting stuff and non acting stuff. This, not only  helps you being on top of your finances, but "it gets you real"! It frees your mind a little from the entertainment world and its craziness and it brings you  back to the real world. The world  that you love so much to explore through characters and plays is just in front of you and you're actually living it from 9 - 5, meeting corporate  people who have dreams just like you. The stage is my life and the world is my acting lab. A laboratory where difficulties are helping me building my personality and my material for future characters I'll have to study. 

 

 Things happen when  you're not  expecting them and when you don't  give them so much importance. Maybe  things will start  to happen because you're  busy doing other things. If things don't happen and if you don't get a big break, at least you don't stay home moaning about it.

I had an audition  recently and it was the best audition of my life because  I wasn't  desperate to get it and I don't  depend on acting work anymore. Actually, the director asked me what other jobs I have done apart from acting because the improvisational exercise I had to do was related to that. Also, I can save more and I can invest more on my acting career. I don't have weekends or evenings and I don't  have a day off. If I am not working on my non acting job, then I'll be certainly working on my scripts, reading plays or researching, updating the blog, sending emails to agents, doing photoshoots or any modelling work that knocks on the door, going to the gym which for me is key to my work as an actress, not only  physically but mentally. 

Work gives you value, independence, it builds character and it makes you appreciate more the free time you have and what is worth it spending your money and your free time on. And you don't have to do something you love everyday because if you do it, then you will get sick of it and then you'll need to find something else to be passion about. Passion never lasted long, it has a short life expectancy.