Voices
RICK
SCHWARTZ
HUFFINGTON
07.01-08.12
Hollywood’s New
Natural Selection
IT’S HARD ENOUGH to be an actor under any circumstances — the
unending rejection, insane competiveness, constant scrutiny. Then,
of course, there’s the work itself
— which often gets overlooked
amid all the public fascination with
those who choose this particular
career path.
The ones with the “dream” careers — Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp,
Brad Pitt — spent years dealing
with all kinds of personal and professional crucibles, navigating these
landmines on the way to top-ofthe-ladder success. Even at their
rarefied level, they still have to constantly deal with perhaps the scariest thing of all: public perception.
Most working actors aren’t
movie stars, and it’s hard to empathize with celebrities of that
magnitude. But for those working
their way up, acting classes might
ILLUSTRATION BY WES DUVALL
Rick
Schwartz is a
film producer.
not be enough training anymore;
how to manage your brand could
be just as useful a tool.
In the old days, one misstep
didn’t necessarily ruin your career
or your public image; most indiscretions were handled privately and
permanently. Nowadays, a foolish
quote is married to your name on
Google, an unfortunate photo gets
millions of hits while a moment