The Talent vs. Experience Conundrum

I travel around the country looking for talent. Two weekends ago I went to the Youth Film Academy in Washington D.C. I was amazed that families came out in the crazy weather. But because they were willing to trek through the snow, I have actors who I'll remember for a long time to come, and will audition in the future.

What struck me in the process of reading the actors was the abundance of raw talent. So many of you have it, and it's talent that needs to get developed. I think of it like sports. You may be a good soccer player at home in your back yard, but without practice and training and coaches, you're not going to take the ball much further than that back yard.

The last boy I saw that day in D.C. had this fantastic quality. He had an emotional intelligence that just shown through as he read. But he didn't know what to do with the camera. He didn't know how the technical aspects of it worked, and it was clear he wasn't comfortable with the camera, that he didn't know how to interact and play with it. Its presence shut him down and made him self-conscious, when in fact the presence of a camera should do the opposite. Skillful camera work combined with talent can result in star performances. It's a collaboration, the same way that a model has to be in tune with her photographer to be able to take great pictures and become a supermodel (don't lie: plenty of you have watched "America's Next Top Model").

When I was thinking about the question a follower asked in a comment——"what's more important, talent or experience?"——the first thing that came to my mind was "don't make me choose." Like so much in life, it comes down to finding a balance. I couldn't cast the talented young actor in Washington because he didn't have enough training yet. At the same time, if he hadn't possessed the raw material, he wouldn't have made such an impact on me. Both things are necessary. You need the discipline and the structure to develop your talent, and you need to have core talent in the first place. It's almost as if you need to keep your creativity in shape, the way you need to work out at the gym to keep your body in shape. If you neglected to tune up your car, what good would it be to you if you went into the garage and it didn't start?

Sure, there are untalented actors who work. There are also some actors so brilliantly gifted their talent can't be denied, no matter what kind of mistakes or bad choices they make in their private lives. But most of the time, the balance between talent and experience somehow gets itself sorted out. Most of you will do it at your own pace, and in your own way. I feel confident about saying so, because I see evidence of it every day of the week.