Like a really massive squirrel, I was rooting around the internet and found this 1992 interview between John Tesh and Ron Perlman:
Tesh: You got slapped enough to quit [acting]. Why didn’t you quit?
Perlman: Because the more I tried to think of what I would do if I wasn’t an actor, the more I realised I had absolutely no talent to be anything else – no drive to be anything else – no spark. There was this little voice inside that said, “You win the war if you can find something that you feel passionate about.”
That sums up how I feel about writing. Honestly, when I think of the alternatives, there’s nothing. Zip. I have to be doing this.
Anyway, obviously I’m a Ron Perlman fan. Duh. So after reading that interview I found another, which also discusses acting in terms that apply to the writer’s life:
I’ve never been stereotyped, and I know this is a business where we are asked to do the same thing over and over again. The premise from which my philosophy basically springs is, I have everyone in the universe inside me somewhere, and the farther afield I have to travel in order to find that person, the happier I am. We are all capable of the entire gamut of emotions: There’s violence in us, there’s jealousy, a lot of irrational passions in us that make very interesting theatrical situations. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to portray the more disparate facets of the human psyche.
Which, again, hits it on the head. As well as this, which is also part of the same interview [just substitute “audition” for “submit your writing” and you’re golden]:
Ron: This is the most privileged industry to work in that I can think of because you can really hit the jackpot – financially, spiritually, fame, whatever. And you can certainly hit the jackpot in terms of the richness of the experience, the great people you meet along the way, and the effect you can have on the great audience out there that’s really interested in examining the human condition in any way, shape, or form that is pertinent, intelligent, illuminating, or entertaining. But the only way to do it is to audition. So if you hate auditions, get over it. If you do badly at an audition, try to forget about it, because tomorrow you’re going to have another one, and you better learn to like it and get good at it because that’s the only way you’re ever going to get a job over the other 800 guys who are trying to get that job.
Elya: I would sign that; I couldn’t say it better. This is the strangest, most dangerous, insecure, and wonderful life. I wouldn’t choose anything else.
It’s never the same. There are no two days of my life that have ever been alike. One of the reasons why I considered becoming an actor was because I could never imagine myself in a job where I knew what I would be doing 5 years down the line—what I was going to be making and where I was going on vacation. I’ve gotten to see the world, met some of the coolest people on the planet and the challenge of finding the disparate facets that all make up the human psyche and accessing them for any given role is trippy. It’s very engaging and it never leaves me wanting. It always creates a challenge and enthusiasm in me that keeps the boy in me very much alive.
Yes, and yes, and yes.