One more element … contributing to a creative dramatic state … I shall call … ethics. [The actor] needs order, discipline, a code of ethics not only for the general circumstances of his work, but also and especially for his artistic … purposes … An actor … always being in the public eye displaying his best aspects, receiving ovations, accepting extravagant praise, reading glowing criticisms—all … these breed … the sense of craving for constant titillation of his personal vanity. But if he lives on that he is bound to sink low and become trivial. A serious-minded person could not be entertained long by such a life, yet a shallow one is enthralled, debauched, destroyed by it. That is why in our world of the theatre we must learn to hold ourselves well in check … follow the principle: Love art in yourself, not yourself in art.
—Konstantin Stanislavski, Building a Character
Ethics are a very important subject. Poor ethics can destroy you even if you become powerful, rich, and famous. In fact, fame puts you at greater risk.
To be ethical means considering the survival not just of ourselves but of the world including self, family, groups we belong to, mankind as a whole, plants and animals, material things we use, spirituality or thought, and God or the universe, which some people call infinity. We are all made up of these parts, which make each of us into a whole being. When one part suffers the rest do as well, so considering their survival is ethical and disregarding it is not. Ethics could also be defined as reason.
Justice could be defined as the group forcing the individual to do what is right through punishment or the threat of punishment. The Cambridge Dictionary Online defines justice as “the system of laws by which people are judged and punished.”
McCombs School of Business defines morals as “the prevailing standards of behavior that enable people to live cooperatively in groups. Morals refer to what societies sanction as right and acceptable” (McCombs School of Business, “Morals,” Ethics Unwrapped).
The Google Dictionary defines punishment as the imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense. It defines revenge as the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands.
According to the Google Dictionary, morale is the confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group at a particular time.
As I look up these words and write them out, I see how barbaric we can be. We don’t educate or rehabilitate criminals; we do to them what we tell them not to do to others. We punish and hurt them, but we let the law do it in an attempt to make society better.
The whole point of doing art is to have fun, though for some it is to become rich and famous. Being without ethics can sabotage your happiness and your ability to persist in this business or any other. Let me give you an example. You are booked to work on a set the next day, and a girl with whom you had a one-night stand tells you she is pregnant, or the man to whom you have given your heart tells you it is over. What if you are supposed to do a wedding scene, and you are in tears or are grouchy the whole day on set? You might not make it there because of some unethical action you have done or have observed someone else doing. Of course bad things may happen no matter what, but why add to problems with your own lack of ethics? Take the time to consider your actions and decide if they will positively or negatively affect you and others. That’s ethics. In Hollywood the environment can be so crazy and unethical that a friend’s drama can get in the way of your life, or you can feel like you have done so much damage in your personal sphere that there is no hope for you.
But there is always something you can do to make your environment a little safer. Start by drawing a line down the middle of a page. On the right side list the people you feel good about most of the time, those who make you feel like you’re both going to be successful. Then on the left side write down the people who make you feel like crap most of the time, those who make you regret your actions and emotions after being around them. You are the only one who will see these lists, so be completely honest. Now take the time to be around those people who help you shine. Don’t give up on the others, but spend less time with them. Monitor them and your actions, and see what happens.
Examine the environments where you work and hang out. Instead of asking whether you make money at a job, ask how happy you are after you go home. If you hate your job, find another place to work. Don’t make excuses. I left waitressing after seven years and became a crew member on movie sets. I love my job. I won’t work for people I don’t like. This makes all the difference in the world to me. But I got burned out doing script supervising and took a break from that and am now head of production at a TV network. The key is to follow your heart and your instincts. A safe environment is crucial, and you will know when it is safe and unsafe.
If you are having a hard time creating a safe environment or you are trying to save the world (and therefore encounter people who are suffering), look inward and find spiritual help from the right teacher. At a church you may discover that members won’t talk to anyone not like themselves. So find a good church one that jives with you. I also recommend spiritual therapy. Try Christine Hassler, who has a great podcast, or others like her who believe life is a spiritual journey we are all on to learn lessons. I am not trying to push my beliefs. I found I was healing others or trying to change them when the person I really wanted to change and to heal was myself. If a plane’s cabin pressure fails, you should put on your own oxygen mask first and then help others.
Do your best not to get into arguments or fights with people you are leaving, and don’t do them harm or threaten to withhold anything from them. If you have hurt people or have kept something from them, write to them. Milton Katselas’s school used to have students write letters to people, even those who had died, whom students felt had held back their careers. If anyone—a parent or a former teacher or lover—has said negative things about your art, write that person a letter. You don’t have to send it. Just read it to someone and burn it. You would be surprised at how effective this is for any career. It is such a release that the letters sometimes catapult an actor’s career. I have seen it.
Don’t underestimate the power of communicating or of not communicating. You withhold a very important part of yourself if you fail to communicate. This does not mean you should tell people they are jerks. Although I am pretty candid, I can always find something I like about another person. Be as honest as possible, but don’t say things to hurt others. If you are fighting with someone, it is not all that person’s fault or yours. Be responsible. Don’t blame others. Practice the art of staying calm in these situations. Use them as a way of understanding how you behave in emotional situations and of how to remain peaceful and to seek solutions in disputes.
If you have unresolved communications, try to get them resolved. If you want to be an actor, you must realize the audience is looking for you to give as much of yourself as you can give. If you have negative relationships, they can harm your ability to communicate with other people as an artist.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing a part, say so, but make sure it is you talking and not your husband, wife, parents, or kids. Be true to yourself. Decide what your boundaries (ethics) are, and don’t live by other people’s standards. Milton Katselas’s book Dreams into Action can help any artist or person with dreams understand ethics and attitude. You can also get L. Ron Hubbard’s book The Way to Happiness for a dollar on Amazon. This book will help you to choose how to behave around people and to decide which people are more ethical. Both books contain a wealth of information and can be a tremendous help with your acting career. As Katselas used to say, “Attitude monitors talent.” If you observe your personal ethics, you will have a better attitude on set, at auditions, and around your friends. Hard as it can be in this industry, that may be the only way to survive.
Poor ethics will always come back to bite you. Look at all the men accused of sexual harassment in this industry and in others. If you are good and are accused of bad things, your conscience will be at ease through the whole process. And this can help you to survive attacks, which are inevitable if you become successful at anything.
Avoid talking badly about others. If you do it elsewhere in life, you are bound to do it at work or on set. This will become a pattern and breed unhappiness. A great cure for this is to write down negative events. List the time and the date they happened and everything that took place. If you don’t have the exact date, use something as a reference. Store these letters in a file so you have a record. I once was on a set in North Carolina. The producer was horrible and so was the experience. I almost quit script supervising. However, the next day I wrote down everything that had occurred. I got hired on another show that was flipped in the union, which got me into the union as a script supervisor. This happened because I had worked on that show in North Carolina. It had been a month since I had worked, and I was troubled by the experience. Rather than talking to others about the situation, I wrote it up for my peace of mind. You can do this with all kinds of uncomfortable situations, not just work-related ones. This can help you clear your mind of drama and of negative emotions that can hold you back.