I have a new affection for Ben Affleck. An "Afflection" if you will!
The BAFTA’s on Sunday had some well-crafted speeches by mask
winners; notably from Tessa Ross of Film 4 and Daniel Day Lewis who
self-deprecatingly referred to his Stanislavski methods of “staying in
character as myself for 55 years” and having small BAFTA sets around his home should
he ever win this award. Others went down
less well, Anne Hathaway citing her laryngitis as the only reason why she didn’t
sing her acceptance speech; thank goodness, please leave the through-singing on
set, love! But the speech that struck a
chord with me was actor/producer/director Ben Affleck on winning Best Director
for 'Argo.'
“This has been a second act for me and you’ve given me that, the industry has given me that and I want to thank you and I’m so grateful and proud and I dedicate this to anyone else out there trying to get their second act.”
Well, thank you Ben, because I feel like that dedication
was sent straight out of my TV last night to inspire me to send off yet another
writing job application this morning. Second
Act soon became a #hashtag# all over Twitter and I love this theatrical turn of
phrase to explain trying to reinvent ourselves.
A “second act” in life seems like the acting version of Darwin’s
theories as we evolve to cope in our habitat.
He interestingly called it a “second act” not a “second
chance.” This implies person developing
through choice not having to change as a result of failure. Mr Affleck has obviously succeeded very well
in his first act as an actor and continues to do so, but he clearly felt that
he had more to give and wanted to challenge himself.
There are very few people in the world who remain in their
first acts forever; because people change and develop throughout their lives it
would be quite dull and even stifling if we stayed as we were in the same
routine with the same challenges. I
watched a television programmes years ago where they interviewed an elderly
Chinese man who was a fisherman. He spoke
eloquently about his craft but when he was asked if he had followed into a family
business he shook his head and said he had previously been an architect and
that everyone should have at least one job change in their lives. I must have been hankering for a career change
myself even back then if I can still remember that fisherman so clearly.
“Life is like a stage, and all the men and women merely players”
If Shakespeare was right and our lives truly do reflect art then the universal structure of a play resonates with Ben Affleck’s chosen phrase.
Act 1- the set-up
Act 2 - the confrontation
Act 3 - the
resolution
Why would you want to stay as a fledgling in your set-up or
rush to your resolution? Your second act
is meant to be a challenge where you turn things on their head and take risks. It is the meaty part of the play that will
ultimately affect the resolution. I’m
sure the actor, Ben Affleck, in Act 1 didn’t dream that he would stack up
directing awards and perhaps be remembered for these accolades in his
resolution instead of acting. My dream
resolution of retiring in an Italian vineyard whilst writing memoirs like an
English Nora Ephron won’t come into being if I stay as a jobbing actress who
will only be able to retire on a bottle of Blossom Hill in my sister’s annexe!
Reinventing yourself and changing careers has almost become
trendy. Think of all of the city folk
you read about in magazines who wake up one day and realise they cannot stand
the rat-race anymore and retrain as a yoga teacher. They look all calm and smiley in the pictures
not grey and harassed on a commuter train!
Footballers become coaches or pundits, mothers start their own
businesses and actors become agents or teachers; people are constantly developing
and evolving.
So well done Ben Affleck; I applaud you and 'Argo’s BAFTA success,
I applaud that fact that we don’t see you in gossip mags everyday and most of
all, I applaud you for inspiring folk like me who are trying to get to their
second act.
(This post was originally written for The Huffington Post)
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