Am I too sensitive to be an Actor?

For those who feel deeply afraid of drowning: I thought my sensitivity was my downfall… but it was my strength.

The tears would come quickly and often. I stifled them. Strangling them down. Insistent no-one should see my pain. The pain I felt so deeply. The thing is it wasn’t just my pain.

I was skilled at holding others pain. Like a sponge. I’d bruise easily. Not just for my own knocks but I’d bruise for others. I thought this made me weak.

Being able to feel deeply, I thought I’d crumble under the weight. I spent the first half of my life as an actor trying to mask this sensitivity. When i began training in Meisner, I learnt how to use it. I put it to work. It became my creative energy, my reason to go on stage, to step in front of a camera. The energy to connect with stories, with people, with life, with you.

Your sensitivity is not your weakness; If you can learn to share it, it becomes your strength.

– Ashlie Walker MD & Temple Acting Coach