Expert: Phil Nemy - 8/18/2005

Question
Dear Phil,



Thanks for writing back.  I very much appreciate your time and honesty in your reply.  It's interesting how both of our professional fields require a "thick skin" as it were.

As an attempt to have kept my original note to you brief, I omited going into detail about how I ended up becoming a physician. Obviously, since it's something that requires a lot of dedication and work, I didn't only do this for my parents.  I don't believe that anyone who succeeds in becoming a doctor is someone who goes into it for the "wrong reasons" either.  Those people tend to bail out before reaching the end.  Incidentally, the percentage of doctors in this country also counts for under 5% of the population. Another similarity. Please understand, I am very serious when it comes to caring for my patients.

This leads me to ask: do you subscribe to the belief that an individual could only have desire/talent or success in one kind of field?  Am I that unique in wanting to fullfil my potential in a completely different direction?

I'm sorry that your sister has so much on her plate. Just being a mother of 4 is a full time job, let alone running a busy practice. I myself have no children and am completely unattached.  Though I too will soon have call, hospital rounding, etc, this lifestyle still hasn't beaten all of the artistic drive in me yet. I will take your advice and go for local auditions or a local improv troupe when I get settled in. It's a funny coincidence you mentioned this, since I did lots of improv up until highschool.

I've been having that conversation with myself, like you suggested, about my motives in pursuing acting. What is the pull?  Lots of things: the group brainstorming between artists - the exchange of ideas, the give and take in a performance, seeing the collective fruition of many artistic minds.  These are the elements that are missing from my current creative outlet: writing.  Although I enjoy it, and am in the re-writing of what I think is an interesting story, I'm missing the social interactions that I've stated above. Yes, it's cool to see your work on paper, and I'm having fun in the process.  It just would be more satisfying for me to see it come to life.

So, to answer your question: no. I suppose acting isn't the ONLY way I can envisage myself satisfying this drive. It just is the only aspect of the performing arts I'd ever been exposed to. I just want to contribute. I feel like I have a lot of ideas to offer. I just don't know what my niche is yet. I suspect you and people you know have had to navigate through these waters before. Any further suggestions?


Out of curiosity, what are the "wrong reasons" for going into acting?


Thanks,


Karinka  

Answer
Karinka,

Thanks for your response.

I do not believe that one can be a success in only one field. Many individuals who will probably are both aware of have been successful in more than one field. However, I do believe that in certain fields, age counts against you. Not because at a certain age one no longer has the talent or skill in that particular field, but more because of societal limitations. The older one gets, the less likely the younger ones are to want to employ them. It'a sad fact, but true. Take medicine for example. I have noticed watching my sister practicing medicine that young people in their teens respond to her favorably. However, when I see her at the hospital and she consults with an older physician, when I say older I mean 60's even though in my book that's not old, teenage patients respond better to her than they do the older physician. On the flip side, the older we get (60's, 70's, 80's), the more apt we are to trust advice, guidance, counsel from older, more sage advisors.

Can you as a physician be a success in another field outside of medicine? Absolutely. Look at Michael Crichton -- Harvard MD who is now a success as a novelist. Then he found success as a film director.

As far as the "wrong reasons," after self-examination I realized that I desperately wanted to be loved, and believed that the applause and adulation I received from acting, that I became popular as a child and teen because of the starring roles I had in theatre, was love when in actuality, it was infatuation, or respect, or envy. But it wasn't love. I wasn't getting the love I needed at home so I sought it elsewhere.

Once I learned to like myself, I found that I didn't NEED to act. I enjoyed acting, but now I did it because I enjoyed the challenge, enjoyed exploring characters, enjoyed the laughter, but it didn't drive me. I also found that I loved working with actors as a director, in fact, I loved it even more.

Good luck with your medical career -- and have fun with the acting career.

Best,

Phil