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FOR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS: 

I HAVE STRONG VIEWS. WHILE VIEWING ANYTHING POLITICAL SHARED ON MY BLOG OR ON TWITTER I JUST ASK THAT WE'D PLEASE BE MINDFUL AND RESPECT MY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT. THEY SOLELY REFLECT MY OWN PERSON AND IN NO WAY IS ANY INDICATION ABOUT MY WORK OR OUR PROCESS IN WORKING TOGETHER. ART IS ART, THIS IS NOT THAT. THE PASSION IS PERSONAL AND IN NO WAY REFLECTS MY ART, OUR ART OR OUR TIME TOGETHER. IT'S SAD I HAVE TO DO THIS. BUT I WANT TO SHARE SO WE ARE ON THE SAME PAGE. I AM AN ARTIST. ALL OF THIS CAN BE TAKEN DOWN AT ANY TIME IF AN EMPLOYER NEEDS IT TO BE. WORK IS MY #1 PRIORITY.

  • Writer's pictureChris Banks

If anything else this year has taught me that anything can happen, at any time, with any and all consequence. I was just living what seems now to be a dream. An actor finding his way in America’s biggest city. But the trauma of having to uproot it this year made me change the way I was thinking. I moved to New York City without any acting experience, now I have a life of purpose and a heart full of love. Love for the craft, for the people I work with, for the material I get to get my hands on, and for the opportunity to be in front of a camera, acting. I love every single element about this job. There is not one single thing that I do not like. How lucky am I? How many people are working in careers that they have such a full heart and are filled with such purpose to do the job that is theirs to do? I have no idea. I met a fantastic mail person who works for us in the city way back when i lived in sunset park in Brooklyn, she loved her job as much as I do in film. And people loved her. How amazing is this? When you meet people who are passionate about what they do, it leaves a mark on you. It drives you, to be better. To ask. You’ll have a hard time getting through life without the ability to ask. Ask questions, ask for help. I was taught this lesson in my 20s. Better late than never. But as a kid, I always asked questions. When you don’t come from any money the ability to ask for help usually came from an insecure place. It was hard asking for help, because I always needed it. Instead of the miraculous help i always needed, the universe interrupted my plans to serve me a tiny miracle. I listened. You know who else I listened to? Good friends do wonders for your insecurities or your struggles or your short comings. They fill you up. They fill in your pot holes. They teach you things. Be very careful with who you call a friend in this life. This year has taught me those who you hold so close can let you down while those who you just met can be there in a blink of an eye. It’s all about consistency, intent, purpose. We only have a short time on this earth. Life flys by. Literally. While the days may feel long, one day you will sit back and it will feel like an actual blink of an eye. Take it from someone who just learned this lesson. This year taught me a lot, and I miss a lot. I miss the old New York. The way my life used to be, the madness, the people, the auditions, the hustle, the movies the shows the fun nights. I miss all of it. But what I do not miss is a fleeting feeling that I am not good enough. It’s almost the vibration of the city. The demands expectations people hurl upon you. That insecurity I was talking about. I don’t miss that at all. Because I don’t have it anymore. Sure I didn’t book the big jobs I’ve gone in for so far but just wait until the next one i go in for. Insecurity is real and everyone deals with it. I had it heavy when I was in my early 20s, moving to NYC and getting to do all that I did helped solve all of that. It’s the people. The feedback. What I get to see that I just did with my eyes. The teachers. The instructors. The casting directors. I wasn’t as present as I needed to be before this time in my home. And so it turns out in a year filled with so much despair, needless suffering and division-this year was the ol shake of the salt shaker I needed. I was a mess in NYC at times, like every other actor who is struggling to feed himself. Life is expensive. Life in the city is even more expensive. I was simply auditioning for these big roles being overwhelmed with the workload i needed to maintain to live there and no people around me to help with it all. I don’t beat myself up for this. It’s a lesson for my life. I will be better. I will book the roles. But I needed a break. And I got it. Now I’m beaming with energy filled with purpose and ready to dive into anything and everything. I am very thankful to say that. I’m very thankful for the decisions I’ve made in my life, usually facing harsh tailwinds. This year has been hard on all of us, harder for some than others. I feel it, I recognize this, I know. On my name Tag at the old hotel i used to work for in Copley Square in Boston, my passion was helping people. I tried to do as much as I could for people during this time inside. But I always can do more. Connected some with resources, helped others, helped a veteran get his first house (my dad), phone banked for Joe. I do anything I can, but I want to do so much more. Hopefully soon I’ll deserve to..

  • Writer's pictureChris Banks

Updated: Nov 17, 2020

What you had was a fire as a kid, you loved performing, you loved to act-but you went to school because you had a lot of work to do. Both inside and outside You did the work, you matured and you are now ready to learn how to actually be an actor. But you find yourself in your mid 20s, what do you do?

Well first, if you don’t have many acting opportunities around you-you move to somewhere where you do. Do as much work as you possibly humanly physically emotionally intellectually creatively can. Because only then will you have even a baseline of understanding about how to act. Now you must learn. More. And more. For me it was improv, small skits/one day plays on a stage and then going to the streets to do short or student films or indie films or internals or spokesman job teleprompter jobs hosting jobs, literally any kind of acting job. Not stand over there and look pretty jobs, acting. One hat on then throw it off and put another one on. That’s acting I learned a lot. I got to release myself. Got to live in my ego. Connect with material and people. Its so much fun. The people I was always working with were great and afterward the next morning I’d go act in something else. All small productions, mostly. Pilots, indie films, student films, internals, testimonials, shorts. You name it. Because that’s what is available to you. Do as much as you possibly can. Because you learn. For me it was everything that I needed to do. For you, you may find another way that works for you. Every actor is unique just like every person is and every actor is different. Today the acting world is so much different, because the rules of it have been entirely rewritten now that sag and aftra merged And film has become so insulated. Union loosened some rules, allowed their ranks to swell far past their ability to make sure work was there. But the union is not in existence to provide an actor with work. The union exists to protect us The union exists to make sure you get paid, fed. The union exists to ensure that dedicated craftspeople only work with professional actors. That’s all the union is there to do. It’s protection. It’s family. And those who are members of it have paid their dues for a reason. The old world way an actor would break out would be to stay far away from background, but in this new world-background is a necessary evil for most young, and old actors alike.

Yesterday It used to be that productions would never look to background talent, but that rule isn’t true anymore as productions will still hire you for a principle role, if you give them a reason to. This is why Im disappointed when I hear young actors project their uncertainty about union. The union isn’t the thing holding you back, it never is. Unless you joined without any experience at all. I do everything I can because I always will do everything I can-until I can’t physically work anymore. The day I can say no to something isn’t really what I’m working toward, because I doubt I will ever say no to anyone who wants to work with me. Unless the role is just not something I could do. But on the main, if a director wants to work with me-I want to work with them. It’s a privilege. That’s the effect of moving to New York City and getting a start at fulfilling your purpose. You grow, you learn. Your objectives change, priorities.

So right now everything in me is always focused on improving any element of my craft or of my person. I’m focused on proving myself worthy of not just principle roles but a principle acting career. A sustained one. That’s why I moved to NYC. I didn’t join when I could. I took the time, I got the experience I had to get. I learned all of its capacities. It takes time. And lots of sacrifice. Developing yourself as an actor Is not easy. I still am. But if you are an actor, everything will be worth it.

Every one of our choices matter, in life, not only to us but to those that surround us, rely on us, look to us, lean on us. Our choices matter. Our words matter. What we do with our lives matters, a lot. I could never live with myself if I didn’t just act. I’d always know I didn’t live up to my potential. But choosing to be an actor made me a whole person. I’m happier now.

The reality of tv/film business now is not what those in 70s/80s/90s and early part of century dealt with. Streaming has upended everything. The union merging created a whole lot more new noise we as actors had to navigate around, and in some cases through. I couldn’t call myself an actor without going out there and acting. Doing what I’ve been doing. I feel better now. I always had bad angels in my shoulder yelling at me before I moved to NYC. They’re all gone now. I’m actually happy. I’m content. I couldn’t be any happier when I’m on set. Creating with other creatives. That one time I got a trailer. I was never happier. Because I was free. I could just create. I could just be. When I’m in front of the lens is where I feel the most at home. It’s where I am the calmest. I love being in front of the lens. And I’m very happy I chose to be. Even as an adult. You could too. If you had that same fire. It’s never too late.

*If we had a competent federal government run by a competent human being-this is what our national response would have looked like*

In early February The President would have gotten on a call with the nations governors, telling them about the threat that is incoming, and already here in certain places. State governments would have then notified businesses that changes to their business practices needed to be implemented 2 weeks from now or else you have to shut your business down. Local governments would have gotten notified and put on alert, schools would have been let out. Meantime, the federal governments immense resources were being mobilized not only to develop a national testing strategy, but to ensure we had enough equipment nationwide, and to make room for the sick and homeless in facilities. State governments would have worked with businesses, with the monitoring of the federal government, to ensure best practices were being developed for each business that were deemed compliant to keep their business open. Other businesses, bars for example, would stand no chance. They’d have to close, but the suddenness of it all back in March would have been minimized and it’s effects not as striking. That same night The President would have addressed the nation, again this is early February. Prime time address. The President would have told us what our government knew at the time, that we had an airborne virus 3 times more potent than the flu, and that we had no vaccine, and we do not know where it’s coming from yet or how exactly. We know it’s transmitted through the air-so we will have to shut the entire nation down. Remember, back in February. Any american overseas would have been quarantined in place, until department of state deemed viable for them to return home safely. At this point our entire air and sea tourism industry would be shut down, along with bars. But that’s about it. Schools would probably have had to let kids out early still, but they would have had the time to develop best practices to either return early and finish work that was still left to be done and start the new school year on time. The rest of businesses not bars would have been working on plans to keep themselves open and operational. Again, some would have HAD to shutter. But business owners would have been informed a full 6 weeks before they entered. To be informed at the first week of February that our lives were about to enter uncharted territory, that the economy was gong to take a hit-and that millions may be out of work because of this.

We would have had time to prepare, we would have had time to breathe, to think, to appreciate, and to fight.

Instead what did we get?

We got a government who politicized public health, your and mine safety. Our parents safety. Our government then tried to blame other countries for their own ineptitude and slowness. Our government still takes zero responsibility for the job that is right now solely theirs to do. To say that this has upended as administration would be an understatement, but really it just highlights the unfitness for office that I and so many other cabinet officials have been saying since his first day on the job. The man who is currently our president is not up to the job. Say what you will about him personally, politically or otherwise. But the man did not do his job when the single biggest global event of the last 2 decades hit. It has sent ripples of shock through every layer of American life. The economy, people’s perception of their government, people’s patriotism, people love of country, people desire to want to work harder-everything. Having a corrupt man corrupt the government and then corrupt and cripple the governments ability to protect and help us out of the single biggest economical calamity of a century. It’s abhorrent. The man who currently holds the title of commander in chief is beneath the capability and dignity of our government. He has brought our entire government down, along with his ego. He thinks investigations are unfair. What’s unfair is to vote for someone who then uses the government to try to get everything he wants, to try to protect himself at the expense of all others and to be so angry confused conflicted and paranoid-all because you know you voted for a con man. He was watching television while he was supposed to be working. For us. Now that’s unfair, and that’s what Donald J Trump did to America. To us. All of us. The executive branch has a solemn duty to inform and to care, both of which this man failed at.

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