Issue link: https://takingitglobal.uberflip.com/i/1350781
S O Y O U W A N N A B E A N A C T O R 149 LESSON 3: SELF CARE IN THE FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY " There's just this expectation that... acting can' t be that hard of a job, but acting can be really mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing. Sometimes we drain ourselves so much while we give all of ourselves to others." Self-care is so important in the film and television industry, particularly in Indigenous film. "We're covering so many really hurtful topics, really sensitive topics that a lot of us experienced personally, such as suicide or domestic violence or different depictions or manifestations of intergenerational trauma. This seems to be a common factor in a lot of Indigenous film and television." The themes addressed in Indigenous film can feel particularly heavy and that's why taking care of yourself is so crucial. Decide What You Want To Do "We see a lot of people within our communities creating these stories, or a lot of the time we see people from outside our communities, writing these stories about Indigenous people that oftentimes have these stereotypical roles or really sensitive and really emotional and really like mentally draining roles." What choices do you have as an actor to take care of yourself in these situations? "I want to address first: don't feel obligated to take these roles, to audition for these roles, just because you need to work. If it's something that you think is too sensitive for you, if you think it's something that's going to really hurt you to portray, and there's, you know, aspects of these roles that you don't really like, or you feel like they're not representative of you and not just of you, but of your beliefs and your feelings towards Indigenous representation, then don't feel obligated to take these roles, know that you can say no, at the end of the day, we have to face ourselves in the mirror." Having boundaries around what you will and won't do is part of taking care of yourself. "There are going to be times where we have to take tough roles or you have to take roles that maybe they weren't our favorite, but they didn't compromise our moral compass."