could you please elaborate on the confidence vs. entitlement thing? you said new people in the industry should “cultivate the entitlement and forget the confidence” which seems a bit backwards for me based on the connotations those words typically have, but i may have misunderstood entirely
Sure! This is something I was taught at drama school and it's been great advice for me both in acting and in life.
We were rehearsing a play and one of the actors was struggling a bit with a scene (it was Macbeth, I think). He said something like, "I'm just not very confident!" and our facilitator said, "Confidence is bullshit. It's bullshit used to sell self-help books. Do you know your lines? Have you done your preparation? Are you warmed up? Then you are entitled to go on stage and command the audience's time and attention. If you haven't done those things, then you're a professional actor - you know what you have to do to be ready - go do it! Whether you're confident or not simply isn't relevant." And the actor internalised that advice and he went out and gave an absolutely cracking turn as Macbeth!
I've always remembered that. I even remembered it when I was considering transitioning actually, I remember thinking, "Well I'm an adult, I know what this involves, I know the risks, I've done the prep; I'm allowed to bloody well do it if I want to!"
