An old, beloved actor sat patiently on set, in hot costume and makeup, reading a script and waiting for the crew to locate and fix a short in the electrical system.

A new face came, grabbed a chair and dragged it next to her, then sat down with a crash. He was agitated, fidgety, and smoking a cigarette. “These idiots can’t get anything right.” He said, “This is a train-wreck. Have you ever experienced such a mess?”

She considered him for a moment over her spectacles… and made a choice. She closed her script and left it on her lap. Removed her spectacles, folding them and putting them in a pocket. Then she reached into a satchel hanging on one side of the chair-back and pulled out a tobacco pouch. From it she produced a pipe. She slowly, with practiced ritual, packed the pipe with tobacco, grabbed a box of matches and returned the pouch to the satchel. She came to rest with her hands on her lap; the pipe in one hand and the box of matches in the other. She looked ahead of her in quiet thought. He was not aware that every move she made was designed to draw him in, build his anticipation until he was ready to hear the words she spoke.

“This is your first movie, is it not?” He gave a nod as he exhaled a stream of smoke with pronounced frustration. He was about to start talking when she raised her pipe hand to silence. The look she gave him shut him down completely. The pipe hand moved smoothly from the silencing gesture into her lighting ritual. The young man waited until she was satisfied that the pipe was lit properly and found an acceptable place for the spent match. “Allow me to offer you a little advice.”

She took a smooth draw from the pipe and let the smoke roll around in her mouth for a moment. She let a little out and began to speak; smoke punctuating her words. “We are all actors. Everyone. Even those stage hands. The only difference between us and them is the ability to create new masks, and how quickly we can change between them. Most people spend years creating their masks and developing rituals for changing them effectively… through trial and error. We actors are trained to intentionally create masks and change them as needed. It takes us weeks or months to do what it takes them years, even decades to do.”

She took another draw and caressed the smooth curves of the pipe for a moment. In her mind, she was measuring out her timing. When the moment was ripe she continued, “We all put a mask on when we leave the house,.. if we’re smart, that is. The only time I remove my mask is when I am at home with my family and close friends. All other times I am wearing a mask. I have a mask for when I’m on late night talk shows. One for walking down the street. One for when I’m at the store,.. even a different mask when I am interrupted by fans wanting a selfie. I have a mask for when I am waiting to shoot the next scene.” She paused a moment to increase tension, “I even have a mask for giving advice to young actors.”

He looked up at her and they made eye contact. They held it for a moment. “Do you understand what I am saying?”

“I think so… All the world’s a stage.” he said thoughtfully. 

She smiled at him warmly, “Indeed it is,.. but also, all the world’s a battlefield. The people who want you to be yourself out in public simply want you vulnerable and exposed for their advantage.”

“Isn’t that a bit cynical?”

“Of course it is, sweetheart.” she said in a condescending maternal tone and a broad smile on her face, and then fixed him with a look that made him pause and think. “My second husband was in business. He would’ve simply recited his definition of professionalism to you.”

“Which is?”

“Professionalism is the ability to successfully complete a job you hate, while working with people you loathe,.. and without letting anyone know how you feel. But you appear to me to be an actor… so I thought it best to show you, because that is what I needed when I was younger.” She paused for effect, then declared, “You are not being paid to play a character in a movie, you are being paid to be an actor who plays a character in a movie. If you can grasp that, everything else will grow from there.”

He sat back and stared forward, clearly in deep thought. She watched him for a moment, put the matches away in a pocket and clamped down on the pipe stem to hold it in her mouth. She got her spectacles out and put them on, opened her script and returned her hand to the pipe.