Published:

03/08/2011 12:28pm

Leading Role

I love old Hollywood movies. There was an elegance and grace when Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn or Grace Kelly stepped in front of the camera. I simply could not take my eyes off of them because they owned their roles. They acted and proved to the viewing audiences that they deserved top billing when the credits rolled.

I started to think about my life as a movie. Am I the lead actress in my life’s film or do I train and condition myself to be the ever-faithful understudy? How many of us are willing to stand centre stage and show the world that we are no longer willing to play the part of a character actor and demand top billing?

There was a time in my life that I settled and accepted living the part of the understudy. It was safer to hide behind the curtain and allow someone else to reap the accolades and take the bow I knew deep down inside I deserved. But then I thought about something that Bette, Katherine and Grace all shared at one time. They, too, started off waiting in the wings. Waiting for the perfect time to emerge and take flight to centre stage. Once they landed safely, they knew that they had finally arrived.

It takes courage and strength to come out from behind the curtain to finally accept and play that all-important leading role. We can only do that when we have studied, educated and trained ourselves to make our performances meaningful and memorable. When you are ready to become the shining star of your movie YOU will know it. When that day comes perhaps you will hear yourself recite one of the most famous lines from the classic movie: Sunset Boulevard: “All right, Mr. DeMille. I am ready for my close-up.”