2016 Flashback: A Year's Worth of Advice from Your Favorite Stars
By: A.A. Cristi Jan. 02, 2017
At the end of every "backstage" interview, BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge asks his guests, "What is the best bit of advice that you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you still live by?"
Below, we've rounded up all the sage responses from the stars of 2016 to keep you motivated throughout the new year and beyond!
"Be nice, say thank you, be a human being. Working with Richard Wilson early on, who was and still is an enormous star in Great Britain, he became a great friend and still is. He never offered advice, but I just saw how you could be in the public eye and be absolutely gracious, and handle that beautifully, how to be appropriate and give people what they are sort of hoping for from you, and still maintain your own life and be your own person. Richard didn't give me a spreadsheet on how to do that, but from observing him, for when something like Doctor Who hit years later. Suddenly you have that thing where you can't go to the supermarket without having people wanting to take your picture. That's quite weird when that first happens. They don't have classes on that in drama school, there probably should be. It might not apply to everyone, but because you can't see it coming. Who knows when it's going to happen? It can happens quite unexpectedly, and that's quite difficult to deal with actually, and you sort of lose a bit of yourself, it gets kind of taken away and appropriated. So, watching how Richard Handled that was very formative, and I continue to look to him for advice on many things."
"Tell the truth. That's the secret in the theatre, for sure."
"Be nice to everyone you work with. That's it. There are a lot of extremely talented people out there but it doesn't matter if you're not nice to everyone that you're working with."
"Enjoy the moment you're in. Don't look for, "It could always be bigger, better, more." Yeah, I always feel like I could do more work or more this or that. But don't forget to really pause and enjoy where you're at. Because it's fleeting."
The stars of She Loves Me
Laura Benanti: "That when you meet someone, they tell you exactly who they are. Mary Beth Peil taught me that. Because I was like, "Why do I have such a hard time with boys. I keep dating these mean boys" and she was like, "Because you don't listen to them when they tell you who they are." And I was like, "What do you mean?" And she said, "When you meet someone, they tell you who they are, and you just choose to ignore them." and I was like, "Damn, son." And then I got married two more times.
Zachary Levi: "It's not even necessarily professional, it's just personal. Kindness. Kindness is so important in life and it costs nothing to be kind. And also, be kind to yourself. As artists, actors, and musicians, or anything in the arts, it's very easy to be harsh on yourself. Especially when you have critique that floats around. I'm very harsh on myself and I think alot of people would say they're their own worst critic...Be kind to yourself and be kind to others, and going off what Laura said, when people show you who they are, don't allow someone to steal your worth. Don't let someone dictate your worth to you because you are worth so much."
Jane Krakowski: "The best advice I've been given is to take the baby wipe warmer off of your baby registry for your baby shower. Because once your baby gets used to warm butt wipes, you cannot go back."
Gavin Creel: "Vote. Vote. If you don't like the way the world is working, change it. That's not the best advice I've ever been given, but that's the advice I want to give us all right now. But my best advice is: other people's successes are not your failures. When you really take that to heart it makes this unbearable business bearable."
"My dad told me, "Invest in yourself." Whatever that means to you, invest in yourself. Whether it's the money; you can see it, I do music and i'm able to play clubs and I make money. But I also invest in myself creatively, and all the things that it could mean. Just invest in yourself."
The Stars of The Humans
Reed Birney: "As actors, especially young actors, it's important to keep the faith. To not let the despair take over. Because it's very easy to believe what everybody says, "Why do we need another actor?" But if you are a lifer, that question should go off the table. You're gonna do it as well as you can for as long as you can."
Jane Houdyshell: "I think it was being told by people I trust very much, to always trust my own instincts about job choices and role choices. And I've been pretty successful about doing that. I know that whenever I do follow my own gut instinct it's always right for one reason or another, and the occasions where I haven't, I know that I'm in a circumstance that just wasn't right for me."
"Try to be nice."
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