10 Tips: Helping Movie Actors Who Play Only Themselves

It can happen to anyone, from any walk of life, when you least expect it. You go from an Oscar award to suddenly playing it safe. You barely realize it and then BAM! You are Sandra Bullock the actress and the chracter you are playing on screen is also Sandra Bullock. Every movie is the same. Every facial expression or speaking tone reminds the audience of your past six movies. Before you know it your movies flop and you stand around wondering what happened. What happens to our favorite actors when they decide to be lazy?

Come on, you know that there are days when you go to work and you just don't want to work. You sit at your desk and look off into space, or you browse the internet for 99% of the day. It happens to all of us. It even happens to movie stars. Do you really think Robert De Niro didn't phone in "Hide and Seek" or "Stardust"? How does a man go from "Awakenings" or "Midnight Run" and then make "The Fan"? In some movies De Niro spent some time, developed the character. In other movies he has played Robert De Niro. He was himself. He brought nothing to the movie. He looked off into space for 99% of the making of the movie.

Over the past few years I have notice several actors doing this same practice. Denzel Washington, Ben Affleck, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan and many more actors have resorted to simply being themselves in movies and just getting by on their fame. Julia Roberts even played a character playing herself in "Oceans Twelve". Come on, like she was not doing the same thing in "The Mexican"!

I have 10 quick steps for actors to rehabilitate themselves and become the great actors they were or can be:

1. Assess decision-making abilities. No amount of good acting can save "Mona Lisa Smile". You must pick better material to make.

2. Get a good Agent, not a yes man or woman, and listen to them. That's right. It is good to hear you are great, but your agent needs to believe in you, but also be able to be honest without being fired.

3. Stop listening to your best friend. Just because you grew up with someone does not mean they can act or even need to be in show business. They want to be your friend, so they will lie to you.