Precious Chong Blog May 2nd/2007When I was younger I never wanted to be an actor or work in the movies, because I thought it was phony and fake and crazy. I grew up in show business and as I child it seemed like a strange thing to do for a job. Don’t get me wrong, I thought my dad and Cheech’s movies were great. I remember sitting in the backseat of the car while my parents drove us home from a screening of Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie. I leaned forward and said “Dad, I think you’re going to win an Oscar”. I mean Cheech, naked, on the outside of a glass elevator while the Stones “Satisfaction” played. Genius. Then I became an actor. I also vowed I’d never marry another actor. I saw how hard that was. My sister’s marriage to an actor didn’t work out. My mom struggles with being in the shadow of my dad’s celebrity and her own artistic desires. Hell, I’ve struggled with that shadow. Then I married an actor. It ain’t easy. I’m competitive. I need to own that. And when I don’t feel good about myself creatively that competitiveness turns into comparing and jealousy. And as anyone in a relationship knows, one of the perks of that arrangement, is that you have someone (other than your family) to project all your bullshit onto. So that’s what I’ve been doing with Wes. When he got the call from the director for a movie that we both put ourselves on tape for, my first emotion wasn’t “that’s great Wes” it was “f-that, why didn’t I get a call?”. Not my proudest moment. So… I need to take back my projections and focus on my own stuff. Right. Okay. I’ll make a list. I love lists. Don’t you love lists? They make me feel like I have a modicum of control. And yes I did use the word modicum. Here it is; 1.take back my projections and focus on self I did take a Bouffon class with Adam Lazarus. It was fantastic. I just wanted to have fun and creative. And I did. It felt very free. The following week he had a Characters class, but I didn’t plan it well enough with childcare so I couldn’t take it. Which brings me to the next thing I swore I’d never do. Have a kid and still be an actor who also has a Joe job. I know. I know. I have a lot of rules. Which is a joke, right? It only makes the Universe laugh and proceed to bring that right into my life. Okay so… 5. no more rules
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