Don't be an actor

This series is both interesting and revealing. For me, Frank Langella stood out as the eminently wise but secretly sleazy, hypocritical and dishonest drama coach. Diane Baker was great: she showed the real face of Hollywood and Hollywood power people and what they do to those who 'no longer have it'.

It was depressing to realize that there are perhaps a million 'hopefuls' out there, and only a relatively few will ever make it.

The program was very well done. It showed that actors, directors, producers and show biz people in general live in a double-talking, unethical, vicious, dog-eat-dog world that attracts neurotic people, who betray each other because they have no other choice if they want to succeed. Somebody said in this film that actors should choose non-actors as friends if they want to retain some sense of moral balance.

Goddard (Langella) tells his students that 99.9 per cent of acting is rejection. What kind of person is attracted to a field where rejection is the norm? Why are we surprised that actors are so often screwed-up? We worship Hollywood 'stars' who live in worlds far removed from the basic reality of everyday human existence.

HBO scores again. Clooney, Soderbergh et al should take bows.