The Importance of Authenticity
by Damie Green

I’ve been asked to lose 10 pounds. I’ve been told that I was too skinny for a part. I’ve worn push up padded bras. I’ve had my breasts tightly tapped down because they were too large. I’ve stood on a small stool and I’ve scrunched down to appear shorter. I’ve been put in wigs of all lengths and colors. My hair has been shaved off.

As a model or an actor, you are a chameleon. You must be a malleable medium to express a slue of characters. It is necessary to appeal to markets all over the world. Your look always is changing. You have to shift and shape to become whatever the client wants you to become. That’s what this industry is really about.

It is important to make a distinction, though. Your hair, your body shape, your eyes, and your appearance in general, these things are not “You”. “You” are the person inside. You are not the image. The image is a tool used to aid in your success. But “You” is your personality, your life, the way that you look at things and how you react to the world. That is you. And that is the part of you that you never should compromise.

Damie Green has enjoyed international success as a model and actress. She has appeared in several commercial campaigns running all over the world. She has also done guest roles on television shows such as Strong Medicine and ER. Last year she starred in the independant film Neptune Cowboy. She is a published poet and an aspiring novelist.