Boy to man.

The actor in class is a nice Ontario boy, but he’s playing a character who’s a man.

There’s a difference between a boy and a man. Between a girl and a woman. As an actor you need to know if your character is behaving like one or the other.

Both are useful.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the manager of Manchester United football club, describes a talented young player who is now playing for the first team in the Premier League by saying, ‘He’s playing with men now against other men.’

When you’re a young actor there has to come a time when you can stand on your own two feet; when you can act typical TV situations like saying no, teaching and correcting, killing or facing the truth. And act them truthfully.

A girl or boy can’t act these behaviours.

To professionalize is to mature, grow up, become adult. Both, if the scene calls for it and in the business side of the industry.

It can also mean letting go old narratives you learned young.

You can’t hold a gun and threaten and at the same time apologize for it. Cops and robbers on TV don’t apologize. Neither do lawyers or doctors.

Of course, even if you’re an old actor you can act boy or girl-like behaviours. Blushing, uncertain, silly. That can be charming.

But the adage still stands: Never send a girl to do a woman’s job.