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So you aren't Johnny Depp ...

January 11, 2012 by Harvey Mackay — Author, Mackay Mitchell

Do you lack the dazzle of Angelina Jolie's lagoon-blue eyes or the regal command of Meryl Streep's screen poise? Come up short on George Clooney's suave or Daniel Craig's rippling abs? Well, you don't have to rate first billing to be billing first. Call attention to your strengths, recognize where you fit in the team, and you're guaranteed to shine.

When actor Karl Malden, born Malden Sekulovich, died in 2009, the New York Times hailed him as "the uncommon everyman." Malden frequently shared credits with the likes of Marlon Brando and George C. Scott. With an epic schnoz, Malden knew he could never command center stage, but he swore he would run the last mile "to be #1 in the #2 parts I was destined to get."

So it was in "On the Waterfront" and "Patton" ... and he was second to no one in a string of high-credibility endorsement ads for American Express.

Decide where your psyche fits in the cast and shine. That may mean:

• Be known for your reliability and steadiness of vision.
• Remain the unflappable source of judgment in crisis and turmoil.
• Execute the impossible when logistics degenerate into spaghetti.

James Mason, another stellar silver-screen #2, once said, "How do I wish to be remembered, if at all? I think perhaps just as a fairly desirable sort of character actor." Hollywood and the critics remembered him their way when his colleagues nominated him for three Oscars and three golden Globes.

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