“Be realistic: always wish what is impossible”
~Paolo Coelho
There’s a song I listen to often and the lyrics go “if this is it, all we have, I know I’ve done all we can”. (Newton Faulkner)
Is that you?
If I walked up to you tomorrow and said, “Hey Sara, how’s acting going?” would you be really excited to share all your news with me, regardless of your IMDB credits or your fame rating? Would you jump at the chance to sit down and talk through every element of your progress, auditions, agent chats, script writing, classes, networking events, and workshops and know YOU’D DONE ALL YOU COULD.
If the answer is no, then you have some work to do.
The way I see it we only get one chance, two if we are lucky. We aren’t cats with nine lives, and when acting is concerned we have even less lives. You must have seen it before…surely…even the big stars can stop working for years. Even the good actors can have a run where they don’t get work for a year. I know this because TV friends of mine here in London have had that happen. So what about those of you who are only starting out.
If you’ve taken your finger off the pulse the opportunity you’ve been waiting for might just pass you by. And I don’t mean going away for the weekend with mates. I’m talking about the following:
Looking for your own work every week
Making industry connections every week
Tweeting and engaging your audience (followers)
Networking and hustling like you’re auditioning for Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta
Practicing your accents
Working on your monologues
Reading the relevant books
Building a fan base on Facebook
John knew he wanted to dance with her so he wore his best trousers that day. |
If you stop doing these things as part of your daily and weekly ritual, you aren’t doing all you can. It won’t happen immediately but one day you’ll notice something is missing. You will start getting less auditions and feel more out of the loop. You’ll begin missing key events, and contacts might forget you….you may not be the first actor the casting director will think of when they are casting their next feature.
And then you will wake up and realize that was just a bad dream because you are busy doing everything you need to in order to have a successful career in show business (well at least I hope you will).
If this is it, all we have, have you done enough? Only you can answer that one.
Go out and be inspiring.
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Date with me: next week is the monthly UKActorstweetup at Jewel Bar, Piccadilly Circus. We have an incredible guest speaker Renita (Renitacasting.com) from LA joining us from 5.30 – 6.30pm before the event for a Q&A; session. This is a one time opportunity to meet a very busy and well known casting director in Hollywood and hear the in’s and out’s of show business. And it’s a mere ÂŁ10. I know I am going.
If you would like to attend follow the links:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119466568130071
http://www.renitacasting.com/london.html
Always inspiring Miss Ange, wonderful to read!
xoxo
Hey- I just wanted to say that I've really been enjoying your blog, and thank you for linking to mine! Keep up the great work… — Erin 🙂
Great post, I completely agree. I have a motto to do something for my career every single day. Being proactive is the key. =)