A better job then acting?…yeah right!

Hello Actors! If ever there was a better way to describe the job of acting than what you are about to read below, then I would encourage you to email me immediately! Oh and in case you are feeling too lazy to click the link, I have even included a picture here with the key sentiment outlined.

And there we have it ladies and gentlemen. The world of an actor summed up beautifully by the UK company Prospects… “There is no standard career progression for an actor. Some actors spend their whole career moving from one acting contract to another, performing a similar work without gaining extra responsibility or a significant increase in pay….“. Rightly pointed out there Sherlock!

So why am I highlighting this very obvious career development statement? It is simple. If there is anything else in the world that you think you can do apart from acting, then you should be doing it. Seriously! If you love something else just as much as acting, and you can learn the skills, do the training, or start in that field, then do it! If there’s not, then read on. If your neck is basically spasming as you try to shake your head and say no no no at the top of your voice, read on. If you desperately want to tweet me right now and say “Angela you are an idiot”, read on!

We only get one chance in this life, regardless of what our religious beliefs, or other, are. It almost isn’t even a choice sometimes. Some people are just born a certain way and can’t imagine doing anything else in their whole lives. It’s in them. It is literally in their blood. Some just find it by accidentally stumbling out of bed one day into a dream career path that is entirely unexpected (I did this).

Either way, I know that Prospects is pretty much right. Of course I know it isn’t a fair world in acting. Some fail, some make it, so don’t try hard enough, some try too hard. Some get great careers going instantly, others take more than ten years to move and shake. There is no answer how success is defined in this fickle industry. And remember when I talked about being core-ageous a while ago! That is exactly what it is about.

What have you got to do to stay in the game? It is all in the mindset. You, at this very moment, are deciding which direction you want to go in. You are making a call on your career by considering all the givens that sit in front of you. Jim Carey lived above a mate’s pub on a couch when he was struggling, Brad Pitt dressed as a chicken. There are a million stories like it. If you want something badly enough you can get it. You just have to try new ways to hone in on the things you want weekly until you have a fail proof plan. You won’t get the guaranteed success as an actor because there is no such thing. You could get a blockbuster movie tomorrow and then not work in anything decent for five to ten years (I’m thinking of Mickey Rouke’s bad period, Sandra Bullock disappeared for a while, and whatever happened to Winona Ryder for a few years there!).

I love that Prospects are out there trying to do their bit to ensure actors are realistic, but from B.A.B.E. to you, keep the dream alive and be as unrealistic as possible! Dream to the rafters and upward. If your heart tells you there is no better job than acting, then as Nike says ‘just do it‘. Or as I say, ‘there’s no time like the present to sweep the world off its feet“.

2 thoughts on “A better job then acting?…yeah right!

  1. Venu says:

    i tend to believe in “luck ain’t even lucky, got to make your own brkaes”. 30 is still okay for a career change, if one is determined to do so. those people, being successful at an early age, are usually *extremely* good at and love what they are doing. of course, they are also willing to spend time on nurturing their career paths and are educated risk-takers. if you are really good at what you do, you will eventually rebound even after making some blunders.

  2. Angela says:

    Hi Venu,

    Sorry it took me so long to reply. Your comment was missed by me earlier. And yes, you are absolutely right. 30 is absolutely fine for a career change, as is 40 or even 50 or 60. As long as one’s heart is in the right place, they should follow their dreams and make it happen, be that later in life, or really young.

    I know one of the most common things I hear is “I wish I had started acting then”. But actually – is that really true? That person wouldn’t be half the person they are now if they didn’t start when they did. Their life experience shaped them up to that point and made them driven and keen to be an actor now. And that is awesome.

    Hope you’re enjoying the site and thanks for visiting Venu.

    Angela

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