Taking off for weekends and holidays, if you do what Mr. Blake suggests, you will have done 250 things to help your career at the end of your first year. That's about 248% more things than many of your fellow actors will have done. Why?
Well, ask an actor what he really wants, and he'll most likely say, "To be a working actor." Ask him how he intends to achieve that, and his eyes glaze over.
Most actors spend a lot of time spinning their wheels because they don't really know where they're going. Their goals - if they have any - are usually very foggy.
It's a lot smarter to say, "Okay. At the end of my first year, I want to have obtained all the supplies I need; gotten an agent; and gone on one interview."
Personal manager Roz Tillman says, "I encourage my actors to be goal-oriented; to isolate specifically what they want." Then, if you're really smart, you'll break that list down into monthly, weekly and daily goals.
Don't try to set "goals for life." They're not concrete. There are too many unknowns out there that can completely change your life. Make your goals concrete, attainable, and daily.
We once talked to a recovering alcoholic. This is what he said: "If I thought I could never take another drink for the rest of my life, I'd be back on the booze in a minute. I couldn't deal with that. The only way I can stay sober is to do what Alcoholics Anonymous teaches - / take it one day at a time."
GET OFF YOUR OWN BACK
"Don't worry about it. Alfred Hitchcock always used to say, 'It's only a movie.' " - Angie Dickinson to an actor who had just blown a take.
It can be therapeutic to take a class. Why? By watching others, you'll learn you're not the only one who ever screwed up.
We actors are amazing. If we're not yelling at our agents, we're screaming at ourselves. Everybody seems to be working better and more.
Try not to get down on yourself. If you do a bad audition/interview/ performance, go home, kick a door and forget it. Nothing is life or death. Everybody screws up. As theatrical casting director Bob Harbin says, "Be serious about your work, but don't take this business too seriously. There's just too much craziness that goes on."
Babe Ruth struck out far more than he ever hit the ball - but what's he remembered for? Sooner or later, you'll get "good wood" on the ball.
ALWAYS ACT SUCCESSFUL
Q: "What mistake do you continually see actors making?" A: "Being too hungry." - Ruth Robinson, The Hollywood Reporter
We don't mean act cocky - that's just a mask for the insecure. And we don't mean you'll have to drive a Mercedes or wear Gucci loafers.
Acting successful means giving those in the position to hire you a feeling that they can be confident in you because you know your value.
Present yourself as a successful working pro, even when times are tough. Act like you've "made it" long before you have.
As actor Edmund Gilbert puts it: "Be there before you get there."
AVOID NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR
"No matter what, try to be positive." - Jack Rose, Jack Rose Agency
A salesman's creed: "To be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic."
If you think that sounds corny, go to a commercial audition. There, you'll find a roomful of actors who know they have to be bright and "up" if they want to get cast. And, because everyone is acting so happy and perky, you'll find it very hard to be negative or "down." Enthusiasm is catching.
Conversely, so is negativity. Be on your guard against it, in yourself or the company you keep.
Consider this quote from an actor friend of ours: "I never read the trades. The trades make me feel that everybody in this town is working but me."
He has a point. If you find yourself getting upset at all that work out there that you're not getting, then don't read the trades. Not until you can read them again for the positive information you can actually do something about. Too often, actors will read something about a film that has been cast, decide that they weren't up for the part, and immediately pick up the phone to chew out their agent. That's one long series of negative behavior.
Here are some other things to be on the lookout for:
- Don't go to see a movie, TV show, play, or even read reviews of a project you were "up for" and didn't get. (Face it - you're being perverse.)
- Don't listen to stories about how a fellow actor didn't get a part or agent. What a downer! (Our favorite way of handling this was in the following overheard conversation: First Actor: "I'm really miserable. I was up for a part and I didn't get it because . . ." Second Actor (interrupting): "At least you were up for it, baby.")
- Don't listen to anyone who says you'll never make it. (Unless they've shown a remarkable aptitude for walking on water.)
- Don't read bad reviews of a show you are in. (Talk about perversity!)
- Don't fall into "bad mouth" sessions about anyone or any group. (Ever felt better after one of these?)
- Be sure your acting teachers are trying to help you, and not just trying to keep the bucks coming in from a lot of perpetual students, or playing games with your head.
- Don't dwell on the mistakes you made. Dwell on what you learned from them.
- Not a beginner? Stay away from people, groups, or situations that cast you in that light.
- At an audition, don't assume you're wrong for the part. Are you there? Brother, you're right for it.
- Don't get secretly mad at your agent because he has other clients. That's what keeps him in business.
- When criticized, be sure of the other person's motives.
- Don't enjoy someone else's misfortunes.
- Don't listen to doomsayers.
- Don't work for compliments - work for money. That means working to improve your pocketbook, your opportunities or your skills - not merely to get stroked. For example, don't keep working at the same theatre or acting class just because everybody there thinks you're soooo good.
