Are We There Yet? (or why I need to learn to enjoy the journey)

There are days I get so frustrated with Hollywood that I want to leave.  Pack my Ikea furniture, Forever 21 wardrobe, and boxes of unused headshots into my 10-year-old Civic and drive the 3,000 miles back to my parent’s house, which always has plenty of food in the cupboard.

I know if I did go home and got a regular job in Atlanta - did some community theater on the side - my life would be so much easier.  But, easier does not mean better and the harder it is to reach something the sweeter it will be when you do.  So, I convince myself to stay in LA and fight for the hard dream.

The problem with choosing acting as a profession is that there is no given way to success.  If you’ve lived in LA for more than a year then you probably know a few people that have reached enough success that they were able to quit their day job.  (Ah, that would be a dream!)  Maybe they’ve had a few nationals or even got a series regular role.  But, the longer you live here the more you realize that this success happens to the most random people and that some of the best actors you know can’t even get an agent.

It’s an ugly truth about Hollywood, but some of the best actors in the world are stuck doing 99-seat theater in North Hollywood and they never manage to move beyond it.  This is because acting is not just about talent and hard work, there is a modicum of timing and luck that goes alongside with success.  Being in the right place at the right time can be the difference being someone “making it” and someone not.

What is your definition of success in your career?  And the really tough question is: what if you don’t reach that level of success?

Find the things you enjoy in the journey that leads to your success and it will be easier to stick it out.   

BESIDES THE OTHER WAY TO FIND SUCCESS IS TO SIMPLY OUTLAST YOUR COMPETITION.

Stop Worrying so Much!

This audition doesn’t matter.  Seriously, whatever audition you are about to go on does not matter nearly as much as you think.  There will always be another audition, another pilot season, another feature film, even another agent or manager.  Actors often act like if they don’t get this job it will be the end of the world.  Trust me, it won’t.  This is not your last chance!

I don’t say this so you can feel okay about going into your next audition unprepared.  I say this because that desperation you feel to get this job shows up all over your face from the moment you walk in the room. 

You know how you hear about people finding the “right one” the moment they stop looking for them and then they get married and live happily ever after?  That’s because they stopped being desperate.  It’s the same with getting a job.  When you worry about each audition like it’s your last chance, you aren’t relaxed and that can prevent you from getting the job.

Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam Beasley on “The Office,” has a great story about when she pretty much gave up on acting and she suddenly found success.  She had been in Los Angeles pursuing her acting career for about 10 years.  She had some co-stars, gone out for pilots, and such but hadn’t found a way to make a living as an actress.  She decided it was time to pursue a new career and chose to go to veterinary school.  

Since she was very close to her manager and agent she decided to give them one more pilot season before completely giving it up.  But she had something else now and each audition wasn’t the end all be all for her.  That is when she got cast in “The Office.”  That’s not to say she didn’t come prepared for the audition, I am sure she did all that work, but I’m willing to bet she wasn’t nearly as worried about whether or not she got the job.

I’m not saying you have to have a back up career already in your pocket, but you shouldn’t look at each audition as if it’s this or nothing.  Because it’s not.  They are always going to be making another movie.  Television shows are going to be cancelled and new ones will have to be made to fill their slots.  They will always need actors.

I told you this is acting thing is a long-term project, so stop trying to be an overnight success.

I'm a Green Dot, or why you need to know your type

When I first moved to LA, a friend convinced me to go with her to an audition for a reality show.  It’s at a studio and when we finally get to the front of the line a woman quickly looks me up and down.  She takes a green dot from her pack of multi-colored stickers and places it on my paperwork.  My friend gets a blue dot. 

We are then split up into lines based on our colored dots.  I am sent to the green dot line along the wall and my friend is sent to the much shorter line with the other color dots.  I look at her line and everyone is tall, beautiful, and seems to have a fan constantly blowing through their perfect hair.   

They look like a Vanity Fair cover.

Then I look down my line and I realize they are not very attractive; I’m talking people with hunchbacks, missing limbs, patches over an eye, and definitely not hot. Then it occurs to me: 

I’m in the ugly people line!  

It came as a bit of a shock, I mean I know I’m not Angelina Jolie, but I had thought I was at least a Jennifer Aniston.  I chose at that moment to accept the fate of being categorized as a character actor, took the green dot off my paperwork and put it on the middle of my forehead for my audition.  Owning it.  I AM A GREEN DOT!

Now I know who I am.  I’m not the one who gets the Prince at the end of the fairy tale: I’m her snarky best friend or the Prince’s secretary.  I’m the diner waitress or a school teacher.  That is my brand.

The point is that you need to know who you are.  Not everyone is the leading man - someone has to be Steve Buscemi.  Once you find what roles you are going to play then let that be your brand.  Your photos, your reel, all your marketing tools need to be aimed at that brand.

Actors are always afraid of being “typecast.”  I always say the most important part of that word is “cast.”  Be the go-to person when casting directors need your type.  That is the way to get jobs in this town.  Once you are Ryan Gosling or Natalie Portman you can branch outside your brand.

YOU NEED TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH WHO YOU ARE AND SELL IT!

Why Relationships Matter

What I am about to tell you will seem like really bad news for actors. 

I helped cast the lead in a feature film and we saw 20 guys a day for 4 days before the breakdown was ever released.  So, before your agent ever even gets a chance to submit you on that project casting has seen over 80 people and probably has choices.

Other not so great looking statistics for actors: One casting director said if a role is in the 20’s to 30’s age bracket then she expects over 3,000 actors to be submitted.  Another casting director at a large television casting office told me they generally only call in 8 actors for every guest star role because they don’t have time to see more.  You can do the math, but 8 actors out of 3,000 submissions and anyone can see that the odds aren’t great.

I know that all this can seem pretty bleak for those of us actors who aren’t “names.”  But, here is the good news: people do get called in and not all of them are repped by TalentWorks or CAA. 

There are things you do have control of that help increase your odds of being one of those people who gets called in.

Build relationships with the people who make those decisions.  

Find something you enjoy doing and do that to build the relationships with the people you like.  My favorite way is by helping out at casting offices.  I found out that I enjoy helping actors get parts and I love how much I learn while sitting in the auditions.  Plus, I get to work with people I like.  I think that is the key: make sure you actually enjoy spending time with the people that you are building these relationships.

SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDS.   

Go see their shows.  Be an extra or a PA on that short film they are making.  They will love you for it.  Then when you need a referral to a commercial agent or an introduction to their aunt who is an exec at Paramount they are much more likely to do that.  I know we are all busy in this town, but we really have to support each other.  Yeah, it’s a pain to drive down to Santa Monica from the Valley at 6pm to see your friend’s night of one-acts, but they will appreciate the fact you did so much!

Create your own work.   

I know I harp on this a lot, but seriously make your own movies.  It is too easy not to and there is no an excuse to not go out create something.  Post these movies on the web, get them into film festivals, and you never know who will see it.

Way down on the list for me is going to workshops.  I know we have all heard stories of people getting auditions after seeing someone at a workshop, but I think that is the exception and not the rule.  Disclaimer: I do attend workshops every so often.  (Of course, I prefer the free ones offered through the SAG Foundation.)  The important thing if you are going to spend money on a workshop is to make sure it’s with the decision maker in the office.  I suggest making a target list of casting directors you want to meet and don’t just try to see everyone.  Of course there is a lot of controversy over workshops which I am not going to delve into, but if you are interested you can read more about that here: Pay to Play?

The fact is that this is a town that is built around personal relationships.  Casting directors are going to call in people they know and like.  Directors and producers are going to cast people they enjoy working with.   

Building relationships doesn’t happen over night, so you have to be willing to put the time and energy in and if you do eventually the rewards will come to you.