If you combine all of the best actors who constantly book work and whose work you admire, you’ll find one commonality: discipline. There isn’t a day that goes by when I mention my profession to someone and am met with shock about my lifestyle and schedule. I’m bombarded with questions/comments such as “but you’re an actor, if you have all this time why are you so strict with your days, shouldn’t it just be auditioning and filming?” I then try to enlighten them to what that entails, but get a disconcerting feeling only when I find out that they are also a thespian. They are depending on their agent to submit them as well as schedule everything for them. See, it’s one thing for a non-industry person to be shocked at the discipline and ‘hustle’ it takes to be a working actor, I actually feel proud to break open their perception of what an actor does and rattle what little knowledge of the performing arts they may have…yes, its satisfying. Yet, terrifying to find out that its an actor who sits around watching television and films all day for ‘professional development’ and industry ‘research.’
These are the bunch giving the rest of the talented and motivated actors a stigma. In my world, If you have any time at all during your week to devote 20 hours or more to watching television or playing video games, you aren’t devoted enough nor are you disciplined enough in your craft. Given that every bit of skill building (such as learning new languages, sport or dancing style) will add to your portfolio of abilities, thus increasing your chances of making yourself marketable as an actor, how can one spend hours of their precious time to vegetation?
Now, there is an important distinction to make between making sure you take time to relax so that you don’t burn out after working hard, versus just “relaxing” without the hard work that warrants it. But for those of you who are putting your head down and hustling and doing the work every day and then breaking out the video games and movies to clear your heads, this article isn’t for you. This is for those people who don’t understand what the hustle entails.
The stereotype that actors are good looking people who were advised to ‘do something’ with their looks, needs to be broken…no, shattered. The laymen has no clue the amount of intense physical, mental, and spiritual training it takes to do what we do on a daily basis. To constantly accept rejection due to things that we have no control over such as our race or height and also stay on task to continue submitting, and the motivation needed to be at our physical peak in order to look good on camera, it is after all an industry where you are judged by your looks. Not only the mental fight of comparing ourselves to our peers who have advanced in their careers and reaching those milestones in life we all aspire to, but the mental games you play with yourself of feeling ‘not good enough’ for a juicy role or insufficiently trained to even submit. I know actors who have actually talked themselves into leaving an audition room prior to auditioning, and who could blame her with a room full of desperate people willing to throw you under the bus for even a split second at being in front of the lens. To spiritually stay positive when you are risking your future for an unknown, even futile at times, form of success is a challenge to say the least.
So, with all of these ‘obstacles’ (or opportunities, depending on how you look at it) I question any actor’s commitment to the craft who is able to squander 20 hours a week to a past-time that sucks what little time you already have. To say that it is a stressful environment would be an understatement, so to those not sharpening their swords, I mean skills, what are you thinking?! You better go to those dance classes, watch those youtube learning dialects and fall asleep submitting yourself online. Real talk.
I seriously question any actor’s commitment to the craft who isn’t treating this as they should a business. You are your brand, agent and spiritual advisor – there’s no reason your schedule doesn’t parallel that of a CEO. Sitting around waiting for your agent to call you is not what one would call being proactive, it is stagnant behavior. There is always work to be done, people to meet and networking places to go! Make sure to fill your schedule with meaningful habits, every single day. Even meeting up with other folks in the field to brainstorm projects, scripts or whatever you’re into to help motivate yourself….just do it. We are our own ambassadors, if you don’t have a successful mindset how on earth do you expect to be successful? So, please help me in destroying this stigma of ignorance to those that are ignorant to our craft and show them a glimpse of what it takes to do what we do by proving your commitment with discipline.