I’ve had several people in my life, or recently come into my life, question some of my choices regarding my acting career. Some are questioning if it is time for me to give up and get a “real job”. Some are questioning why I’m with my current representation. And some are just doubters in general.
I don’t get why people have questioned me so much. I’m not harming anyone with my pursuit of acting. And would people pursuing “real jobs” get questioned as often as I am? If someone was struggling through medical or law school, would you tell them to give up on that dream and find something realistic? I doubt it.
But I’m not letting my doubters get to me. Yes, I have been pursing acting for quite some time now. I’m coming up on my 14 year LA-nniversary in late August. And while I was in acting classes and pursing acting while I was in college my first 3.5 years here (I actually booked my first commercial my second year of college), I really started pursing acting seriously in the late fall/early winter of 2006. And I’ve been sticking with it ever since.
Patience is so important as an actor. They say that overnight success stories take 10 years. If that’s true, then I still have some time before it’s my turn for success. I’ve seen so many actor friends give themselves strict timelines. They will leave LA if they don’t “make it” within a year/6 months/until they run out of money. And many of my friends who have left have found other careers that make them just as happy as acting does, so I’m very happy for them. But I can’t set a timeline for my dreams. I believe in myself that one day it will be my turn to land that great role. And I’m fine waiting for it to be my turn.
I have to have faith in myself because if I don’t, how can I expect anyone else to believe in me? While I may not get a ton of auditions, the ones that I do get are great parts and usually for offices I’ve been in before (which means that they like my work, but the part I auditioned for before wasn’t right for me). These are signs that I’m doing the right things. My agents have a similar belief in me that I do. I may not get the most auditions or be their biggest booker, but they know that when something is right for me I will knock it out of the park.
I don’t know why the Universe has brought so many doubters into my life in the past few months. Maybe it was to remind me how strongly I do believe in myself. Maybe it was a test for me to see how much I really do want to pursue this life. Either way, I have more faith than ever in myself that I have been making the right choices all along and that when it does work out for me, this struggle will be a reminder of my hard work, dedication, belief, and faith.
Sometimes it’s not easy to struggle to pay my bills with the many day jobs that I have to have or to stress out about if I should take a trip because I don’t want to book out with my agents (or plan a trip around pilot season/fall tv season/Superbowl commercial time). But the joy that I get every second that I get to spend acting and doing what I love makes all the other things be totally worth it.