I am an actor. One of the most ridiculous pieces of career advice I’ve been given is “showing up (at auditions) is half the battle.” That is suuuuuch bullshit. It is not HALF the battle. I would say it’s the last 2% of the battle (though a critical 2%, I will admit). However, you can’t JUST show up. That’s stupid. It doesn’t matter how many auditions you “show up” at, if you don’t have an agent (first and foremost) you will NOT be able to make a decent living as an actor. Period. That’s just realistic in the industry. Also…you must be prepared with PERFECT material for that specific audition, have the talent/chops to knock their socks off and know who you are auditioning FOR (via personal relationship building or research on that casting director/creative team, etc.) Otherwise you are basically playing the lottery…and you are veeeery unlikely to book that job. The market is toooooo competitive. There will be hundreds of actors that are waaaaaay more prepared than you. JUST KEEP SHOWING UP makes me want to throw up.
How has bad career advice kept you from achieving your goals?
I have wasted sooooooo much time and energy “just showing up” in the past. In 2009, I went to 200 auditions for theatre in NY…got 3 callbacks and booked 1 job…a contract that lasted for 4 months. F-THAT!!!! I CLEARLY needed to rethink my approach, do some research about the market and where I could best fit in, talk to some successful people about how they got to be making a living and be more strategic about the way I was spending my time and energy. I got totally burned out. You’d think it’d make me want to quit acting, but it didn’t…It just made me ANGRY and MOTIVATED me to want to find a way to improve my game. Because there ARE people who are successful actors…lots of them. So I know that it’s possible…I just needed to stop “SHOWING UP” and get some real tools that would help me make some actual progress in my career. Not just hit my head against the same brick wall 200 times, thinking it would crack.
When you graduated college, where did you think you’d be in 5 or 10 years?
I thought I’d have an agent and at least be able to pay my bills and save some money with my acting paychecks. This year I made $30 with my acting. Nice, right?
Where are you now?
Right now I am working a 9-5 as an Executive Assistant in NY making $67K a year. A job I am very well-suited for, though I cannot say that I am PASSIONATE about it. I am currently applying to graduate school at three top schools for acting: NYU, Yale & Juilliard. I figure, if I am going to give up my cushy high-paying job to follow my passion (acting)…I am NOT going to go back into the biz without a solid business plan, a kick-ass agent, some seeeeeerious professional connections and at least 10,000 hours of practice to back me up. I do NOT want to be a starving artist for the rest of my life. I even started a blog about my process of preparation for grad school (www.AcceptanceProjectNYC.blogspot.com). I am DRIVEN and I refuse to fail. I will just keep adapting and learning and doing whatever it takes to create a sustainable and fulfilling livelihood as an actor. I will find a wayr. If I could land this Executive Assistant gig in the middle of the recession, then I’ve got to be able to transfer those same skills and tenacity to establishing a thriving acting career.
- Virginia
