| Classroom 2 |
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| 1. This business is not fair. It never was, never will be - and your talent will not assure you of succeeding. In fact - nothing will. 2. The only thing a union can do is guarantee your minimum working conditions once you are lucky enough to land a job. There is nothing else a union can legally do. ( re-read truth #1) 3. There will always be CDs who will not see you, or will only see you for certain parts. There is little or nothing anyone can do about it until the CD sees you in something that will change their mind. And even then, they may never change their mind. It is the CDs call and their's alone. Even a good agent may be unable to change their mind. ( re-read truth #1) 4. This IS a business of who you know and what you have done. Experience will always count because that person has already proven that they can deliver. When someone casts you, or calls you into an audition, their job is on the line too. Do badly and it reflects on them as well. Shooting a film costs roughly $300 a minute. Having proved that you can consistently deliver, puts you at the head of the line because time is money. And money rules. ( re-read truth #1) 5. Because of the time element, many TV shows are cast in a single day. Even MOWs don't take much longer. If CDs took the time to see everyone the show would not get cast in time. The CD would go broke because nobody would ever hire them again. ( re-read truth #1) 6. The vast majority of actors that others say are always being called in now, were once in the same situation and decried the fact that they couldn't get seen. And when they did get called, all they got up for were one and two line parts - which frankly, are the hardest parts to do, because there is so little there to work with. The best almost anyone can do with them is to say the lines as best as one can and try not to bump into the furniture. Added to that, these kinds of parts are so small they're not even worth putting on a demo reel. ( re-read truth #1) 7. Depressing as it may be, the truth is only a small percentage of actors will ever get the chance to show what they can do and even when they get that chance, most will live a hand-to-mouth existence all their lives. They will spend their careers watching people with less talent become highly successful, stars even - and still they will toil away, waiting for a break that will never come. Some dreams happen overnight - some take years. Most dreams however, die a slow painful death, bit by bit, over a lifetime of rejection and missed opportunities. ( re-read truth #1) We can rail about the injustices of it all, but one might as well try to shout down the wind. People may feel that the actor's life is easy and glamorous. It is not. Prescious few will ever make their living at it - and although talent certainly counts for something - the thing that matters the most in the long run is plain stubborn perseverance. Ambition often eclipses talent, and being over looked and rejected is a day-to-day companion that one must accept ...otherwise you will drive yourself crazy. There is a great joy in acting, but it is found not in the outward signs of success or whether or not you have been treated fairly and gotten the breaks that you feel you deserve. It is found only in the inner certainty that you are doing what you want to do with your life. The goal is not as important as the process. The process is everything and it has nothing to do with fairness. And if you have any doubts as to whether that is so or not - all you have to do is re-read truth #1. |
| The Seven Deadly Truths About Acting by Arthur Dent |
| Courtesy of BackStage West actors forum If it hurts, then it's probably true... |
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