If you thought it was hard to be an actor in the past, it’s even harder now… especially if you want to be taken seriously.
With the evolution of social media, people are becoming stars simply from making videos playing tricks on their grandmother and recording it on their phones… that’s not acting, that’s pure luck. If you want to be a serious actor, you have to take your career seriously, and becoming a YouTube star isn’t the way you do it.
If you look at the great actors of the past and present, you’ll be able to find out that they went to acting school or took acting classes, used all the money they had to pay for those acting classes, and jumped on every opportunity they had to be taken seriously as an actor. Those are the things you have to do to not only make others take you seriously as an actor but to make yourself believe that you’re an actor. That’s not saying to go homeless in your efforts but you have to make certain sacrifices to get to where you want to go.
Acting… It’s Not as Easy as It Looks
As a child, everyone has probably had dreams and aspirations of being an actor or actress. Even as adults, you’ll be watching your favorite show and find yourself saying “I can do that!” But if it really came down to it and you had an opportunity to act, could you really do it? Acting isn’t as easy as people think it is. To be an actor, it takes a special type of person. You have to be determined, able to handle rejection, and willing to work hard for what you want.
The first thing you need to get established in your mindset is that becoming a good actor shouldn’t solely be for the intent of getting famous… it should be for perfecting your craft; getting famous is a perk. Secondly, acting is not cheap. If you want to become an actor, get ready to spend some money. From headshots to demo reels, you’re going to need to put yourself out there some kind of way to get recognition. Remember, it takes money to make money, even in the world of acting.
If you’re an aspiring actor or actress looking to make it in the world of acting, you first need to take yourself and your acting skills seriously in order for others to take you seriously as an actor. Take a look at the things you need to do to be taken seriously as an actor.
You Need to Take Professional Headshots
The keyword here is professional. In a world where almost everything can be done from your phone, headshots need to be taken professionally. Taking headshots that are not professionally done just shows casting directors that YOU don’t take your acting career seriously, so why should they?
Now, getting headshots done isn’t going to be cheap so before getting them done, you want to make sure that you look amazing in your photos. A headshot is literally just that… it’s a shot of your face. So, in knowing that, the first thing casting directors will look at is your smile. If your smile isn’t attractive to acting standards, don’t take your headshots until you’ve got that Hollywood smile.
Again, acting isn’t cheap but one of the best investments you can make in your acting career is to correct your smile. There are dentists out there that will be able to provide the dental services you need at an affordable price, you just have to know where to look. Once you have your “picture perfect” smile, you can then do all the other cosmetic enhancements like hair and makeup to be ready for your closeup.
Get Your Acting Resume Together
Okay, so an acting resume isn’t like your typical resume when applying to “regular” jobs. You don’t need to put your time spent working at a shoe store or grocery store… your acting resume needs to strictly be about your experience as an actor. If you’re just starting out and don’t have any acting experience, start auditioning at your local community theater.
This is a great way to get acting experience and a great way to get exposure in your community as an aspiring actor. If there aren’t any openings for a role in a community play, ask about volunteering to help with the play. Theaters are always looking for volunteers to help. This will at least get your foot in the door and keep you in the know about upcoming shows and roles. Even if you volunteer, that’s something to put on your acting resume… you have to start somewhere, right?
Enroll in Acting Classes
Enrolling in acting classes is what’s going to help you improve your acting skills. The acting coaches in these classes are going to teach you skills you may already know about but you’re definitely going to learn skills you didn’t know about so it’s well worth the investment. While in those classes, the best thing you can do for yourself is to practice what you learned in class, at home.
There are several different acting exercises you can do at home that will help you hone in on your craft. This is a great way to improve your acting skills without being judged or feeling like everyone is looking at you. By doing acting exercises at home, it will better prepare you to feel more comfortable acting in front of a crowd.
Audition, Audition, Audition!
Auditions are the whole reason for the classes you enrolled in and the headshots you took. Auditions are ultimately your shot at getting the role. Being on the outside looking in, it’s easy for someone to say go for it! But auditioning can be quite nerve-racking but the more you audition, the more you’ll have the courage to stand in front of crowds, according to breakingcharactermagazine.com.
It’s definitely not an easy task but the more you audition for different productions, you’ll learn so much about yourself… how you feel comfortable preparing and you may even come up with your own good luck rituals. The point is, everything you’ve done prior to auditions is what lead you to your auditions, so you can’t let fear hold you back from your dreams.
Remember, you want people to take you seriously as an actor… well, get on that stage and give them a performance they’ll remember!