Actors Don’t Have Time to Hate

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqURVOcdgB8]

I was just reading some actor forum posts on backstage.com…
and noticing that there is a lot of confusion over how to have an acting career (even a bad one). There are so many people giving so much advice but lets face it…most of the advice comes from the people who are selling their services…remember, if you want to know if you need a haircut, the guy you probably don’t want to ask is your barber!

So I was reading some posts on casting director workshops, which are highly controversial and have been for several years…should casting directors be able to charge actors to read for them…even if it’s in a classroom environment…there are so many moral and ethical questions there…i have my opinions, very strong ones in fact but that’s not the point of this little story.

If you are entering the realm of hollywood or have been there a while, you must simply accept that certain things are the way they are. There’s no point in screaming about them, unless of course you want to become a professional protester instead of an actor. So whether you like CD workshops or not, either do them or don’t do them, but whichever way you go, decide and move on. You aren’t getting any younger and Hollywood likes them young, so even if you’re old now, you’re only getting older. The point is that you don’t have time to hate if you want to have an acting career, and you don’t want to love either…you just need to assess and do.

I didn’t work that hard at networking, even though I recommend that you do, and I have amassed about 40 credits in less that five years, and that at the age of 40. That’s old to be starting anything, but really old to be starting acting. You who else is my age? Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, etc. So that’s who I’m up against. If you’re really young, there just aren’t that many established people so you have a much better chance of breaking through. I’m pig-headed so I just do what I want regardless of the evidence that I will fail…and guess what..it worked!

So if you want to be an actor, go be an actor. Go study, move to LA, meet people and just do it. Keep a positive attitude and don’t take anyone too seriously, especially yourself. Don’t listen to anyone who gives you unsolicited advice unless they were already a friend and are passing on their experiences. Watch and learn. Read actor biographies if you can find them. Success in Hollywood is based on many things. Certainly if Megan Fox and Meryll Streep can be successful in the same field, there are different paths to the pot of gold. It isn’t medicine or rocket science.

So get out there and do it and only take advice from people who have achieved what it is you want to achieve. Most of the others didn’t make it and have turned to selling newbies things they don’t really need.

If you like what I have to say, please leave a comment. I’d like to hear from you.

Thanks!