Photo Credit: Andrius Petrucenia via cc
About Sanna Haynes – I’m an actress and I teach acting. I write screenplays. I paint, draw, dance ballet, I sing, I am horrible at tap dance (trying to work on that one), I visualize films in my brain, I yoga it up most mornings, I like to organize.
Actors Need to Keep Fighting
No, I’m not a big fan of violence.
However, regardless of whether you agree with fighting or not, I think we can all agree that a more “metaphorical” fight is at hand.
…but how much do we really grasp that we gotta keep fighting?
Ok, ok. Back up.
I once heard a statistic about Los Angeles. AAAAND here I go butchering said statistic in an awful paraphrase:
Most young people who move to Los Angeles for a Hollywood career last an average of two years before moving back home(or away).
I apologize if you are, indeed, the statistician who originally crunched these numbers and I am WAAAAY off. I couldn’t find the study online.
After relocating to continue working in Atlanta, I began seeing something similar happen in my city.
People would quit. And people still quit.
With our chunk of Hollywood here in the Southeastern United States, many people take a stab at their dream career, and then… jump ship. When times get tough, and the phone stops ringing.
I don’t blame them. Maybe a career in this industry isn’t worth the headache.
If you are an actor, so much of what we do is a numbers game. Yeah, sure, they are trying to find the right person for the part.
Overnight success?
Ha. That’s a myth.
Photo Credit: Brenda Clarke (background) via cc
There are many actors/writers/crew members/etc who develop a weird idea in their heads: the belief that there are malicious people out there who seek to hold down their respective careers.
Is that scenario impossible?
No. However, here’s the thing: most people working in this industry are too busy to commit to that passive aggressive mindset.
Here’s the cool thing about this industry:
Most contacts(that I’ve met, anyway) for whom you audition, interview, etc. — they WANT you to succeed!
They aren’t trying to hold you down – well, perhaps one or two have that sort of attitude, but most do not.
If you are good at what you do, they want to give you a chance. They just need the right “fit” for you.
And that is why you need to keep fighting. Be seen. Work to get to the top of their lists.
Other Guest Posts from Actor Hub
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Producers are tough, because no two are alike and no two see their roles the same. Some folks like be very hands off and others demand to be in the thick of the production. For me, a balance somewhere in between is the best. -
It can seem a very lonely world as an actor without an agent. Just how can you get work and build up your experience without the help of an agent. There is help out there, you just need to know where to look -
From our guest blogger Prof. Palmer – Are you looking for tips on how NOT to succeed as an actor? Here’s a list of ways to end your acting career before its even begun!! -
There are so many books on acting, acting techinques, and acting tips that it can be hard to know where to begin. Here are Actor Hub’s top books about acting for actors, along with our review. -
From Guest Blogger – LA actress Shanice Kamminga – Famewhore, attention seeker, naive/delusional, unstable, childish – If you want to go to LA to become an actor you are obviously either one or all of these things. Part One – Famewhore -
From Guest Blogger – LA actress Shanice Kamminga – Famewhore, attention seeker, naive/delusional, unstable, childish – If you want to go to LA to become an actor you are obviously either one or all of these things. Part Two – Attention Seeker -
From guest blogger – actress Shanice Kamminga – Every time I get an audition, or sometimes even the prospect of a really cool audition, I get excited immediately tell everyone and their distant Facebook friend about it. But should I? -
We wanted to know what advice you would share with other actors trying to make a living in this business? Here is what you said. -
Your behaviour in the rehearsal room is just as important as how you behave at the theatre. A rehearsal room is a place for fun, experimentation and play – but you need to respect boundaries.
