The seven habits of highly successful actors

Get yourself a good alarm clock, and start running to schedule, get yourself used to being on time. No one likes lateness, if you are one of those people who say you’ll be somewhere at 8pm and then rock up fashionably late, then you need to change your ways.

Casting people work on tight deadlines, they might have scheduled in over thirty appointments in one afternoon, and if you are late you will mess up their schedule, and that isn’t exactly the best first impression.

When you are filming you will normally get driven to set, this isn’t because you are a huge star and must be chauffeured everywhere, this is because you need to be on set at a certain time. On a major film, they can be spending about fifty grand every twenty minutes, do you really want to be the guy that loses people that amount of money? In the USA, actors don’t get driven to set … it is your responsibility to be on time.

Acting isn’t a nine to five job, get ready for L-O-N-G days.

The eight hour day is not really something which happens on set, you might be called at 7am and not wrap until 8pm. Likewise in the Theatre you can sometimes have tech rehearsals which creep across the whole day into the wee hours of the morning, or maybe you have a full rehearsal with some new company for the daytime and then you have to go and perform a two hour show at night.

Learn how to keep your energy up for long hours, learn how to make the best use of ‘rest time’ during the day.

I remember as a teenager and as a student I would like nothing better than to stay under the duvet all day. This has to be a habit of the past.

If you want to work in television or film you will often need to get up at 5am, you can’t go to a set looking like the early morning has half killed you, you need to be bright and alert and looking fresh and healthy (there is only so much make-up and good lighting can do!).

Working in theatre is different because you will be working late and come home on a bit of an adrenalin high and probably not get to sleep until about 2am. You still need to get into the habit of early rising, I would say about 10am if you are working in the theatre.

Do something positive with this extra time, write a blog, go for a long walk, anything which can wake up the mind and body. Start getting up earlier and you will start feeling more positive about yourself and your career.

You never know when you might get a call asking you in for a casting, or who you might bump into in the street. Remember as an actor you are on at all times, your appearance is your currency. Think about how you look and take care of your appearance.

The industry is small and you don’t want to be known as the actor with the bad breath, or the actor who needs to buy some deodorant. Carry a deodorant with you, and some breath mints.

It is important you start to think of your body as your vehicle, take care of it as you would a sports car, put good things into it, tend to its bodywork, and keep it neat and polished.

Casting directors have told me one of their ‘pet peeves’ is odours, actors who come in and stink out a casting room, this isn’t just body odours, they tell me really strong perfume or cologne can be just as bad. And don’t have a quick pint to steady your nerves before a casting, they’ll smell the booze fumes a mile off. So think before you stink.

Try not to get involved in gossiping. Remember that those who talk about everyone else, obviously are not interested in either you or themselves, someone who is so bored or shallow that they have to talk about other people. Avoid this behaviour, if it starts to go on and you are present, try to change the subject and if you can’t excuse yourself from the conversation.

There is a statistic that 93.3% of all rumours are false, and the other 6.7% are none of your business! Do you ever see respected actors dishing the dirt and gossiping on chat shows? No, they talk about others in upbeat, positive and complimentary ways – adopt this behaviour and it will serve you well.

Jealousy is so easy in our business, things can so easily be taken personally. Don’t let the green eyed monster take you over. Fight these feelings.

Jealousy can lead to bad decisions, and those bad decisions can lead to bad results. If you begin to think that everything ‘isn’t fair’, you begin blaming others for your bad results, it is a slippery slope.

Remember that this is business, and you need a strong will to survive. Don’t let negative emotions drive you down. Any negative emotion can slow you down, and wallowing in jealousy, worry, self-blame, frustration, will just keep you from achieving your goal.

No one likes a complainer, no one likes a whinger, be positive and look for the good in everything. A positive mind will lead to positivity.

There are actors who love to complain, to have their voice heard, don’t fall into this trap.

We all like a little bitch, but don’t become a big bitch, people will start to label you, word will get around, and your work will dry up – people don’t tolerate that behaviour for long.

If you think about people you know who moan and complain, are they people you enjoy working with? The answer is probably no – so don’t become one of those actors who looks for the bad in everyone and everything.

Of course this is not saying you must roll over and take any crap that is thrown at you, if someone is berating you, or abusing you, then complain – talk to your agent, talk to your union, talk to a producer, talk to fellow cast members, help is out there and no-one will mind if the complaint is justified.

Stay positive, offer out positivity and the world will return the favour.