Being an actor is tough! That goes without saying...

Being a talented actor that isn’t making the kind of career progress you should be making is even tougher.

Unfortunately, the industry isn’t built to reward talent alone, and actors that are extremely talented often find themselves struggling to progress in their acting careers.

Because I work with so many actors every day, I have a unique insight into what is working right now. I am able to keep up, in real time, with the fast moving developments of the industry.

Most actors still operate under the false assumption that talent will get them to places they want to go, career wise. Keeping your acting skills sharp and working on refining your talent are always a good idea of course, but it’s not the end all be all that will bring you success in the industry.

If you are focusing on the wrong things, your progress is going to be minimal at best.

It’s kind of like getting in your car, taking your hands off the wheel, closing your eyes and putting your foot on the gas, hoping that you end up where you wanted to.

Sure, you are moving down the road in your vehicle so you are going somewhere. But, if you don’t have a direction and you are not making the correct moves, then you will never reach your destination.

Sadly, this is how most actors unknowingly approach their career.

If you haven’t been making the kind of career progress you know you should be making, here’s what successful actors are doing, and what you should be doing too...

Actors are creatives, and as creatives we tend to focus on “being original” While that may work on set, when it comes to building a career, the most accomplished actors follow in someone else’s footsteps.

They don’t forge their own path. They start down the path that someone else has already laid down, first and then they venture in a new direction.

So, study the careers of the actors you look up to. Model what they did right and avoid the things that caused them to stall or take a step backwards.

We’re living in the information age and this information is widely available. You may have to spend time piecing some things together from various sources like their websites, biographies, autobiographies, interviews they’ve given, etc.

That’s time well spent, because afterwards, you can basically reverse engineer their success model and it will provide you with a wealth of information.

For example, if you are at a decision point and wondering what to do next. Look at what those successful actors did.

Are you thinking about whether now is the time for you to join the union?
When did they do it? Are they at a similar career stage or did they postpone joining the union?

If you haven’t worked in a while and you’re thinking about taking a step back and accepting roles that you may not have considered a year or 6 months ago, look at what other actors have done and how they climbed back to the status they enjoyed before.

Successful actors also build a team around them. No one becomes successful alone, and actors are no different. ​Here’s a way that I can join your team and help you be successful.

You can be good enough at a lot of things and you will definitely wear many hats as you build your career.

However, there will come a time when you need to bring others in, to help you.

For example, over time you may want to bring in a publicist to help you build your media contacts and get you exposure that you wouldn’t be able to get on your own, if you lack the contacts.

Whoever you decide to bring in, be careful to only partner with people that are as ambitious as you are. That doesn’t mean you have to sign with one of the majors. There are plenty of agents working in smaller agencies that are just as talented.

It also doesn’t mean that you stop working on that part completely. We’ll come back to that in a bit...

Successful actors also have a passion for the industry that extends beyond just acting, and they get to know the inner workings of the industry.

If you haven’t done so, take a course in filmmaking and learn about the process from A to Z.

You don’t need to become an expert in every area but knowing how everything works, gives you a better perspective on production and makes you a better actor.

Knowing how the movement of the camera or the lighting set up will display your facial features allows you to make character choices on a very granular level. In the end, those little details that most actors never think of, make the difference between an acceptable performance and a world class performance.

Plus, knowing how a professional set works will make you stand out on set. Even if you don’t have much screen time, your professionalism will shine through and people will want to work with you over and over again.

This goes hand in hand with taking responsibility for your own success. No one will ever be as invested in your success as you are.

At the end of the day, no one can do it for you. No one can take your place at an audition or get out there and shake hands, or these days maybe bump elbows ;) on your behalf.

A mistake I see actors making all the time is relying on someone else to make things happen for them, and it costs them big time.

An agent is there to support you. A manager is there to support you and work in tandem with your various representatives and keep things running smoothly while working to create new opportunities for you.

While a publicist may be able to get you into some events and open doors that make it possible for you to meet decision makers, it’s still up to you to “work the room.”

Making yourself visible to the industry is something you should work on every day and I created this to help you.

When actors think about how the various people all fit in to their career building, they often make the mistake of thinking they “offload” certain responsibilities.

In other words, when they sign with their agent, they breathe a sigh of relief and feel like their agent will take care of the rest. Truthfully, your agent can only be as effective as you are and if you want your agent to be good, then you have to be a good client.

That means you provide them with all the tools and resources they need. ​Here’s a great place to start with that.

There are tons of things you can do, but focus on these for now. Some things will fall under these categories.

For example, social media will fall under making yourself visible to the industry. We’ll go over more of that in detail another time.

Do this for now and let me know how else I can help. I’m always only an email or a comment away, since my goal is to...

See you at the top,
Scott