Have you ever seen an actor that comes out of nowhere and has a meteoric rise? All of a sudden, they become the industry’s shiny new object and they are cast in everything!

It happens all the time. That kind of begs the question: why not you?

If you are reading this, then you probably have what it takes to position yourself in a way that would have your career skyrocketing quickly.

Most actors think that those “select few” knew someone or had a stroke of good luck and that’s how they were able to get ahead so quickly.

While that does happen from time to time, in today’s environment, it’s actually easier than ever for someone without any industry connections and only a few credits to build an acting career quickly.

And, if you build your career properly you can effectively eliminate the competition and make yourself the only logical choice to be cast. Even auditions could become somewhat of a formality as industry decision makers scramble to have you be a part of their project.

I know it sounds like a giant stretch, but you see it happening all the time. Most actors will spend their time wondering why it always happens for someone else.

Successful actors will instead focus on what they can do to make it happen for themselves.

If that’s you, here’s where to start....

First and foremost, you have to stop competing with other actors. That’s a game without a winner, because the one that prevails goes home empty handed.

Being successful in the industry goes way beyond just being an actor, especially in today’s environment. You have to wear dozens of hats at different times and the most important one is that of a specialist.

Here’s what I mean...

Have you ever stopped to think of just how many types of doctors there are? There’s a doctor of basically anything.

Stick with me for a sec and you’ll see how this relates and why this is so important to you and your acting career.

A cardiologist and a doctor that practices general medicine both have their purpose and which one you decide to visit depends on what outcome you desire.

If you’re not feeling well or have a minor ailment, you go to a general practitioner. If you have a heart attack, you go to a cardiologist.

Why?

Because there’s a specific problem that you need to fix.

This is how Casting Directors operate too, because the best roles require actors that fill a certain specificity.

Simply searching for an “actor for hire” to fill a specific role would be like seeing a general practitioner after a heart attack.

What they aim to do instead is find a specific actor for a specific role, and all the best roles are always specific in some way.

When casting for Barista #4, CDs will cast a pretty wide net and sort through “actors for hire.”

When casting a second lead, they will take a much more measured and narrow approach, since there is so much more at stake.

It’s the same reason that 911 asks “what’s your emergency?” If your house is on fire, it won’t do much good to send over an ambulance.

Just like you need the right tools and training to handle a fire, you need the right training and skill set to handle a specific role.

So, from this moment forward, pick a niche.

Do some market research on the niche and determine if there's room for you in that niche, what other actors are a part of that niche, and if there are projects in the pipeline.

Variety and a host of other places announce projects when they are put into production, and you can keep up with them as they move through the process.

You will see trends emerge over time in terms of the kinds of projects that are being developed.

In fact, studios will often put similar projects into production, one after the other.

It’s a strategy called “drafting” and it comes from the racing world. Runners will often strategically trail another runner, so they can benefit from the lead runner’s aerodynamics.

Race car drivers do the same thing.

When studios draft one another, they produce projects in the same category. That’s why the industry tends to move from one frenzy to another.

Look back at how many vampire and werewolf films and even TV shows were produced after Twilight. Look at how many war films were released following Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.

This is one of the ways that the industry creates efficiencies. Instead of having to get a potential audience interested in a brand new category, studios only have to offer that audience more of what they are already interested in.

As an actor, it means that if you can get your foot in the door on a category that is set to grow, the sky is the limit.

Tom Sizemore is a perfect case study on somehow who did this perfectly.

For a while, you couldn’t watch an action movie that didn’t feature him in some way. He became synonymous with the genre, so much so that you can almost track the personal problems he went through and his very public fall from grace to the cooling off the action genre.

It’s as if the industry collectively said “if we can’t have him in the movie, we just won’t make it.”

During the height of his career, he had a very narrow focus. He wasn’t chasing action, comedy, and dramatic roles at the same time.

In other words, he was a specialist and not just another “actor for hire.”

Because he went deep into the genre, he learned all of the nuances that other actors simply couldn’t compete with and he delivered terrific performances.

You can do this too if you select your niche and then learn it inside and out.

You can then develop or refine your skills in that niche. Many actors do this, but they tend to do it haphazardly. They work on acquiring new skills, just to have something to add to their resume.

That typically turns out to be a waste of time, when it’s not planned for properly.

For example, if you decide to learn to play the piano you will have another skillset to differentiate yourself, but if there are tons of action projects moving through development your new piano skills aren’t likely to do you much good.

However, if you were to do the research I mentioned earlier, and you saw that the action category was about to get huge, you could instead go through combat training or something that would be more likely to help you differentiate yourself in that category.

Being talented is only half of the equation. ​You also have to make yourself visible to industry decision makers and be the actor whom they look at and think “that’s the one!”

Those “special skills” will help do that and set you apart.

This is what happens when you get your “big break.” It’s about having the right skills, at the right time, being the only logical choice to be cast, and then riding that wave of opportunity.

You don’t have to be a superstar to become synonymous with a category. Look back at the examples I shared with you and you will see that most actors come out of nowhere and are then everywhere seemingly overnight.

If you are reading this, then I know you are serious about your career and you truly want to make progress.

Don’t let your efforts be in vain. Put what I shared with you into practice and auditions might just become somewhat of a formality for you, as your reputation begins to precede you.

Remember, it’s important that you have the right training and the right tools. That goes way beyond a reel and a headshot. That’s a long subject that we’ll get into another time.

For now, ​start working on this. It’s a tool that most actors are well aware of but they severely underestimate the role it plays in the casting process.

Get started on that, as well as the other action steps I shared with you today, because next week we'll talk about how to find the productions that are coming up and get on their radar.

The entire game changes when you are invited to read and this is an important part of that.

We’re going to keep moving quickly going forward because the industry waits for no one.

Remember, if you have any questions or if you need someone to bounce ideas with, I’m only a comment or an email away.

I’m always happy to help because I truly want to...

See you at the top,
Scott