Most actors don’t make it in this business.
I don’t say that to be discouraging in any way, but it’s true. Very few will ever make any career progress that is even remotely close to what they envisioned for their career, when they first started.
Booking a few lines here and there and maybe some commercial ads is where most actors stall.
Inevitably, the struggle of trying to make it takes its toll and many actors leave the industry every day, before reaching the goals they had in mind.
What I’ve been interested in for a long time, is figuring out what causes them to leave and what causes other actors to stay the course and build long and prosperous careers.
We just had Veterans day recently, so I thought it would be fitting to talk about veteran actors.
Those that have been in the industry for some time and have built successful careers, and how you can duplicate their success too.
I want to introduce you to someone...
You have probably seen some of his work, since he’s recently had some major projects that have been absolute blockbusters, and he is represented by some of the top people in the industry.
What I want to emphasize about his story is, that Michael was in the industry for over a decade before making any real progress.
Getting to the silver screen and making blockbusters took almost another 2 decades for him to accomplish.
There were several times he wanted to quit, but he did something that all successful, veteran actors do when things get tough.
Whenever Michael hit a roadblock, he leaned in and kept going. He knew that what he was doing would get him to where he wanted to go.
He wasn’t chasing fads and instead focused on the fundamentals of meeting the right people and being in the right situation at the right time.
This led him to do things like unexpectedly dropping in at production offices, or refusing to go home before meeting at least 1 high level industry decision maker.
More than anything else, the industry respects someone with work ethic.
To outsiders, it may seem like being charming or having a pretty face is all it takes but that couldn’t be further from reality.
If you build a reputation for being hard to work with, it will follow you until the end of your career and it will cost you dearly.
The opposite is also true.
If you work hard and you have at least some level of talent, then people will like working with you and find opportunities to work with you again.
It’s no different than any other workplace.
Michael will be the first to tell you that, he is not the most talented actor. He won’t say it to be humble, but it is the truth.
What seperates him and other verteran actors, isn’t their talent.
It’s not that they are “better” than anyone else.
It’s that they never stop trying, when things get tough.
Sometimes you do need to rebrand,refocus and recreate yourself, but usually something is right around the corner.
Don’t be so quick to look for the next big thing. No matter what tactics show up, in the end this business is still about people and it is run by people.
That will never change.
Of course tools have been created to make things easier on production and there are ways that you can also use those tools to help your own career.
In fact, that’s why I created this.
It helps you to bridge the gap between where the industry is going and the things that will never change.
The reason the industry uses systems like this is to eliminate some of the risk that comes with making casting decisions, and they use this as a measure of your industry credibility.
More than anything else, what separates veteran actors from everyone else is the care and attention they put into building a reputation and caring for that reputation.
Even the biggest stars and most talented actors will find themselves longing for work if they don’t do this.
So, wouldn’t it make sense that you make this a top priority too? Here’s a great place to start.
If you want to be one of the veteran actors one day, then take this as a first step now. Let me know how I else I can help.
I’m always only an email or a comment away and I’m always happy to help, because my goal is to...
See you at the top,
Scott