The Great Acting Blog: “I just want an acting job!”

The Great Acting Blog: “I just want an acting job!”

It’s the cry we hear so many times, and sometimes we say it ourselves. But what sort of acting job? And, just as importantly, what sort of people do you want to work with? Getting into the wrong company, working with the wrong people, can make our lives a misery, and even have a corrosive effect for the long term.

If the warning signs are there during initial meetings, pay attention to them. Perhaps you can see they have radically different values to you, or a radically different work ethic. This mix can sometimes work of course, but how might it affect you during the intensity and pressure of a production? If we compromise too much, if we bend too much to meet people, then we become prone to feeling deprived and frustrated.

It is hard to stand your ground,  and it’s even harder to walk away. This is largely because the stress of trying to find work is so great – the tendency is to accept any work that comes our way, we’re just grateful to get the opportunity regardless of who gives it to us. Even when we’re trying to get our own project off the ground, we may meet someone who fulfils most of our criteria but not all, failing in certain key areas. We can rationalise and convince ourselves that they are the one and so make our lives easier in the short term, but we may come to regret it in the long.

Be mentally strong, believe in yourself, make decisions for the long term, be patient, and don’t try to make your life momentarily easier by ignoring the warning signs.