The Actor's REAL Job

My belief is that an actor’s actual job has very little to do with performing in front of the camera or on stage. When you get a role, that’s great. And of course you have to bring all of your acquired skills and instincts to bear in preparation for that role. But, in many ways, getting the role is the reward for having done your actual work. This is something we actors can lose sight of. 

Doing this all day since he was 5 years old.

Being a professional athlete, like a baseball player, is a job. We see the players walk up to the plate a few times a night (for a few months a year) and try to hit the ball. Sounds like a sweet job. But that’s only the surface. The real work of a hitter is done all the rest of the day - all the rest of the year. Ballplayers practice hitting with coaches in the cage for hours on end; they watch video and analyze their swings; they practice very specific exercise regimens to maximize their efforts; they adhere to very specific diets for much of the year; they study, and commit to memory, the arsenals of the pitchers they're likely to oppose. They have to balance sleep against a heavy travel schedule. Additionally they do publicity and charity events throughout the year. It’s very much more than a full time job. It’s a lifestyle. The commitment to being the very best version of themselves on the field takes up a very large chunk of their lives. 

So is it for the actor. Working on your craft is no different than what a ballplayer or a dancer or cello player does. It requires you to work all day so that when the lights go on, you are ready. I have met too many ‘actors’ who sit around and wait for parts that never come and wonder why they haven’t worked in a long time. There may be many reasons for a scarcity of roles, but the most common one I’ve encountered is that too many of those actors do not spend time working on their craft for the sake of their craft. They aren’t doing the job, so they don’t get jobs. It can be that simple. 

If you choose to be an actor, choose it fully and build your day-to-day life around that choice. Find a regimen and stick to it. Read plays. Journal. Exercise. Take dance and/or yoga classes. Find a good scene class and explore challenging works. Do your speech drills every day. Tend to your professional network and socials. Maintain your connection to your breath - and if you don’t know exactly what I mean by that, go get into a voice class or take some workshops. And look, don’t lie to yourself about what you know. If you are relatively new to acting, there is no shame in not knowing what is meant by some of these things. But be curious, find out and engage with them.  Make a habit of it. 

Another part of your overall job as an actor is to make casting directors look smart. We don't talk about this often enough, but it's very important. Casting directors are contracted by clients  - TV producers, film directors, theater companies, advertising departments at major corporations, etc -  to find suitable talent for their projects. If a CD shows their client 20 tapes of actors who are not memorized or not making interesting choices…or who can’t be understood when they speak, that casting director may not be hired again by that client. Casting directors have bills to pay like everyone else. They really want to get hired again, so that is not ideal.  But if the client is presented with 20 great auditions from which to choose, the CD looks like a genius. That leads to them getting more work! Part of you're job is to help the CD stay employed. If you come in prepared, if you come in relaxed and make interesting, human choices; if you come in understanding the assignment for that day, you’ll make the CD look smart and they will reward that by calling you in for more auditions. As acting is really a numbers game, more auditions will potentially lead to more bookings. Make the casting director look good by being prepared, creative and open and your phone will keep ringing. It's pretty simple math.

So that’s it. That’s your job. Spend your days training your body, brain & being. When your opportunities come, prepare for them like your life depends on it - your career certainly will. And then make the CD look good. If you are lucky (and patient & persistent) someone will reward you with a part. Then the work gets fun.