I had a very rare long phone chat over the weekend with a college friend of mine I haven’t seen or talked to since graduation. We went through a conservatory-style BFA actor program at a university together.
We talked at length about classes. She’s been taking some time off, as we like to say in the industry, and is now looking to get back into the fold. She’s a smartie, so she’s auditing every class she can locate in the hopes of finding a new acting coach. She asked about my coach, whom I adore and who is the best acting teacher I’ve ever studied under.
I’m writing about this because I want to contrast my present attitude with the one that I had after graduating from my BFA program. Back then I felt that with the degree under my belt I could tackle all comers. I wanted to get in front of every agent and casting director, even though I really didn’t know what they did or even what was the difference between them. I really expected to book regularly within six months of hitting New York City despite having never gone to a professional audition. I believed I was good even though I had yet to develop a process, a way to approach acting work. I thought that if a job didn’t pay any money it was useless to my career.
The short of it is, my expectations were totally unrealistic. My opinions at that time were informed by nothing more substantial than my own dreams, and the successes that I had previously enjoyed within highly limited playing fields (high school, college, non-professional theatre).
Believing in yourself is important. Ambition is likewise important. Unfortunately, however, the passionate strength of your wanting will not by itself translate into success. You have to give yourself every possible competitive edge—your talent, your look, your business savvy, your networking connections, your access to industry information. Even a degree in acting only impacts one of the former, and only to a certain extent. The fact of the matter is that the acting industry is so rabidly competitive, and so ridiculously crowded, that you have to be great at all of the aforementioned areas for a significant and sustained period of time if you ever want to work regularly.
My smart college friend told me that she wants classes now so that a year from now she will be in a position to compete professionally again. Your training is likewise an investment in your future.
If you don’t take your career seriously, who will?