It’s amazing how much can happen in a week! I’ve just found out that I’ve booked not one but two jobs. The first is another theater gig, this time one that will allow me to commute every day. The second is a co-star role on an episode of one of NYC’s popular primetime television series.
I’m beginning to wake up to a certain mentality that some folks have when they walk in the door here. Part of my realization is that, to varying degrees, even the most reasonable of us can be guilty of this particular mentality. It’s based on an assumption that goes like this– “anybody can eventually become a sucessful actor! But only the really awesome people can become successful quickly. So if I’m going to hire a career coach to help me, shouldn’t the point be to increase my awesomeness so that I become successful really fast? Otherwise, what’s the point?”
It’s a tough assumption to deal with for somebody like me that is constantly preaching patience. I have to admit that on the surface this assumption actually makes sense. The problem with it, and why it is so difficult to turn aside, is that only people with thorough industry knowledge can recognize the inherent fallacy.
The truth is, as an actor you are a risk commodity. High-profile (and top-dollar) vendors– feature films, television, Broadway– are only interested in working with commodities (actors) that carry with them a minimum of risk, if any at all. If you’re just starting out you are a high-risk proposition. There’s no way around it– you have no experience, little or no training, no name recognition. You are the dictionary definition of “high risk.” The only vendors that will want to hire you, therefore, are those that have no choice but to take big risks.
As times goes by and you establish a track record of booked work and build a network of industry contacts the risk associated with hiring you goes down.
The primetime television job I have just booked is with a casting director that has known me for over two years, ever since I took an eight-week audition class with him. He has called me in frequently. I have always earned a callback. Twice I have been put “on-hold” only to not book the role. Now, finally, I have broken through. What the heck took so long if the casting director clearly really liked me? The answers vary, but part of the equation is unquestionably the risk associated with hiring me as interpreted by this casting director’s bosses– the producers of the show who make final hiring decisions.
The good news is that, as this will be my second primetime television credit, my “riskiness” will go down in the eyes of future television casting directors and producers for whom I will audition!
It’s an incremental approach. Perhaps not the most exciting, but it’s worked wonders for me. And it’s why the pursuit of a professional acting career takes so long, even when you have somebody awesome like me to assist you.