Hopefully you consider your acting to be a craft. And hopefully, you understand that it takes study and repetition to become successful at the craft of acting.
To be successful and maintain that success, there are several different areas of acting that you must learn.
You need to know how to audition well – this means not only being able to act, but also being able to deal with your nerves and to make strong choices quickly. You need to know how to slate on video and how to take meetings with agents.
You also need to know how to break down a script and how to be in the moment when you’re acting.
You should know how to do comedy improv and the difference between auditioning for a soap opera, a commercial, and a movie. And so on.
All of this may sound simple — or it may sound overwhelming. It doesn’t matter how it is for you. The important thing is:
Start studying NOW and never stop.
If you’re not playing the lead role in a movie or play, you won’t be able to really dig in and play a fully-fleshed-out character. To get that opportunity, you should learn as much about your craft as you can – you never know what kind of job might open up the next big door.
There are lots of great teachers, books, interviews and much more to study your craft, so I’m not going into that here.
Don’t focus only on the fun part of being seen in a movie or on TV, but to make sure that when a casting director calls you in that you are ready to deliver your best work – no matter what format it might be in.
Always be studying, keeping your skills sharp, and deepening your craft.
Do you know how the craft of acting is different for a one-liner on a TV show, a commercial, a lead role in a movie, and a soap opera? If not, you may want to find out.
There’s always more to learn — even on the technical side.
Even for actors who have been studying for quite some time and take pride in their work, most of them I find out don’t even watch the TV shows they are trying to work on. Do you know how TV acting is different from film acting?
Do you know the difference of what your job is when shooting with three cameras versus one camera? Do you know what your best lighting is? What your best angle is?
I met an old-time cinematographer once who used to shooting movies with Elizabeth Taylor. He said that she’s the only actor he had ever shot in his life who had no bad angle. Everyone has their best angles… and not so good…. Well, except Liz Taylor’s were all good!
The point is, even beyond your acting class, there’s lots more to learn. You will always be learning.
You will also always be building your resume and your stature in the business, or at least trying. None of it will ever be done, so you might as well keep working at it.
If you want to start getting deeper into it, then you probably also need to step up your marketing game. You can do that by getting an agent or manager. Our packages now also include a Branding Review. Check it out.