Jack Nicholson asked Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men, “Do you want the truth?”
And now, I ask you, “Can you handle the truth?”
If yes, read on. If not, go do something else right now.
Still reading, huh? Good! Achieving success as a working actor is not swimming a couple of laps in a small pool, it’s a couple of miles on the ocean kind of swim. The truth is, a large percentage of actors won’t finish the swim.
More truth? Not only do you have to develop your talent through some serious training, which a lot of actors are not up for, but you are also competing against thousands of other hungry actors for a limited number of roles and the odds are against you — way against you. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it.
If only 5 or 10% of SAG members earn enough each year to get their insurance, why can’t YOU be one of those in the Top 5 or 10%?
But it’s important to be honest with yourself and true yourself up to your commitment to see how commited you are… really!
Ask yourself these questions: How badly do I want it? Am I really committed to acting as a career or is it more like a “good idea” for me?
If you’re not committed deep down in your soul, then spare yourself the heartache and admit it to yourself.
The biggest heartache is pretending you’re committed when you’re not and suffering the whole time because your neither committed nor being honest with yourself.
If you can own whatever your level of commitment is and be at peace with that, you will be able to pursue your career with much greater freedom.
The irony is that even if you don’t like going on commercial auditions that take 4 hours of your day to go do a 30-second audition… and only booking one of them every few years… even if that’s not exciting to you, you can still pursue your career full-out right now. You just need to give yourself the freedom to call it “quits” you’re done and no longer up for doing that.
The more you understand and accept the rules of the game going in, the more fulfilling, rewarding, and peaceful your experience as an actor will be. Simply accept (instead of resist!) what comes with the territory and that your chances of being a major movie star are slim (But possible!). With this outlook, your chances of being a working actor increase greatly simply because your expectations are more realistic and you deal with things more professionally and with more personal power.
Practice non-attachment to your acting career. True yourself up to your commitment. Accept what comes along — then take the next step to keep moving forward.
If you want to get clearer about what you want from your acting career and your life, what you have to offer, consider having a coaching session with Melody. You will experience True Freedom, possibly in a way that you never have in your life — even if you’ve already had years of therapy! This will help you be much more focused and