The new year is a glorious time to start fresh and improve upon the things you let fall by the wayside in the previous months. Take any of these simple resolutions and get to work!
1. Go back to basics and get in an acting class. Clear your head of all the audition noise and remind yourself why you love the art by getting some solid scene work done.
2. Become comfortable with your type. Wouldn’t it be great if we were all devastatingly good looking? Well, we’re not (OK, some of you are, but you know what I mean) The sooner you are OK with your type, the sooner you can start selling it effectively and book more work. Besides, even as an average looking actor, you are still better looking than 95% of the people you went to high school with.
3. Start writing a project for yourself. A play, Web series, or even a movie. It might be terrible, but then again, it might be “Rocky” or “Good Will Hunting.”
4. Forgive yourself for not being famous yet. Everyone gets into this business with stars in our eyes, but there are varying degrees of success, and your version might (and should) be different from someone else’s.
5. Get healthier. Maybe you need to lose weight, maybe you need to gain weight, maybe your need more veggies in your diet. Whatever it is your body has been trying to tell you, start listening.
6. Start going to more theater. Yes, Broadway is mind-numbingly expensive, but you probably have at least one friend in a show at some 99-seat theater this weekend. Go!
7. Retire your old stand-by audition material. Yes, you know it backwards and forwards, but that’s the problem. Get some new material that you can play with and get inspired.
8. Find a serious hobby that has nothing to do with acting. Take up surfing, hiking, running, model building, or the violin. Whatever it is, attack it passionately and don’t worry about what it has to do with your acting career. The most interesting actors have interesting lives.
9. Stop trying to please everyone in the audition room and make bold choices. Sometimes they are going to be wrong, but they will be more interesting than everyone else that came in and played it safe. That is not to say you should act like a maniac, but you should not be afraid to make a choice and run with it.
10. Develop a business plan. Unless you are operating your acting career like a CEO, you’re behind the curve and missing out. Realize that you are a product and someone wants to purchase that product. How do the two of you get connected?
11. Reformat your résumé. This seems very simple, but CDs have seen countless résumés, and most of them look terrible. Do some research on page layout and make your résumé stand out.
12. Love yourself and your performance. If you can’t, how can anyone else?
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