Need a little inspiration? Our Backstage Experts are full of amazing advice to help move your career forward, and we wouldn’t want you to miss one drop of it. Here are five tips to keep in mind during the week ahead!
Act for acting’s sake.
“If you’re only an actor for the money, validation, attention, or glamour, get out now. It’s not for you. It’s an art form, not a strategy for wealth creation, or stardom. Excellence in the art form itself must be your motivation. People in our industry want to work with the best artists, not those who want success the most.” —Shaan Sharma
Always ask why.
“It might be a little scary to ask that big why. You may even cry or get frustrated when you work out the why, because it is that compelling and energizing. That’s OK, but it’s important that you have identified it and know it. In fact, knowing it may be so compelling that it is hard to forget it. You can then lean on it when projects become hard or when life becomes challenging. If we can find and define that inner fire—that inner drive—for ourselves, we can move ourselves to greatness, and most importantly, find immense satisfaction in everything that we do.” —Douglas Taurel
Don’t try and please anyone in the audition room.
“Don’t go in there to try to suck up or to please someone. Don’t even care if they like you. Go in there to amuse yourself. Once you are just enjoying trying to play and discover and create, you will have set yourself up for the best thing you can do as an actor: to be spontaneous! That is what wins auditions.” —Cathryn Hartt
Rediscover your artistry.
“you have to create daily and weekly rituals where you can turn inward, reconnect with your joy and your creativity, and get emotionally open and in the kind of shape you need to book work as an actor. You have to figure out who you are and what you want. You have to fall in love with the creative process—to get back to what you loved about acting in the first place.” —Risa Bramon Garcia and Steve Braun
Understand the importance of flexibility.
“There are a range of factors which can be unexpected or adjusted in the room which you can’t control, and which could potentially throw you from how you felt when rehearsing the scene on the phone with your Mom—whether they have you sitting down or standing up, whether the reader is close or far or male or female. If you aren’t malleable, you’re not going to be able to survive.” —Joseph Pearlman
Like this advice? Check out more from our Backstage Experts!
