When You Feel Like Giving Up…

This business is hard. There’s no business like show business. I mean how many other careers do you have to interview for multiple jobs a week until you finally land one and then after you wrap, you go BACK to the audition grind *ahem* interview grind until you hit again? This is not for the faint of heart. We need thick skin, perseverance and drive.

What about those times when it just gets to you? You’ve sent in what feels like a million tapes with no response? You have been on hold for the same procedural 10 times and always get released? You heard Brad Pitt got discovered at an El Pollo Loco and despite your loitering in front of that fast food chain, you have yet to be discovered?

How to Renew Drive to Become an Actor

Here are some practical ways to get your head back in the game and out of this funk.

#1: Remember why you started

Try and pinpoint a moment when you felt so alive doing what you do. Think about that scene you did in class where you flawlessly connected with the character, think about that on set experience when you absolutely fell in love with this industry. Remind yourself of your “why”, it may be exactly what you need.

#2: Find an inspirational partner

Someone who gets the industry, understands the highs and lows and become each other’s cheerleaders. Your acting community of artists is a crucial part of your success. So when you’re down, let them give you the encouragement to stick with it.

#3: Recap your wins

When you chase the artistry and the craft your eyes will be open to all of the forms a “win” can come in, big and small. I recently had a conversation with a student who said “I’m just waiting for my “yes!”. My response is, if you really take inventory of all the progress you make as you pursue this career (and you have to really pursue it with reckless abandon, passionately and fervently!) you’ll see the “yes’s” is all around you. Getting connected with the right training program– YES! Finding that acting colleague who will always be your reader and sounding board-YES! That audition that you absolutely killed-YES! That breakthrough you had in class-YES!

Let’s always remember that the best actors love the craft, not the results. You are more than the number of auditions you go on, you are more than the times you book. You are more than the number of tacos Brad Pitt ate when he was just a random customer. Just keep moving forward, the only sure fire way to fail is to quit. We believe in you!