The actor's world

"I’m not here to play by other people’s rules or to bend, twist, contort, and change myself to fit into some arbitrary box someone has thought up."

I’m an actor. It’s what I love and what I’m passionate about. I believe the acting industry to be a very difficult industry and profession to pursue for a few different reasons (difficult, but not impossible—impossible is not a limit I recognize or subscribe to). Most actors would probably agree with me that it is not an easy profession to pursue though each actor may have their own reasons for that belief.

I think the thing that makes this industry most difficult for me personally is the way the system is set up currently, I find it to be incredibly and frustratingly disempowering to actors (well for many people, but actors are often at the bottom of the decision making totem pole so disempowerment higher up almost always leads to higher likelihood of disempowerment further down). I feel there are many subjective limitations projected onto actors and I believe it is a system set up to try to force people into these neatly crafted boxes and preconceived categories. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on needing some kind of approval or validation from external sources to find success in your career. Actors are almost regularly called in some way to defer and give away their power and right to total autonomy over their careers to others to be granted better access to jobs. Simply, it is an industry fraught with perceived, imposed, and generally accepted limitations and fears.

Examples: Actors are often told they can’t/won’t get an agent or manager unless they have x amount of legit credits already, have studied with this person or at that studio, have produced their own quality project if they don’t have those credits etc. Can an actor book work without an agent or manager? Yes, but given the current setup, you must have an agent/manager to simply be submitted to 99% of the mainstream film and tv roles being cast—those roles are only released for agents and managers to submit their actors to. (Submitted meaning simply submitted for the CHANCE to be chosen to audition, not a guaranteed audition). That leaves many actors feeling they “need” an agent or manager and scrambling to try and impress or “prove their worth” to an agent/mgr.

But why do many agents and managers only want actors that have established credits already or studied with well-known acting teachers? Because somewhere along the line they were told or developed the belief that those actors are going to be more likely to book work and therefore make the agents/managers money. Being an agent or manager is just as difficult and risky as being an actor. If you weren’t aware, (legit) agents and managers don’t take payment upfront. They are only allowed to take a small percentage or commission of the acting work they helped you book by getting you the audition. So in an attempt to mitigate or reduce the risk of signing actors who potentially won’t book them work, therefore threatening their financial security, agents/mgrs often develop these requirements (limitations) they want actors to meet before they will consider signing an actor. In the name of “security” and reducing risk, they are often actually playing into and perpetuating the fear. They often try to guess what casting directors are looking for and sign those actors instead of signing people they believe in, regardless of credits or what they think casting is looking for. And when you start making decisions based on what you think someone else wants, would approve of, or is looking for, you’re really in trouble.

This is a cycle that often starts at the top and trickles down and it usually boils down to fear. Fear of taking a risk. The mainstream entertainment industry has found a “comfort zone” in its way of operating and many are afraid to deviate from it. But fear ultimately leads to stagnation. Sometimes the greatest things come from leaving your comfort zone and taking a risk.

I don’t believe in these limitations and fears constantly being projected onto me but the current system almost demands I subscribe to them and play by the established “rules” because “that’s how it is.” But fuck that lol. I’m not here to play by other people’s rules or to bend, twist, contort, and change myself to fit into some arbitrary box someone has thought up. It’s not my job to shrink myself to fit into someone else’s idea of what I should be. I’m not going to make myself into something I’m not or bend over backwards to try ease other people’s fears. I am who I am. I’m not going to mold myself so you can check off a box on your arbitrary checklist.

“Blonde Caucasian female in such and such age range” is not who I am. But if that’s all you’re looking for, that’s probably what you will find. In the process you’re going to miss all the things that make me or other actors unique, what makes us each uniquely human. Isn’t that what acting truly is? The portrayal of the human experience?

I am who I am. If you see that, if you see ME and want to take a risk on me maybe despite the fact I don’t have such and such credits or I didn’t go to this university or acting school, or whatever, I’ll be here doing my thing and I’m happy to collaborate with you or have you along for this ride.

No matter what, don’t be afraid to be YOU. Especially if you’re an artist of any kind. Write the script YOU want to write, direct the projects YOU want to direct. Don’t let the fear of what others may think, how or if your work will be received, or if it will be a financial success dim your work or alter the story you want to tell. When you decide what you want (and truly believe it can happen) all the universe conspires to make it happen. Get out there and make some magic!