8 Things Actors Should Know About Not Waiting for Permission
Drawn from what is actually said on camera, so you can decide whether to
spend the 5:47 watching it.
You are an actor as soon as you decide you are
She has students say it out loud in class, because so many keep it a private and slightly embarrassed thing. The alternative is waiting for external confirmation of something nobody else is in a position to confirm.
Get a great agent and you will still be sitting there wondering why you are not working. There is no achievement in this business that arrives and settles the question, which is worth knowing before you organize years around chasing one.
What have I seen you in is not a test you can fail
You may not have worked yet. You may have done student films and independent projects that never gave you the footage. None of that is a verdict on whether the description applies to you.
Write something for yourself, write something for a friend, have a friend write something for you, get a few people together and shoot it. The idea you have already had is the one to start with.
The industry actively looks there for new people, and she is candid that some of those getting opportunities are extremely talented and some are not. Either way it is a route that exists, and it does not require anyone's permission.
Affleck and Damon wrote Good Will Hunting and won for it, and wrote an Oscar-winning role for Robin Williams while they were at it. Issa Rae started Insecure as a web series that HBO bought, and now creates and produces for other people as well as herself.
Something you make may never get off the ground and it still leaves you a better actor who understands the business and can sell an idea. Everyone making films and series started with nothing, including the ones whose parents were already in it.
Her recurring suggestion. Take sides and work them properly purely for the practice. It removes the last excuse in the sentence that begins when I get the audition, then I will, which is a sentence you may be saying for a very long time.
Don't wait for Hollywood to tell you you're an actor. [Music] You're already an actor. You're already as soon as you decide it's what you want, you can claim it. Sometimes I will have my actors say out loud, "I am an actor." Because I think so many of them keep it hidden, their hidden secretive thing. They don't want to put it out there so that they're not ridiculed. Forget about those people. You're an actor. And there is nothing that Hollywood is going to do that is going to make you think you're an actor. You get a great agent, fantastic. You're still going to feel like, well, what's happening? I'm not working. People will oftentimes say, oh, you're an actor.
what I what have I seen you in? Maybe you haven't worked yet. Maybe you haven't had a job yet. Maybe you're still doing small independent films or student films where they won't give you the footage. You're an actor and you can make your own content. I would encourage you to keep up with your creativity always. You've got an idea for something, go shoot it. Get a couple of friends together. Write something. whatever it is that you're you're interested in. Write something for yourself. Write something for your friend.
Have your friend write something for you. Get involved in creating something on social media. That is a pipeline nowadays to getting work and to doing things. Hollywood is looking at social media to find their next stars, to find their next actors. I work with a lot of people. Some are incredibly talented. Some are not, but they're still getting opportunities. get into a class. I've got classes. I've got wonderful classes. You can join us online as well. But maybe you've got a class that you like and you're enjoying.
Great. You work on bettering yourself, improving yourself, seeing what else you can do. There is no need to wait. Nobody is going to take out their magic wand and tell you, "You are now an actor. We shall give you a career." A couple of great examples of actors who didn't wait for Hollywood to hand them a career and went out and made it themselves. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon writing Goodwill Hunting, winning an Academy Award for themselves as writers and for Robin Williams. Well, he earned his own one, but they wrote him an Academy Award-winning role in Goodwill Hunting. They made that happen. And maybe you say, "Well, that was a long time ago, Shannon. It doesn't work like that anymore. Issa Ray again, maybe a little while ago, but with Insecure, how it started online, how she started doing this as a web series and how that took off and got bought by HBO and she got to create it, produce it, and now she is a powerhouse in writing and creating things, not just for herself, but for other people some of the things that she produces. Now, you might create something fantastic and maybe it doesn't get off the ground, but everything that you do makes you a better actor, makes you understand the business better, helps you to be able to sell things.
Everybody who's creating a movie, a television series, started with nothing at some point. Even if they had famous in the business parents already, they still had to prove themselves. So, don't wait. Don't sit back and say, "Well, when I get the audition, then I'll fill in the blank." You might be waiting a long time. It might be a very long time. So, don't wait. Even something as I suggest this quite often, do auditions just for yourself, just so you can get practice. Anything that you do, class, that helps you to not wait. And then if you have an idea, start writing it. If you have an idea, get some friends together, see what they think of it. Maybe you can shoot it. I I read scripts from my students all the time.
Mostly they're really wonderful. Every once in a while, I'm like, but and they're usually to showcase themselves. That's great. Why not? I've got some that I think are really going to end up being something. I produced some films that my students wrote and starred in. So, you can do this. You can. Nobody else is going to give you permission. You got to step up and take that risk. But you've already decided you're an actor. It's a risky proposition.
You're already putting yourself out there. So, keep putting yourself out there and have fun. This is a fun business. If you're not having fun, why have some fun even in writing these painful wonderful mo like have some fun. It feels good to reach out and touch somebody else with your art. And that's what you get to do as an actor. When you are ready to do what you came here for, please join us for a class in person or online. And until then, keep watching my videos. Like, comment, subscribe, send me a link to some of your content, and I'll see you next week. Did I leave anything out? I feel like I All right, we're cutting. [Music]
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