You’re wondering why you’re not getting auditions or booking roles. You want to be a working actor. You know you’re talented and feel like you deserve to be seen and appreciated– to get auditions and to be cast. You long to be hired to do what you were born and trained to do. What else could you even imagine? Your expectation is legitimate. And noble. But the business just doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t recognize talent by itself, at least not quickly. It won’t come and find you, and it won’t celebrate (or often hire) you unless you’ve done work that gets rave reviews in a hit show or festival movie or becomes a YouTube sensation. Even then, you might not get the attention of the “decision-makers.” And, when you do, your popularity will likely fade quickly as a new flashier star attracts them with even shinier brilliance. Then you’re back to square one.

The truth (and this may be hard to hear) is that actors keep getting cast because they have credits and because casting folk, producers, directors, and executives have seen them a bunch of times. Casting them feels safe and easy. And perhaps it will attract audiences, which is what producers and studios desperately need. Casting actors who have reels of recognizable work and great credits, who’ve recently appeared on several Netflix shows, or who’ve been the lead in a celebrated indie at a festival, or who they’ve just seen over and over for years… well, they know what they’re getting; there are no uncertainties- they think. They have some fantastical idea that some of those actors’ distinction (or credibility) will rub off on their shows and films, that audiences will watch, and their products will have a better shot at ratings or box office.

But you… You’re slaving away at your day (or night) job and taking class- which is fantastic- and doing plays- which is fantastic- and having coffee with friends, talking about making work- which is also fantastic. But you are not penetrating the seemingly unyielding ceiling of the Industry. You’re not grabbing the attention of the decision-makers. It’s not that you’re not special. You’re still as damn special as you were when you got raves for that amazing work in that play. But you’re not breaking through the din of the thousands of wonderful actors slaving right by your side – and you’ve got to do something about that. So… What’s the answer?

You have to be doing continuously amazing work on stage (where people will see you) and you have to be willing to do that for a long time. You have to be in the work as an actor however and whenever you can. More immediately, you have to have strong work on film. These days, having that piece of remarkable footage can be a game-changer. It’s one of the things that grabs the attention of agents and managers, casting directors and executives, showrunners and filmmakers. A great clip that reveals your immense talent can open doors. But it has to be spectacular. I have heard 3 heads of networks say in a room: “All I need is 2 minutes of magic and I’m sold.” (Well, one exec said exactly that, and the others something very similar).

If you don’t have the footage (and even if you have a few great clips from shows in which you’ve guest starred) you have to make something. You have to find other people to help you make it. You have to create until your unmitigated talent is on screen. You have to keep doing that until you’ve captured something brilliant.

Moreover you’ve got to get out of the mindset of- and stop defining yourself as- a non-working actor, and become a working actor. Because you are working. Meaning- you’re making shit. You’re writing and producing work. You’re a student of it with a voracious appetite. You’re collaborating with people who are better than you and more accomplished than you, who elevate you and bring you to a place where you are doing work you didn’t even know you were capable of (and you thought you were pretty capable).

You have to get yourself to a place where you are acting like a beast, where you are at the top of your game– a fierce, athletic competitor in your field. Where you turn that rush of need into work– whatever it takes for you to do that and get out of the mindset of, “I’m not one of those (successful-working-lucky actors), I’m one of those (waiting-dreaming-tortured) actors.” You cannot wait for something to happen. You cannot put your talent and desire into the hands of people who are running right past you, chasing the next shiny star or the tried and true.

Quick recent story. I was working on a show- not that long ago- where the perfect guy for the part (in my opinion) was David Harbour. I advocated hard for him. He self-taped. He was ready to work for the (low) money we were offering. He was willing to come to LA to do the role for a few months, mostly on his own dime. (He lives in NY.) But the folks making the decision just didn’t see him as sexy enough. We moved on. He certainly moved on. He has been doing just fine. Recently someone with whom I’d worked on that show said: “How come we never considered David Harbour? He’d have been so great.”

David didn’t wait around for us. He kept working, doing what he loved or what would pay, and in that, he landed the role (Hopper in Stranger Things) that was his game-changer. But it took decades of work. He wasn’t the shiny star; he was the constant. And then he was named a “breakout star” after years and years of work. He became shiny. And he just keeps plugging away. He still goes to class in between jobs, he still does readings of new works, keeping himself creatively engaged, however he can. Because for him, it’s about doing the work, all the time. He says: “If you’re an artist, be a workaholic.” He is an artistic beast.

We say it over and over and over again, but it merits saying again: You have to step up and show artistic leadership. You must climb to the mountaintop (which can take decades); in fact, you have to create the mountaintop. Before you know it, you’re standing there with worth and dignity, with creative force and artistic power. And you become undeniable in the eyes of everyone– because you are standing on this mountaintop of your own invention and they are looking up. They see a working actor. A force. They are pulled to you, to your “shiny star.” And if, as with David Harbour, it takes 20 years for them to call you a “breakout star” and pay you what you’re worth, you’re okay with that. Your work is solid, your talent is secure. You’re doing the work of a working actor, work that means everything to you. And you’ve got enough artistic weight to do just about anything.

Join us in doing the work of a working actor. Here is your Revolutionary Acting Training at BGB!

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