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Acting is a wonderful but insane profession.

Saturday May 05, 2001.     By Joseph Bowen

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Acting is a wonderful but insane profession. Only someone who is a little off would do what actors do. Right? Well, yes and no. If you have an interest in treading the boards, there are a lot of things you need to know about being an actor before you decide to venture into the profession that terrifies so many parents. What does it take to succeed as an actor these days? There are quite a few things no one tells you that you need to know. Some of them are in your control, others aren't. To quote the orphans in Annie, "It's a hard-knock life".

If you're an actor these days, you know what I mean. You go to high school, and you do the school plays. This gets you bit by the acting bug. You move on to college with dreams of working in theatre, film and television. When you leave college, you're on your own, in the middle of the cruel professional world, and all of a sudden, you are expected to know everything. Sound familiar? If you graduated from college with a degree in theatre, you probably know what I'm talking about (and you probably also know what a BA in Theatre is really worth). This kind of situation is the reason so many actors leave the business for safer, more secure pastures. Very often, unless you're talking about schools like Yale Drama School, Julliard or NYU, a large number of theatre majors graduating with their bachelor's degrees are not in the business in ten years.

What can be done about it? Many things; some realistic, some not. First of all, here's what most undergraduate theatre programs don't teach you: when you get out of school, you are going to be attending auditions along side many more experienced actors, and it may be years before you get a paying theatre job. They also don't tell you the tools you need to succeed, among which include:

* A good headshot that LOOKS LIKE YOU and a neat, clear, and (I cannot stress this enough) HONEST resume. If you lie on your resume, you will probably get caught. Making your credentials sound as good as they can is not the same as lying. If you understudied a role and you performed it even once, you can put it on your resume that you understudied and performed the role, but do yourself the favor of being honest about your credentials. You never know when you'll be auditioning for someone who directed the show you say you were in.

* At least eight good monologues (a monologue is a speech from a play, preferably less than two minutes long) - four contemporary monologues (two dramatic and two comic) and four classical monologues (two dramatic and two comic). A classical monologue does not only mean Shakespeare; there are many more classical writers to choose from, such as Chekhov, Moliere, Marlowe, Shaw, and countless others). If you don't know how to find or rehearse a monologue, find a coach. There are many. Some important words of advice about monologues: First, try to avoid using monologue books. The monologues in those books are used by a lot of actors. Casting directors get really tired of hearing the same monologues all the time. Unless you can truly put an interesting spin (that's interesting, not bizarre) on a monologue that everyone does, don't do it. Second, by all means read the play the monologue is from. That is absolutely necessary. You cannot do justice to a monologue if you don't know the play. Also, if you're in an audition situation, the casting director most likely knows the play, and they will be able to tell that you don't know the play; and, if they question you about the play, it would be pretty embarrassing if you hadn't read it. Third, find out what the audition time limit is and adhere to it. If you find out you have only three minutes of audition time, don't go in with a five-minute monologue. A casting director can tell within the first 30 seconds whether they're going to be able to use you, so be careful not to labor under the assumption that the last line of your monologue will provide the sting the first several minutes could not.

* A lack of ego. Please be aware that the producers and directors you audition for have never heard of you. When you're in college, you're in your own little microcosm, very much like a repertory company. When you graduate from college, however, you are on your own. It's good to have confidence in your abilities, but you must be prepared to be humble and take the small roles. You have to know when to be a spear-carrier and when to turn it down. If you're fresh out of school, it would probably be in your best interest to take whatever comes along, but when you get more established, you need to be willing to turn things down if they don't further your career.

* Perspective. All actors face rejection. All actors audition a lot and don't get jobs. It is more important than anything else that you learn to put it in perspective. There are only so many jobs, and you can be the best actor that walks into the audition on a given day. That does not mean you will walk out with a job. Don't let that get to you. Pettiness is one of the things that can kill a potential career. It's also good to keep in mind that the only thing you can control in an audition situation is how well prepared you are. You can't make the casting director hire you if you're not what he/she has in mind. In most cases, the best you can hope for is that you feel you did the best you could do. Auditioning is sometimes the only chance you have to perform, so you need to feel as good about that as you can. It's all in the mind set. When you walk into the audition room, a casting director needs to see that you are confident (not cocky) and friendly (not gushy). If they offer to shake hands, do so, and if they talk to you, talk to them. Don't overdo it. Use your instincts.

* The knowledge that it is a BUSINESS. This cannot be stressed strongly enough. You are selling a product and Casting Directors and Agents are buying it. Just as in commerce, the law of supply and demand applies. All actors audition. There are never as many jobs as there are actors that want them. For example, when theatres have Equity auditions for a show, there are only so many Equity slots available, so Equity actors lose jobs to non-Equity actors. And non-Equity actors lose jobs to Equity actors. It's happened to everyone. Don't take it personally.

* A willingness to NOT join the unions right away. This is a problem that is quite prevalent. AFTRA is the only union you can join without meeting any entrance requirements. You simply pay the initiation fee and you are now a card-carrying member. SAG and Equity are more difficult to get into. Once you have met the requirements to join these unions, you are in, but beware of the pitfalls of union membership. One thing that many people do not think about is the reality behind the fact that you cannot work non-union again. If you are a member of Equity, for instance, and you are caught working in a non-union theatre, you can be penalized in whatever way the union sees fit, including possibly booting you out of the union. Many actors, when joining the union, need to be aware there will be less work available, particularly in those theatres that only hire one to two Equity actors per show. In Chicago, non-Equity theatres drastically outnumber the Equity houses. If you worked your way up through the ranks and you are now Equity, be aware that theatres that used to hire you when you were non-Equity may not be able to afford to hire you after you join the union. That's a sad reality, but it's an economic reality, nothing more. As a side note, there are several non-Equity houses that have recently moved to Equity CAT-N status primarily because long-time members of their companies have become Equity. CAT stands for Chicago Area Theatre – Chicago's homegrown Equity contract. CAT-N is the lowest level of this contract, allowing a producer to hire up to two Equity actors per show and not have to pay health insurance.

THE INTANGIBLES:

Centuries ago, actors were treated as social outcasts, they were jailed or even executed, just because they were actors. Well, at least they don't execute us anymore. Except for that, not a whole lot has changed. Actors have always been looked down upon as some sort of lazy minority who dare to challenge so-called "traditional values". Whatever that means. In many American families, it means that you are automatically a homosexual, a drug addict, incredibly irresponsible, or all of the above.

If you can manage to overcome all the pre-conceived notions about actors, you still have to deal with the fact that the people who run this country do not care about you. Look at the hits that the NEA has taken from a crop of conservatives who cannot stand to see anything other than Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals (not that there's anything wrong with Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, but it implies a sort of theatrical ignorance).

The reality of being an actor in today's society is that you will most likely need to have a survival job to support your acting habit. That's true, but it doesn't have to kill your spirit as a performer or tie you down. Most, if not all temporary agencies are known for hiring actors. If you decide to go for the benefits, avoid approaching a potential survival job with the idea that you've failed, because that may turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is possible to work in a job that has nothing to do with acting and still have the energy to pursue your career. It makes for long days, but it can be done. Just keep a sense of perspective and try not to let it get you down.

The most frustrating part of being an artist in the business world is when you run into people who have no concept of what you do or why you do it. Nor do they care. As long as you don't shatter their reality with yours, you are fine. The best thing to do is to try to stay away from people like that. Because you're not going to convince them they're wrong. There's nothing wrong with changing jobs if you need to do it to save your sanity.

True Story: an actor who happens to have some computer skills goes to a consulting firm for an interview. The job is a temporary consulting assignment on the help desk of a large Chicago corporation. The consulting company recruiter looks over the actor's technical resume and comments on the strength of his skills. As the interview is winding up, and the actor thinks he actually has the job, the interviewer asks if the actor has any questions or comments. The actor then tells the interviewer about his career choice, that he is looking for employment between acting jobs, and that there will occasionally be times when he will have auditions that will be in the middle of the day. The interviewer looks at the actor, winks and says, "well, we'll just keep that part of our discussion under our hats".

Things like that happen more often than not. And there's nothing we can do about it. The only thing we can do is to work in our creative pursuits when we can and try to change as many people as possible through those means.

NOW THAT YOU'RE COMPLETELY FRIGHTENED:

If all this sounds daunting, it is not intended. It is not meant to discourage anyone from the profession. On the contrary, it is meant purely to teach you what very few actors learned in college. You can have all the training in the world, but if you enter the world of professional acting unprepared, the sudden discovery of all these things are what can drive you from the business.

If you're going to be an actor, get the training, get the right materials, and keep your perspective. Get yourself an agent, audition a lot, read plays, and by all means, see lots of theatre. Seeing theatre is one of the best ways to learn.

Acting truly is a wonderful profession. If you are willing to work hard and are prepared for the reality that it is a very difficult life, and that you may never make a living from it, you can have quite a wonderful, fulfilling life. Being an actor means, among other things, touching part of the world that most people never get the chance to see. Actors get to play, to dream, and to have a chance at changing the world one audience at a time.

Break a leg!