In's and Out's of Acting

A Word from MD

What are the ins?

The journey from early days of training, where the excitement is truly wonderful, meeting other young actors like yourself, learning the craft. Developing friendships, starting to understand yourself as a human being, your strengths and your weaknesses. Also, putting yourself up in front of other actors, you start to believe in yourself.

You can’t believe you performed that role and scene with full commitment, even surprising yourself. You start to think you can do this. You start to challenge yourself by auditioning for short f ilms, and you get cast. Slowly moving up the ladder of the acting world, you put a showreel together. This is all done in the first 3 to 5 years of your journey. Then you seek representation, you find an agent, you get signed. Then the real journey begins. You figure you’ve been doing this for 5 years or so, and you deserve the work. Next thing.

Outs of the business. You keep training, keep hustling. You feel like you’re going uphill, starting from where you began. This is where the fight begins. This is when the difference of success holds itself. You let a part of the business destroy you, or you are in part of the business because this is in your soul. This is what you want. Many actors come to IA expecting rewards as soon as 5 years. Well, the business for most actors doesn’t really get going until about 5 to 10 years. That is the ins of the business.

If you expect the business owes you something, then expect to be on the outs of the business. The business is a marathon, not a sprint.

MD