Wrong Advice Till Now | How Can I Start My Acting Career?

Ignorant of acting techniques and rejections

I HAD BEEN GIVEN WRONG ADVICE TILL NOW

How truly can I start my career as an actor?

Getting started as an actor isn't that hard. It is one of the few jobs where you can actually just declare yourself an actor, even before you get your first audition or job. People do it all the time.

But, becoming successful as an actor is one of the hardest things you can attempt, with absolutely no guarantee of any kind. This business is the most unstable and volatile in the world - the best actor doesn't always get the part, and it's so much is beyond your control that you have to be willing to be rejected on a daily basis.

I tell actors about my own journey when I coach them on how to be successful in this business, and it has happened specifically because I approach this as a business, and I've become really good at three things: the art, the marketing / promotion and the technical aspects of acting. If you don't develop expertise in skills in all three areas, your chances for success rapidly disappear.

Part 1.

The first part of  my answer is to become an expert at the art of acting: get the best training. As a beginner or if a working actor and want to improve the above 3 areas do it if you love being in school, but if you want to get moving, don't waste four years at any college or university. Initially, better join a good acting coach who is an actor him/herself

Live life. Get your heart broken. Enjoy successes and failures. Learn to Suffer with the rejections. Be elated when you win.

Live...life. You'll need it as an actor.

Once you complete private one on one training, and then if required, join a school for learning how to work with a group, or for developing networking, you go for projects that will give you experience: student films, teasers (trailers), short films, art films, theater, web series, small commercials ads and more. Each of these will give you experience in the art of acting.

But that's just the first part.

There are two more parts you need to get started.

Part 2. 

The second part of my answer is that you must become an expert at the marketing and promotion of acting: as an actor, you are a product among thousands and therefore and if you want film industry should know and use you, you have to market and promote yourself.  And if you don't have business training, find the right acting coach who can help you create the business structure you need.

Any actor you admire, that is well known and successful, is not only a good actor, but also a good businessperson, without exception. They treat their careers the way a lawyer or doctor nurtures their practice. They have a brand, a product (their ability to tell stories), customers (casting directors, directors, producers etc) and they know how to get their customers' orders. They know how to market themselves (get auditions), they know how to sell themselves (audition techniques), and they know how to collect their money and hire salespeople (artist coordinators and agents) to bring them more business.

The above planning will start initially with:

A. Goal setting
B. Marketing plan
C. Plan of action

All of this will give you experience in the marketing and promotion of acting.

But that's still not all you need.

There's one more area to explore to get started.

Part 3. 

The part of my answer is that you must master the science and technical part of acting: become expert in the technology you need to understand and use in the pursuit of your acting career.

This mastery of the science and technology includes creating the perfect profile for audition and websites and grooming those profiles as you gain more work and experience. It includes mastering communications using the Internet, email, social media and more. The technical part means understanding how cameras, lights, microphones, makeup, costumes, your voice, your face, your actions, and all other components combine to tell a story on film or video. It means, to help you to  deliver the best performance you can by knowing your lines and being completely convincing.

This acting business in Bollywood, International Cinema, and TV world has changed drastically toward a less conservative to an almost completely digital world, and you need to be not only aware of those changes, but know how and when to take advantage of new technology and processes.

All of this will give you experience in the science and technicalities  of acting.

The Final Thing

As an actor, you have to love it. You have to want it. You have to be willing to put a lot of work into it, and to remember will be rejected because you're too old, or too young, or too tall, or too short, or too plain, or too hot, or too creepy or...the list never ends. To hell with it! Move on. If you can't do that, you're in trouble before you begin. If you love being a storyteller, and can handle it when you find out you didn't get the part because of XYZ,  you're in much better shape.

I do hope this helps. And I hope you do get started. And I hope that you love your life as an actor as much as I love mine as an acting coach and as a character actor. If you need help, get in touch. I love helping fellow actors maximize their chances of being a successful actor with a name and fame.