There is nothing wrong in having a goal.
According to Wikipedia:
“Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years specifically for the purpose of keeping an audience's attention.”
Note where the quote says thousands of years, this thing we call “entertainment” has changed and developed through time, and you wanting to be a part of it can only lend to the colour, excitement and charm that this medium provides for everyone.
Of course, when starting your journey, you need all the help and support out there, but your passion and drive also are an important part.
Let me share a little story with you.
“When I was growing up I was sure that one day, I would tread the boards in Les Miserable, I was going to sing and dance my way into stage history, however , it wasn’t to be, the fact that I have two left feet, and my singing could frighten the birds, of course, had nothing to do it ! ( Who am I kidding !) – Just because, I didn’t manage to sing my way to stage or screen, my passion for the industry never changed. I just channelled it into other areas. This resulted in a 15 years carrier in radio and a 20 years carrier in voice over, that still goes on today.”
Now, I am not saying this is a magic remedy for everyone, it took a lot of hard work , passion and focus, my dad was convinced that I needed to know, how to be a secretary because there was no way entertainment was going to work. Thankfully he was wrong, but as I say it was my passion that kept me going, not only that, it was also about having the right mindset.
This business can be gruelling, there is a lot of rejection, a lot of times, you won’t get an answer from your audition. Being able to keep going is key. Now, I’m not saying all this to scare you, it’s just a simple reality, your mindset and your passion are just as important as your talent and experience.
A way to get focused can be to ask yourself some basic questions:
• What sort of acting do you want to ? E.g. Mainstream or Classic like Shakespeare ?
• Do you want to be in film or Television?
• Do you want to voice over acting ?
• How far are you willing to travel to do a regular acting job?
• Do you want to be a comedic actor, so doing improv or sketch work ?
Last, but by no means least, how about talking to people you know, they know you too, and can maybe give a perspective that you haven’t thought of, their thoughts may well help.
Something to remember; you will also make mistakes, we all do, the key is not to beat yourself up about the mistake but, learn from it, and take that knowledge forward with you as we said before, you are only human after all.
We will leave you with this thought;
“ Acting is really about having the courage to fail in front of other people.”
Adam Driver.
