Doomed to Failure

Sometimes I cannot believe it is happening.  Aspiring actors from all over the world, of all ages and of both genders write and do things that doom them to failure as actors.  Just recently, for example, I had spent a month or so corresponding with a young lady who wanted to audition for my free acting lessons. She understood that I only teach students who I believe have a chance of becoming professional actors.  A high school student, she postponed her audition until school was out.  She assured me how serious she was about acting and so I made an appointment for her to audition.   When I talked to her and her father on the phone, they both said they would be at the audition. Come the day of her appointment and she does not show up! No phone call, just a no show.  I cannot stress how important it is for anyone under 18 to get their parents on board about their acting career.  If they do not, they cannot possibly become actors. No matter what scared her away from her audition, she should have called to say she could not make it. By not showing she is doomed to fail. The professsional word has no time to waste on such behavior.

Another behavior that I hear about all the time is the aspiring actor who has an interview at a talent agency but does not know what to say when they get there. These people are all inexperienced, have read nothing about acting as a career, and have never been in a play. They always ask me how to dress, what to say, do they need a monologue, what monologue should they do, etc, etc, etc.  They never tell me the name of the agency and in many cases I can tell it is one of the scam agencies  and they are walking into a trap.  They know nothing about acting and so they are doomed to fail or worse to be scammed out of hundreds of dollars. Just telling me the name of the agency could make the difference for them.

Related to these people are the scores of those who write me and ask me to tell them the name of an agent who would represent them.  These uninformed writers are those who believe the myth that agents make people into stars.  I  never answer these with the information they desire.  These usually are those who have never acted but know that they are greatly talented, or those whose  friends and family say that they should be actors.  Somehow it never occurs to these people that they should be in a school or community theater play. So I tell them to do that and hope they are not too much trouble for the directors of such plays as they may audition for.

Well, it is a sad thing. The more I deal with aspiring actors, the more I am aware that almost none of them, and there are thousands of them, will ever make it.  They are doomed to fail if not by such behaviors as those above, by just not having what it takes.  It is not easy. There is no step by step formula to becoming an actor. There is no magic secret nor boost that will advance them to the next level (whatever that is).  It does not rely on luck. Those who believe such things join those that fail.

To become an actor, one must act.  Make sure you have been in enough plays that there is some indication that you have ability.  Then, if you have the other qualifications, you may not be doomed.