So, you want to be an actor or actress?
10 Rules for YOUR success
Audio files in three parts
1. Trust your instincts
At last, after months and months of waiting and hoping for an opportunity, ANY opportunity, luck is finally on your side. You get the offer. The big movie role! You made it! This is it, your big break, your great opportunity. This is the beginning of something magical. And that wonderful, healthy paycheque you were dreaming about is yours for the taking.
Yes, this is it … but you have a bad feeling about this. Because somehow, something feels weird, strange. If it feels strange to you, than very likely something is off in real life. Trust your instincts!
Here are some warning signs: The producer or the director has lied to you. The production feels unprofessional. Bad vibes. People are fighting each other from the outset.
So, what should you do? Trust your instincts. Don’t do it. Don’t get involved. Yes, i know, the money, the fear of losing important connections, losing a job. Not an easy choice.
But, the film industry is full of predators. People, who will try to steal your time, your money and your work. Maybe even your sanity. And don’t even ask me what they stole from that nice girl Virginia. Protect yourself! Don’t get involved with shady people.
2. Your health is the most important thing.
Life is stressful. Working in the entertainment business is even more stressful. Don’t do the project if your physical or mental health is poor. Again, yes I know, the money …
But ask yourself the following question: If you are in bad health, will your work be good or bad in stressful situations? What about your health on a longer project? Will you be able to be on top of your game? How good will your performance be? And yes, people are watching you – and judging you. And how will your body or your mind react, if something goes wrong – delays, long hours, a demanding production?
Will the team your are working with be happy, if you bring the whole production down or slow things down? And what if the additional stress worsens your condition? What then?
One day, even the most exciting project will end and so will your role in it. We all pay a price for our work, but remember: It is your life and it is your body. Treat both of them well. You deserve it.
And yes, I mean that.
3. Sleep
No, not on set. At home, in the hotel, on the plane, in the trailer, everywhere you can. As long as you can. This is how it always starts. On the first day, energy levels are high, hormones are flying high, everyone is happy that this thing is moving at last. So you burn energy. No need for energy conservation, everything is great. Hell, everything will be great, right?
Next day, next day, next day … energy, what energy? Everyone looks older suddenly. You start looking for chairs, anything else just to sit down. Quite a day today, isn’t it?. Though day.
Here is the truth, in the last nights, you didn’t sleep all that well. Your head was full of emotions, new people, new circumstances. And you did stay up late. Some fun, right? Nothing wrong with this.
You can have your fun. You should have your fun. But again, this is what separates a professional from an amateur. A professional can channel all of his energy on set, in these precious minutes, that really count. Those minutes, that will make the difference between good and great. Mediocre and gold. This is where your energy should be focused. This is why they hired you. This is what you dreamed about.
Every soldier learns this early on. If you can, sleep. Anywhere. Your life may depend on your energy the next day.
Come on, let us dream. You are on set. You radiate energy. Gravitas. Aura. Your energy feeds your fellow actors. That performance? Your performance? Radiant! Brilliant! Gold!
Now, do it again. And you can do it, because you have the energy to do it.
4. Food
I know what you are thinking. You think, I will tell you about the importance of a clean diet, eating healthy and all the rest of the usual stuff. Well, no. Sure it would be better maybe even healthier than the more realistic diet of Red Bull, pizza and burgers. But no, this is not about this topic.
It is about your food allergies. Tell us. Tell us as early as possible. Don’t try to be nice by saying ‘Oh, I don’t want to be a burden’. Your food allergies are important. We want you to be healthy on our set. We want you do survive. (Side note: I am not speaking for the director here.) We don’t want you spending all the day in the sick room or in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. And don’t forget, if you are in the hospital you will have to eat their food, so think twice about it.
So, tell us. Okay, time for pizza now. And can I have another Red Bull?
5. Show up
Life happens. Things do go wrong, people get sick, your car is not working, you have trouble with your significant other and the cat is no longer speaking with you. You may even have forgotten that you are getting married today and just this morning your butler (James the Second, handsome and always sooo reliable) did hand in his resignation on a silver platter. And he did mess up your toast. Again!
You realize one thing: There is no chance on earth you will make it to the set today.
If you can’t make it, inform the production team as soon as possible. A lot of people work on a movie set, they will not be happy if the production is forced to stand still. You may not be the lead actor, maybe your role is just the seventh clown on the right-hand side of the stage, but other people depend on you.
There is also the little additional problem that every delay costs money. It may sound strange, but some people get a little bit cross when they lose money. Shocking, right? People who lose money tend to lose their cool and start heated arguments. Red faces, shouted insults, a broken teacup. In short, it is not pretty. People raise their voices, vases fly high, morale goes down.
So, do your job. Show up. Or at least phone up.
(As a last desperate attempt use carrier pigeons, send your dog with a letter – with or without the appropriate stamps, send a telegram, tell Polly your trusted parrot from childhood day to fly to the production office and deliver your message in the form of an artistic interpretation dance performance. JUST DO SOMETHING! Let them know you are not coming.)
6. Show up – on time
If the production assistant tells you to show up at 9 o’clock, that means show up READY at 9 o’clock. Ready, means, body, mind and spirit combined in a more or less coherent person. Yes, you already had your coffee, your truffled omelette or whatever else you need in the morning. You look nice, your hair is done and so is your makeup. People can talk to you and you are mentally capable of understanding them. Your internal energy deposit is loaded up and you are ready for war, sorry I mean for the set.
Or, and believe me, this happens, and it better should not be you…
… morning meeting, 9.20, suddenly some shouting in the background, you, out of breath, coffee in your hand storm on set, your hair looks like you had a role in the nice movie “Twister”, and before anyone can say something, you blur out: Sorry, I am late.
Yeah, we know. Trust me, we noticed. All of us.
And we don´t care for your good reasons, WHY you are late. And don’t ask, if you have missed something important. Yeah, probably. You know, meeting and stuff.
It all boils down to one question: Are you a professional? If you want to be a professional and be treated like one, than you have to behave like a professional.
That means: Show up – on time.
7. We have to know, where you are
Set hours are long and – to speak the truth – can be incredibly boring. Set up, lighting, some poor guy trying to fix something and equipment that will not work. All because a daemon with very bad mood swings moved in the night before. And now he plans to live in the damn thing. Not for long, just for the next few weeks or preferable exactly the span of time, we need the equipment for our movie. I am not joking. My personal opinion is, that every production should hire a good magician, to banish all these little daemons that seem to exist. Especially on film sets. (I am willing to debate you on this topic any time, day or night. Preferable with a couple of beers. And on a sandy beach. Yeah, that sounds great. Just hit me up.)
So people tend to wander. Wander away. Gone. Vanished. With their cell phones. And with the other actress. You know, the good looking one. No, the other one. Hey, I get it. Boring, nothing moves, nothing works. Who cares if you slip away for a few minutes or longer.
What a happy film set we are! Poor assistants running around, yelling names. Have you seen …? Where is …? Has someone the mobile phone number of …?
Don’t be that person. If you want to get away for a few minutes, tell us. Preferable, tell multiple people, so at least someone can remember.
And remember that magician? Well, we hired one. And he can do nasty things to people. Trust me, you don´t want that.
8. Quite, please
Here is a nice little test question: Remember, just a few sentences before, when I mentioned, waiting on a movie set can be incredible boring? Yes? You do remember? Very good. Here, have a cookie. See, that was one of my tried-and-tested ways of cheering you up.
But anyway, what I really wanted to say is…. Nothing. That’s right. Nothing. Because we all should be very, very quite on the set. The incredible funny joke you want to tell us, for the third time since breakfast, tell the joke later. Not on set. Your cell phone is not working, therefore you have to have your conversation with your Aunt Adele, who has regrettable this little hearing problem, in the form of a shouting conversation. Which means you yell, roughly in the direction of north-by-northwest, and hope for the best. Have this conversation later. Not on set. To relax between takes, you like to listen to music, sure with headphones, but you are such an artistic soul that you have to sing along to the songs … Please don’t. And by the way, what on earth are you listening to? Bee Gees? Never heard of them. Maybe one of those indie bands, I don´t care.
But why, you ask? Why should I be quiet on set? Thank you for your question. It would have been even better, if you would have whispered it to me. So, let me answer; yes I am whispering too. Can you hear me? Yes?
See all these man with this strange recording devices? Yes? So, these guys are recording sound. At least, that´s what they tell us, they are doing. I hope that´s all they are doing. And they need clear recordings. Without laughter, shouting or singing in the background. Even without your lovely voice.
We also have to consider those poor souls who will have to watch the film later. Some of them even paid for it. Maybe they never heard your joke before and might appreciate the punch line, but maybe, they would prefer just the actors talking. Perhaps, in an incredible stroke of luck, your Aunt Adele bought a ticket for the film and is smiling now because, for the first time in a year, she can hear your voice loud and clear. The chances of this are slim, to be honest.
So, best for all of us, even for your aunt in the long run, be very, very quite on set. Thank you. There, have another cookie.
9. Don´t stink
People always laugh about this. It is funny, right? But the reality is, that we work long hours. Long, long hours. With high intensity, we give everything we have. All of our energy. So, after a couple of hours — well, you guessed it. And all these lights can get quite hot, too. If you can, try to freshen up during your short break. Your dog will always love you, regardless of your personal hygiene. People, well, we are different.
10. Be kind
We’re almost finished now — such a long list! Just one more topic. Artists, are, well how can I put it … sensitive people. Nice people, creative people, crazy people, funny people. It is true, some of us have big egos. But many of us are also quite vulnerable. It hurts, the insecurity, the daily grind, all that hope and dreams for the future, the fear of the future and the dark thoughts at midnight. So, as I said, we are sometimes a bit special. Nothing wrong with it.
Point is, we are not alone on set. We are not the only ones with problems, or fears. You see me smile, but you don´t know I feel. Likewise, I see you smile, but I don´t know how you feel. After all, we can act.
o, what should we do? How about this: Be kind to your peers. Avoid the usual ‘How are you?’ Don’t give them that fake smile you do so well. Look at them, observe them, and keep an open mind. If you see someone struggling, talk to them. Listen to them. Give them some of your time.
Star or not. Important or not important, we are all people. And maybe, just to try out something different and new, we could try to be kind to one another.
That’s all I wanted to say.
Sorry for the long message — I just felt it was important.
What now? Well, I am busy, I have to speak to my cat. And ask James, my butler, to come back. Please, James, please …
