How To Get Paid Acting Work With Just A Little Effort

1. Be born with talent.
2. Practise your skills.
3. Be lucky.
4. Make your own luck by practising your skills perhaps by getting professional training.
5. Be lucky.
6. Watch and learn from other professional performers; i.e. go to the theatre, cinema or watch television.
7. Practise your skills.
8. Do not watch X-Factor.
9. Make more of your own luck by networking; be friendly and approachable without being sycophantic. (But don’t network for the sake of it – that’s sad. Go to events that interest you.)
10. Read plays, scripts and books about acting.
11. Practise Learn a new skill.
12. Remember you don’t have to sit by the phone all day waiting for your agent to ring: you can take your phone out with you but do turn it off in the theatre.
13. Be lucky by going to skills refreshing workshops.
14. When you do get a casting or audition be prepared, on time and lucky.
15. Don’t bitch.
16. Practise.
17. Be in the right place at the right time.

SKILLS  According to most advice sites and workshop tutors a few minutes a day is all you need to spend to hone your essential skills.  I reckon a few minutes means half an hour to include preparations.

1. 30 minutes vocal warm-up.
2. 30 minutes physical warm up.
3. 30 minutes going over your six contrasting audition pieces. (Plus learn a new one each week to practise line acquiring techniques.
4. 30 minutes meditation to keep you calm and focussed.
5. 30 minutes aerobic exercise such as running round the park.
6. 30 minutes with weights to tone your body.
7. 30 minutes face pack or exfoliating or tweezering or general appearance maintenance.
8. 30 minutes practising scales if a singer, musician or weight-lifter.
9. 30 minutes juggling to increase dexterity.
10. 30 minutes steaming to lubricate your vocal chords.
11. 30 minutes writing your blog to keep your profile high in the minds of others in the business.
12. 30 minutes chopping raw vegetables so you can snack without guilt later.

So, that’s only six hours a day.  As I have always said:  Acting is easy – it’s getting the job that’s the challenge.