Tag Archives: acting career

Why The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Acting Career Is To Quit

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acting tips, acting career, acting, advice, book, how to be a successful actor, quit, Catherine BalavageI know what you are thinking: what? That makes no sense. But bear with me. I have been acting for a long time. Since I was a teenager and in that time I have had some amazing parts, met amazing people and worked on projects that I was proud of. Also in that time I worked with a lot of jerks, had some terrible auditions, worked on awful projects and had some really awful experiences. My hair was always in a state of recovery because some over-zealous make up person had gone to town on it, my breasts were always being taped down by gaffer tape because costume people ‘didn’t know what to do with them’ and I was working too damn hard in an industry where the pay had not only not risen, but was actually the lowest in fourteen years. I kept almost getting the life-changing parts but lost out at the final hurdle. To put it frankly, I had had enough.

The last straw was working on a film on which I sustained a serious back injury. I damaged a disc and also had nerve damage. Over a year of painful physiotherapy followed. It was a nightmare. It was the last straw. ‘I quit’ I told my husband. ‘I just can’t do this anymore’. But it was only then the moment of clarity came; ‘Don’t quit’, my husband said, ‘You are too talented and have too much to offer. Take a break and then go back to it’. Cue the previously mentioned moment of clarity. He was right. Quit, but then go back.

The truth was, I just wasn’t into it anymore. I hated auditions, I hated working, I hated all of the BS that came with acting. So I quit, wrote my acting book, and by the time I was ready to go back I was in love with acting again. I wanted to make films again. I wanted to be on a television set. The break gave me the distance needed to realise why I had become an actor in the first place. I rediscovered all of the things I loved about working in the entertainment industry, which is the only way you can deal with all of the stuff you don’t love about it.

When your heart isn’t in something it comes across. You just have to take a break and go do something else for a while. Get a good-paying job and build up your bank account, travel, learn a new skill. Do anything but quit acting. It just might be the best thing for your acting career that you ever do.

 

If you are an actor then check out my book How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur. It is available in print and in all eBook formats on both Smashwords and Amazon. 

 

 

Miki Yamashita On Acting | Frost Interviews

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What made you go into acting?

I think I was interested in the arts and performing even before I was aware
of it. My mother says that as a child, I danced and sang around the house so
much that she put me in lessons as soon as I was old enough, because she
wanted me to learn how to do it right. My parents are both teachers, so their
solution for everything is education. It’s actually a pretty good philosophy.
As I grew conscious of my passions in life, I consistently made life
decisions that propelled me towards a life as a performing artist. Let’s just
say I never gravitated towards coal-mining.

Could you ever do anything else?

I guess the right answer is that I actually do many other things. Having
spent my life around many other actors, I have observed that I may be a
slightly different breed than most. I have a group of actor friends that I
started out with performing improv and sketch comedy with at Walt Disney
World, who are still doing only that; I have another group who I did a lot of
musical theatre with, who are still focusing only on Broadway; same with
opera people and comedy writers and commercial actors and episodic
television actors. I am really lucky in that I am actively able to book work in
all of these areas, and I consider that huge spectrum of interests to be my
pursuit as a whole, so if my universe is that huge, understandably there
really isn’t an “anything else” for me.

You famously said: ‘If this business kills me, it will be after everyone in it has my
headshot.’ That’s a go-getting attitude that can be missing in a lot of
performers. Do you agree?

My dear friend Bonnie Gillespie was kind enough to include that in her
brilliant book, “Self-Management for Actors.” When a newer edition came
out, she asked if she could include it again, and I said of course, except that
I didn’t want to imply that manically blanketing an acting market with
headshots was the technique I was espousing. I believe in being fiercely
motivated, but in a very focused and strategic manner. There’s a young actor
in LA, I haven’t seen him in a while, but this crazy kid literally plastered the
exterior of his car with his headshots. I swear! He drives around in this car
all day long hoping for, I don’t know, to get pulled over by a casting
director and get asked to do a monologue by the side of the road?? I don’t
know! But it’s pretty delusional and highly misguided. I guess what I meant
to say is that “If this business kills me, it will be after everyone in it whom I
have researched and targeted as potential buyers for my product has my headshot.”

Over the years, I have met so many actors; some have almost zero
motivation and ambition to do the basic work that is necessary to even have
a chance at success; others are rabidly foaming at the mouth and doing
everything they can desperately and inefficiently so that they can get ahead.
What I’ve learned from these actors is that there is a better way, there is a
sweet spot, where you have a calm, cool, focused energy that propels you
forward slowly, steadily, and intelligently. Wow, I think this is officially the
most Asian thing I have ever said!

I find you incredibly funny, has your sense of humour helped you survive in
showbusiness? Is it possible to do this without one?

Thank you! I think it’s literally impossible not to develop a sense of humor
as a professional actor. I was once asked to sing opera while running full
speed on a treadmill in a sequined gown. I was once told to continue
reciting my monologue while the casting director got on her cell phone and
ordered a chicken salad. I was once physically threatened by a male chorus
dancer. I mean, as actors, this is daily life, okay? And I think if you don’t
find it hilarious, you become seriously mentally damaged in a way that
prevents you from functioning in society as a normal adult. And then it
becomes this wonderful tool to help you consistently cope with the vast
array of indignities that actors face all the time.

What’s the hardest thing about being an actor?

The hardest thing about being an actor is when Chanel sends you so much
free couture from their latest collection that you run out of assistants to re-
gift them to. JUST KIDDING!!! That’s what most people think actors’
problems are. The general public is fed nothing but lies about our
profession, and they are only provided with the success narrative. It’s part
of the machine that allows the industry to maintain its operations, so you
have to accept that civilians are not ever going to get what most of us go
through. The most difficult thing is really how seldom we are actually able
to do our work, and that we must spend an inordinate amount of time doing
work that has nothing to do with performing in order to bankroll the pursuit
of our REAL work.

And the best?

The best thing about being an actor is getting to crash your car into an 18-
wheeler, blaming it all on your assistant, and showing up 4 hours late to set
where they will still tell you you’re the perfect choice to play Liz Taylor. HA
HA HAAA. Seriously, the best thing about this profession is that we are
constantly challenged to imagine what is possible. Every time I get an audition,
whatever it is, a commercial where I’m a pretty Asian mom, or an
opera where I’m a flying ghost bird-spirit, or a daytime drama where I’m the
secretary to the family patriarch, I get to make decisions about these
characters based on my imagination, my life experience, and what is on the
page. And no one else is going to make the same set of choices that I will.
Even if I don’t get the part, for a brief moment, for the duration of that
audition, my humanity was merged with that character, and I find great
fulfillment in my ability to execute that with consistency and quality.

What is your favourite thing that you have worked on?

My favorite thing that I have worked on is an original new work in which I
sang a principal role, with Los Angeles Opera. The piece was called “The
White Bird of Poston,” and it was newly commissioned specifically for the
purposes of educational and community outreach in the city of Los Angeles.
The opera is about the Japanese American Internment during World War II, a
very dark part of American history. The music and the story are so
beautifully written, I felt so honored to be a part of it, and I felt like it used
so many of my skills simultaneously—my classically trained voice, my
acting training, my dance training, and even a little bit of my abilities as a
comedienne. And on top of that, it had such profound cultural significance
to me as a Japanese American.

You have a great niche as an actress: you studied opera, has this greatly helped
your acting career or is it separate thing?

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of people that I started out with,
training and performing professionally as serious classical or musical
theatre singers, who are still completely focused on only that sector of
performance. For me, singing eventually became something glamorous and
glorious that I could just keep hidden in my back pocket, and whip it out
suddenly and just stun people with it as needed. This evolution mostly took
place because I moved from the New York acting market which is very
heavily theatre-based, to Los Angeles, which of course focuses much more
on, well, speaking and not singing. But even without the move, I think I was
really adamant about transcending musical theatre; I felt that I had more to
accomplish in other areas, and my interests had a much wider span than just
singing in musicals until I was dead.

Advice for actors?

My advice for actors is pretty depressing, but realistic. If at all possible, get
a degree in a subject that has nothing to do with drama or music. I’ve made
a lot of hideous mistakes in life, but the one thing I did right was to earn a
college degree in English literature instead of acting or vocal performance.
Even though many would say a degree in English is almost as useless, I
would have to argue otherwise. The acting business becomes more and
more competitive every day, and what sets me apart from many others is my
relentless desire to articulate my own experience. As a writer, I have a
heightened sense of power because for the most part, words on a page
cannot be refused or rejected because the writer isn’t blond or skinny. I am
shut out of thousands of performing job opportunities a day simply because
of my physical appearance, something that cannot be transformed by
“working hard.” Trust me, I’ve tried. Exercising cannot change your race!

So my advice is to find tangible skills that will enable you to support your
pursuit of acting for a very very long time.

But ultimately, have faith that you are answering a divine calling by being an
artist. And know that you are in control of what you choose to sacrifice for
this calling.

What’s next for you?

I’m about to make big changes to my online presence; a fellow LA actress,
Sarah Sido, taught me a lot about building websites, so I’m going to use
those skills to rebrand my personal page, as well as start a blog about
acting. Wow, now I’ve said it so I better do it!

FAVORITE ACTORS/ACTRESSES – I think my favorite male actor is Jim
Carrey. A lot of my earlier sketch comedy and improvisational work I did at
Walt Disney World was heavily influenced by him, and I have deep respect
for his significant capabilities as a dramatic actor. He is so interesting to
watch doing anything! Let’s say if, starting tomorrow, he stopped making
studio feature films and decided to just host a vegan cooking show on
HGTV, I would watch that.

For female actresses, I would rather be executed than name just one. Meryl
Streep seems to literally becomes other human beings, to the point where it
actually scares me. Meryl is a frightening example of sheer mastery of the
craft. I would like to see her play some kind of deep sea creature or
something, because that lady would seriously prepare for the role by eating
paramecium and withstanding 500 bars of atmospheric pressure. And that’s
entertainment, my friends.

I love Julianne Moore’s work, because I find that no matter who she plays,
her characterization is so detailed and complete that I feel like I actually
live out the movie in real time as her role. The performance is so intimate
and honest and infused with inner life that I feel like I AM her character.
Believe me, it takes skill to convince a short Asian girl that she is a white
1950’s housewife.

Photo credit: David Muller

Professionally Resting Interview: Lifting the Lid on Acting.

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The talented actor behind the blog Professionally Resting first caught my eye on Twitter. She is brave, witty and accurate about the downside of the acting industry. As an actor myself I just read her tweets/blog posts and nod. I just had to interview her for Frost, so here it is! I also have a guest post coming from her soon, so look out for that too.

What made you start your blog?

I’d been reading a few other acting blogs online and I soon realised that none really covered what it’s like to be an actual working actor. Many are written by actors who are constantly in work and that was something that I just couldn’t really identify with. Most actors I know spend a great deal of their time resting and I wanted to create something fun and supportive for those of us that regularly find ourselves within the unemployed majority. I also wanted to use it as an excuse to keep busy. There are days when there’s very little work coming in and having a blog to think about really keeps me feeling like I’m at least doing something creative.

Tell us a bit about yourself (without giving too much away)!

It’s always tough answering these questions without sounding like you’re on Blind Date! I’m in my late twenties and have been acting (on and off) since graduating from drama school in 2006. I had a break for a couple of years after getting a bit trapped in a temping job that became permanent. It was a horrible job but it meant I could have a couple of years actually earning money and being able to buy things that had previously been a luxury like food that isn’t on the reduced shelf. However, there’s nothing quite like a miserable job to remind you exactly what it is that you really want to be doing and that was the catalyst to making me find acting work again so that I could finally escape.


What do you think of the acting industry?

It’s very much a love/hate relationship. I regularly complain about it on Twitter and on my blog because it honestly drives me insane. It can feel that it often has more to do with luck than talent and you are completely at the mercy of those in control of the work that is out there. It often feels like many companies and channels operate a closed shop policy and I think many of them are guilty of working with the same very tiny gang of actors time and time again. I read an article recently that said there was a very small pool of talent out there which simply isn’t true. There’s an absolute ocean of clever and gifted people out there but they often get ignored as there are other names and faces that are deemed more popular. Unfortunately viewing figures and ticket sales are placed about creating quality work and while I accept that many of those performers that are used time and time again are very good at what they do, a bit of variety really wouldn’t go amiss!
However, having said that, there are very industries that would pay you a month’s rent to mess around as a time-travelling police officer for the day and that’s why I’m still slogging away at it!

What is the worst casting you have ever seen?

There are so many to choose from! The reason I started tweeting about castings was because people were so shocked at just how insulting and offensive and downright baffling they often were. Ones such as ‘No pay unfortunately but you will get to ride in a white stretch limo with a midget and the band’ and ‘She looks a bit like a trollop but tries to dress a bit classy’ have been incredible finds. However, I think the worst has to be one that I saw recently asking for actors to play characters in a sweatshop and the company (a very well-known TV channel) were only offering expenses. I thought I was past being shocked by castings but this one was offensive on so many levels that I genuinely had to keep re-reading it just to make sure that I was seeing it properly. Sadly I was.

What was the catalyst behind you starting your blog?

As I said, it was because I felt like I couldn’t relate to the other acting blogs out there and I felt that there needed to be a voice that represented normal working actors who often find themselves out of work. However, although I knew that it was something I wanted to do, it took me a while to actually get it started. It only happened when I was coming back on the train after a month performing at the Edinburgh Festival. I’d stupidly forgotten to bring a book and my boyfriend and I were unable to sit together so to keep myself occupied, I just started writing. After nearly 4 hours of solid writing, I realised I had a lot to say on the subject of acting and after a bit of encouragement from my boyfriend who’s also a blogger, the blog was born.

What can be done to improve the kind of roles women get?

It has to start with the writing. There is not a day goes by that I don’t see at least one casting where a woman isn’t required to either be a stripper or a prostitute and although I often make a joke of it on Twitter, it is very worrying too. There is such great writing out there for men but female roles are so often overlooked. So many times I read castings where all the male characters are given weird and wonderful characteristics while the women are just written to look nice. There are some incredible writers out there who are really trying to make sure that there are strong, interesting roles for women but they need support from the major producers for their work to get made and seen. I do think that it’s changing and television and film is starting to listen but it feels like a very slow process that needs to speed up a little!

What is your favourite, and least favourite, thing about the industry?

Let’s start with my least favourite and get the negative stuff out the way. It has to be the lack of good, paid work out there for actors. So many companies expect actors to work for free and although I completely understand how difficult it must be working on a tight budget, it’s tough when you’re faced with it day after day. Acting is something that I stupidly want to do for the rest of my life but it’s hard when people seem to think that by offering you a limp cheese sandwich and £5 to cover your travel expenses, they’re doing you a favour. I’ve done jobs in the past where I’ve essentially been paying to be part of them and that’s when you know that something has gone wrong.

And my favourite thing about the industry? It’s that you just don’t know what’s coming up next. A few months ago I was whinging on Twitter about how there didn’t seem to be any work out there and literally minutes later, my agent was on the phone with an audition for an incredible part in a feature film. I didn’t get the role but I do love how your luck changes from one minute to the next. Although it can be pretty unnerving at times, especially when you’re going through a particularly quiet spell, it’s incredibly exhilarating too. I think it’s a little bit addictive which is why actors put themselves through such torment.

You blog and tweet under a pseudonym, do you believe it would harm your acting career if you didn’t? Can you be critical?

The decision to write under a pseudonym was made so that I could be openly critical about the industry. As an actor you have to be so careful because you never know who you’re going to be working with next and I think that means a lot of actors are worried about speaking out about how infuriating this industry can be. Writing anonymously gives me the freedom to be brutally honest about the problems I face without jeopardising my acting career. Although there are days when I wish I could just tweet under my real name, I’m sure I’d have been in a fair bit of trouble for some of my comments, especially about casting calls and auditions.

What was your favourite ever job?

Despite going on about getting paid, my favourite job was one when I didn’t receive a penny. It was one of the first jobs I did after graduating from drama school and was a devised piece. It was pretty shambolic most of the time and we didn’t even get expenses but it was incredible experience seeing a project from the first meeting where we had some terrible ideas to the final night of performance. We barely sold any tickets (mainly because it was listed incorrectly meaning that most audience members turned up about 5 minutes before it was about to end) but it was great fun and real learning curve for me as a new actor.

and your least?

A summer-long Shakespeare festival. It was fun for about a fortnight but after three months away from home on only £25 a week, I was a state. The plays were performed outdoors and it was a particularly bad summer which meant that we spent a lot of time performing in soaking wet velvet dresses. British audiences are incredibly resilient and would determinedly sit there huddled up in anoraks and shelter under umbrellas while we battled with wind, rain, thunder and lightning. Because I was earning so little money, I was mainly living off value bran flakes and tomato soup so I ended the three months malnourished, exhausted, utterly sick of the sight and sound of Shakespeare and with about £4 in my bank account. That was something they really didn’t warn me about in drama school!

You can read the Professionally Resting Blog here and follow her on Twitter.

Acting Up! Returning to a Life Less Ordinary

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Well, it’s been a funny old year. About this time in 2010, I was sitting at a desk in a soulless office, writing websites, drinking coffee and watching my life and my ambitions swirl slowly down the drain. I’d only taken the job to pay for my wedding and already it had taken over my life, and not in a good way.

I was depressed. This wasn’t me. I’d been touring theatre and producing shows since I was 17. I was a performer, a creative thinker. Now here I was, getting fatter, grumpier and watching my life hit a brick wall in teeth-shattering slow motion.

So I stopped. One day I just walked into work and told my employers, in an embarrassingly polite, wet liberal way, where they could stick their job (“Sorry! I hope it’s not too inconvenient, I know you’re busy.”)

Some people said that I was insane. Mind-bogglingly, eye-wateringly insane. I’d just resigned from a secure, reasonably well paid job in the middle of a recession. Insane!

But there were others who said something quite, quite different.

They said “Well done”. They even used the word, and I’m embarrassed to repeat it because I still don’t really believe them, “brave”.

Truth be told, I’m not insane. I’m not particularly brave either. I just made a choice. Move sideways into another dead end job or move forward into a career that I actually enjoyed. Simple really.

But has it worked? Am I happier, more fulfilled, more engaged and more successful now that I’m back in on stage and screen?

Well over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing my experiences, thoughts, triumphs and failures with the readers of Frost Magazine. There have been good times, bad times and just-plain-weird times. I’ll also be sharing a bit of the wisdom I’ve learnt from casting directors and actors along the way.

But first, I’ll leave you with a question; What is the most impulsive choice you’ve ever made,… and did it work?

You can find out more about Tim Austin at his WordPress page; http://actortim.wordpress.com.

Check back next Wednesday for more Acting Up!

Click and Submit Services for UK Actors {The Film Set}

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We’re constantly being told that 90% of an actors job is looking for work. While that’s a massive sweeping generalisation, it is in most ways true. Some of that 90% counts for marketing yourself and going towards making you a more appealing “brand” (so I’m counting going to the gym as work…certainly feels like it). A large proportion of the active looking for work involves click and submit websites. All of these suit different Actors at different stages in their careers but are valid in their own ways…but here’s what we’ve found out.

Starnow

{ Genevieve } Suits people beginning their career or with a really unusual look. Starnow doesn’t have any minimum requirements to join and because of this, there are always loads of people willing to work for free on the site trying to gain experience. It attracts low budget productions or small independant production companies trying to maximise their margins. There’s a huge number of irrelevant jobs on there but it’s usually the first point of call for producers looking for people with very unusual (character) or glamour model looks.

Occasionally there’s a gem of a job in amongst the hubub and I’ve been told that producers post jobs on there because they like the easy user interface.

{ Catherine }  I have been on Star Now for years and people wonder why sometimes as I am no longer a beginner. The answer is above. Occasionally, it has a gem of a job. In my case, a Placebo musiv video I did that has had millions of views. I get recognised a lot from it.

£35.94 for 6 Months

Shooting People

{ Catherine } Shooting people is amazing. Relatively cheap, a hubbub of film making. A lot of the castings are unpaid but you will be in contact with the next Spielberg or Scorsese. It has a good community and some good castings. You can also put up your showreel and films and share with other film makers. Well worth it and affordable. They also do monthly meet ups.

£30 per year

Spotlight

{ Genevieve } The huge majority of professional Actors are on Spotlight’s database. Your page can be viewed by anyone you give the link to or by casting professionals. It’s also published in book form yearly. The book deadline is such a massive event that photographers create special discounts before the deadline to give themselves a competitive edge. The criteria for being listed on the database are fairly strict, it’s limited to professionaly trained or experienced performers. If you have have an agent on your Spotlight profile you won’t even need to submit yourself for breakdowns. They already do that for you. A chat recently with someone in the Spotlight offices recently revealed that unrepresented actors only get 5% of the breakdowns sent. A represented actor will get an additional 75% of the breakdowns sent and there are a few Producers or Casting Directors that prefer to work with Agencies they have established a business relationship with so they choose who to send their breakdowns to…you might think this is unfair considering all the Performers pay the same subscription rate but this selectiveness ensures Spotlight retains the custom of the most productive Casting professionals. Casting professionals pay a subscription too and it’s this level of flexibility and vetting that means Spotlight breakdowns are always from the higher end of the market. If you don’t have an agent then Spotlight can act as a forwarding service for you, giving you some distance from crazed fans. Having a Spotlight card also gets you discounts from a number if retailers and services.

{ Catherine } Spotlight is invaluable. If you are not in it, you are invisible.

Cost varies depending on what time of year you join and what book you want to be listed in but roughly around £177 for one year for Actors and Actresses.

PCR – Production and Casting Report

{ Catherine } Every actor has had PCR at some point in their life. It used to have the hold of Spotlight and be essential. A rite of passage. Again, your agent will get this. It is posted to you and then you post off your CV and headshot or email. Depending on the casting directors preference. It comes on red paper and a lot of the castings will not be happening for a while. It is great for building up contacts. If you can afford it, get it.

£22.46 per month

Casting Call Pro

{ Genevieve } Easy to use website for Actors where you can have your profile online and submit yourself to acting jobs. The membership options are clear and upfront. It’s free to have a profile on the site and apply to unpaid jobs. To register on the site you need to have professional experience or training. Premium membership will allow you to apply for paid jobs, have more photos online and more attachments (Showreels, voicereels etc.) The database is searchable and employers do and will search for you. You can chose to be listed in Google searches or hidden from it and they provides statistics so you can see who’s searching for you online and viewed your profile. There’s a huge mix of jobs on the site, mainly as it’s free to post a casting call and easy to use.

The site also has a huge resource section with details of agents, photographers and services and makes it really easy to find a headshot photographer you like by automatically linking actors headshots with the photographers profile page. There’s an active forum which makes you feel like part of a community, constantly looking for work can be a bit isolating. The yearly socials are good fun and the team behind the website are really friendly.

{ Catherine } Been on it since the beginning. Good for a sense of community and gets good castings.

£117.50 a year for premium membership, free for basic membership.

CastWeb

{ Catherine } Castweb is different from the other services as you get emails about castings,’breakdowns as we call them, and then email the casting director your CV and headshot. It is mostly for agents but I have had a lot of luck with it. It is quite expensive. However, one good job will pay that off. If you can afford it, get it. Your agent will already have it. So ask them if it is needed if money is very short.

£139.95 for 12 Months

Mandy.com

{ Genevieve } A TV and Film production website with a casting section. Free to register as an Actor and upload your photo and CV and also to apply to all the casting calls. Anyone can register but there are few paid opportunities. Fantastic if you are looking to build a showreel. The profile’s arn’t searchable but it’s really easy to submit your details to a job if you’re interested in it.

{ Catherine } Definitely worth it. Free and has the occasional amazing job.

Free

Talent Circle

{ Genevieve } Another free site that allows you to submit yourself for jobs. The site mainly has unpaid student productions of the odd researcher looking for something obscure and has already tried everywhere else. You can choose to receive notifications of new jobs daily via email which makes it really easy to stay on the ball. Sadly though it never saves any of your details which makes applying for jobs an enormous chore. When you’re applying for hundreds of jobs a week you want it to be as painless as possible. However…it is free.

{ Catherine } Also worth it if you have the time. At the beginning of my career I got some very good jobs from it.

Free

Gumtree/Craigslist/Buying a role on eBay…Don’t do it kids.

Ciao for now! Genevieve and Catherine

If you have a topic you’d like covered or something to contribute then send it to info@frostmagazine.com.

Acting Advice. { The Film Set | Catherine Balavage }

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I started my acting career when I was 14, doing a play with the youth theater. I have since gone on to work with Martin Scorsese, Madonna, Stephen Poliakoff and Gurinda Chadra. After the 2000th person -or so it feels- asked me for acting advice I thought I should write this article and then I decided to write a book. The book on how to be a successful actor, How To Be a Successful Actor: Becoming an Actorpreneur, is out now.

Well, that and the dawning realisation that I have been doing this for years. Here it is. Hope it helps you along in an incredibly difficult career.

1) A good headshot. I recommend Diego Indraccolo. He is amazing and does mine. Find him here: http://www.diego.indraccolo.com/

2) A Spotlight entry. Essential. You are invisible without it.

3) A good response to the question ‘What have you been doing lately?’ Not ‘temping’ or ‘watching TV’ something interesting that makes your life sound exciting. Even if the only thing you have been doing is watching daytime TV.

4a) Joining acting sites like Casting Call Pro, Mandy.com, Shooting People and Castweb. http://www.uk.castingcallpro.com/view.php?uid=44261

I am on all of them and not only do I get jobs but I can also ask for advice and it gives me a sense of community. Essential for an actor as our job can be very isolating.

4b) A good clear, concise covering letter that is not generic.

5) A good CV. Leave out damaging information like your age and put playing range instead. DO NOT LIE. The industry is tiny.

6) Being Pro-active. Do your own work. Write. Get seen.

7) Networking. Do this as much as possible. Not just to get jobs but so you know people in the same business.

8 ) An Agent. Not easy but they can get you castings you will not be able to. It is possible to have a career without one but you will need one eventually. I love mine.

9) Be well groomed at all times. You are a business. No one wants to work with an actor who smells or who can not look after themselves. Also: be nice or you will probably never work again.

10) Only do it if you can not do anything else. It is the hardest, most competitive industry you can go into. Your chances of success are tiny. If that has not deterred you then go for it!

11) Equity membership. It validates you. You will get insurance and discounts. If someone does not pay you – which keeps happening to me! – they will sue them for you. http://www.equity.org.uk/

12) Don’t be an a**hole. Nobody wants to work with an a**hole.

13) Turn up, be on time, be professional. Know your lines. All of this matters. Work begets work. I always see someone I have previously worked with on jobs now.

14) Keep training. Learn different accents. Read plays. Do pilates. You have to keep yourself in tip-top condition.

To read more on my adventures go to http://balavage.wordpress.com/

Break a leg!