20 Good Acting Tips
Important advice and tips every actor should know
(By AM Staff)
(Photo: Emre | Pexels)
1. You don’t have to make your acting performance “bigger” to make it memorable.
2. Yes, a loud, dramatic acting performance can be interesting. But a subtle yet emotive performance can be just as interesting. In fact, it’s often far more interesting.
3. To have short-term acting success, you can be lucky. But to have a long-lasting acting career, you must be professional, talented, persistent and well-trained.
4. If you perform the same lines the same way each time, take-after-take or night-after-night, then you are not feeling. You are not experiencing. You are not acting. You are simply reciting words.
5. Since you’ll likely spend your acting career doing more auditioning than acting, honing your audition technique is an absolute must!
6. Get your headshots done by a professional. Your mom may be great at taking family photos, but she’ll likely be terrible at taking professional acting headshots. Unless, of course, she’s a professional headshot photographer.
7. If you’re complaining about your lack of acting opportunities, first look in the mirror. Better yet, look into a camera lens…and film something. Make your own successes!
8. Don’t list something on your acting résumé that you’re not prepared to discuss at length & in detail. You never know when you’ll be asked about it, or by whom.
9. Don’t feel left out when all of your actor friends seem to be booking a lot, while you’re not. It’s just their time; their moment. You’ll have your moments, too!
10. No actor is too good for training. Even some of the most famous actors have acting coaches. Why not you?
11. Don’t feel badly if you have zero major acting credits. After all, every actor starts with zero major acting credits!
12. Be flexible. Casting directors love actors who are flexible; actors who can take redirection and adjust to it quickly.
13. Remind yourself that your missing out on an acting job probably has NOTHING to do with your talent. Because there’s a good chance it probably doesn’t.
14. An agent has thousands of actors vying for their attention each year. Therefore, you must stand out in your own, unique way. You can’t just be “one of the thousands”.
15. Do improv! It’s perhaps the best way for an actor to get comfortable in their own skin, as a performer.
16. Stay in contact with your contacts. Contacts can turn into future acting opportunities, valuable “inside” information, agent referrals…or just great lifelong friends!
17. Every actor has a “maybe I should give this up” moment. You’ll probably have a few of those moments in your career. It’s a common sentiment and a normal part of the actors life.
18. If you can’t find acting roles that excite you, CREATE acting roles that excite you!
19. Nervously awaiting the callback dates after your big audition will only drive you crazy. Go! Live life! It’s out of your hands now.
20. It’s not enough to be a great actor. You must also be great at the BUSINESS of acting.
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