The Stage

Actor making a self-tape. Photo: Pormezz/Shutterstock

Dear graduates,
You’re about to graduate and the world is in front of you, but what a world! I know it’s scary right now. You are seeing in the news how the entertainment industry is failing, your family and friends are questioning your choices and asking you how you can possibly make a living as an artist. Perhaps you are even doubting your own choices at this point. The path you have chosen will be difficult, but there are things you can do to make it a bit easier. From someone who’s seen it all, here are some tips from the other side of the desk:

1. Make yourself financially stable.

Many people dream about being a ‘full-time actor’, but you can be a full-time artist without starving yourself and having to make hard choices like between eating breakfast and getting the train for an audition. Finding a flexible job that can sustain you financially will also give you a wealth of life experience and relationships that can help you in ways you may not be able to imagine now. Save the difficult decision-making for how you will deliver a scene or how you will play a role. Plan to spend more of your mental energy on creating art rather than your own survival. Just because you earn money from sources other than your art, it doesn’t mean you aren’t an artist.
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2. Surround yourself with people who are diverse in their interests and backgrounds.

It’s tempting to stick to your tribe and only hang out with actors, but the sooner you can diversify your network, you will feed your brain with different experiences and ideas and be able to reflect a fuller spectrum of human experience in your art. Network widely and build relationships both within and outside of the industry. Don’t just focus on agents and casting directors – meet and build relationships with writers, producers, creatives and at all levels of seniority. The assistants of today are the execs of tomorrow.

3. Focus on personal development and design yourself the artistic life that you want to lead.

Learning doesn’t stop when you leave drama school. Allocate your resources (time, money and effort) into creating an infrastructure for continued learning and development. How will you continue practising your craft and learn new skills? How will you gain new insights into how to achieve your dreams? How will you keep innovating? Schedule time to read, learn and practise. You can get together with other artists to test out new work or even practise self-taping. Invest in advice from real experts who can help you fine-tune your skills.

Understand the practicalities of how the industry works and ask if you don’t know something

4. Don’t rely on any one person or ‘gatekeepers’ to discover you and change your life.

Build a team around you that helps you move forward towards your chosen goals. This can include agents, coaches, personal trainers, therapists or anyone else that helps move you forward in your life and career, but the most important person in your team is you. Spend time reflecting on what it is you really want out of your career and how you will get it. Understand the practicalities of how the industry works and ask if you don’t know something. Pay attention to market trends, read industry publications like this one and form your own views. You are responsible for building the life and career you want while responding to the limitations and the needs of the market.

5. Fix your own stuff and don’t count on work to give you everything you want in life.

It is tempting to fall into the thinking trap that “if I get x job, my life will be amazing”, “if I get seen for y, then my career is made”, or “if I get z agent, then I’ll become an A-lister and the industry will recognise my talent”. This line of thinking gives away your personal power. It also may stop you from actually doing the work and changing your life. Fix your own ‘stuff’, whether that is paying the bills, addressing mental health issues or feeling fulfilled before coming into the industry. It’s about what you can contribute rather than the industry healing your ills by blessing you with a life-changing opportunity. If there are cracks in your life, they will still show
up later regardless of the opportunities you are given.

If you take nothing else away, remember you are unique and powerful. Go out in the world and enrich yourself with a wide range of experiences. You have the chance to impact the world and change how others think, so be brave! Don’t allow anyone to bully you or tell you that you are less than. Step into your own power and give us the best you’ve got. I can’t wait to see what you have to offer and I’ll be cheering you on.

Sending you all my love and luck,
A cynical old agent