The 5 Keys to
Booking Work as an Actor in LA:
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Does a Major League Basketball player play a full game every
day?
No, but he sure as hell will be
practicing his skills on the court and exercising his body daily.
One of my dear friends is a concert violinist
and he told me if he goes one day without playing his violin, he feels off, two
days, he feels really off and three days without playing, it feels rusty coming
back.
How is acting as a craft any
different?
If you wanna be great at
something, it takes 10,000 hours of practice.
Best advice I can share is if you wanna act, then act!
If you are not in an acting class, get in
one.
There are so many awesome classes
in Los Angeles and in my class, I am playing opposite Series Regulars and movie
stars.
It’s inspiring, they want to
train too when they are off set.
Yes, it
takes Discipline but just like NIKE says, “Just Do it.”
If you are tight on money, invite actor
friends over to your home and practice Meisner exercises, verb exercises, or
just get together and work on a scene.
Organize a table read of a play or script in your living room.
It’s all possible.
Practice your craft.
My favorite reality check when I want to see
if my actions are in alignment with my priorities is to check my calendar and
checkbook.
If acting is important to
you, then act.
Have an Attitude of Gratitude!
John D Rockefeller once said, “I will pay a man more for his
attitude and his ability to get along with others than for any other skill he
may possess.” Your attitude is more
important than you will ever realize. It
is more important than your education, your past or your looks. Your attitude will attract people to you or
repel them. I start my day with
Gratitude by writing down in my journal at least 10 things I’m grateful
for. It can be anything. No judgement.
Just put it down on paper and commit to doing it every single day. It can be “I’m grateful for my yoga practice,
grateful for the sunshine, grateful for sleeping straight through the
night.” Make the decision to write for
45 days straight and you will see the difference afterwards. You see, gratitude is in direct alignment with
abundance. The more grateful you are,
the more you have to be grateful for and Gratitude simply is the best
attitude. When I really want to up my
gratitude, I write a sincere thank you email or card to one person per day for
7 days in a row, explaining specifically what warms my heart about them. What amazes me is the amount of responses I
get back with such gushing gratitude. It
feels like a gratitude party. Speaking
of which, why not host a party and ask 10 friends to come over and all go
around the circle sharing all the gratitude in your hearts. I love sitting in a circle, okay but I get that
not everyone is as cheesy as I am. So maybe you just want one gratitude partner
that you call every day and share your gratitude over the phone for 10 minutes
a day. Whichever path you choose to up
your gratitude, have fun with it.
Detachment
I learned from Wendy Braun that the key to booking work is
Detachment. That’s a tough one for me
because I want it so badly and often my grip is too tight around my
desire. “I want this role…why don’t I
have it yet” urgghhh. I believe “It is
natural for us, as human beings, to look forward. Our Eyes naturally look ahead. We are made for moving toward a goal.” President Ikeda.
So, I am a goal-setter and in March of this year, I set the goal to book
a Guest Star role on the TV show, Devious Maids, playing in a scene opposite
Susan Lucci, shooting in Atlanta, Georgia and I prayed and chanted for that
specific goal. After much prayer and chanting
for it, I received my first audition opportunity for a role in a scene playing
opposite Susan Lucci. All the elements
were included. I did the audition, felt solid about it and continued chanting
to book it. Through my prayer and chanting
for it, I realized it was time to release my need for it and let it go. I discovered I needed to let go of what
booking the role meant to me (that need for self-worth) so I started praying
and chanting for wisdom to see what causes and actions I needed to take
next. It was in my releasing and letting
go of my need of validation, that I forgot about the role and trusted my life
and the limitless possibilities. And
then, I got the sudden, “Booked it” call from my agent. Woohoo!
That’s wonderful news about me achieving my specific goal and the
experience on set with Susan Lucci was a dream come true. It aired on TV this year and I am so excited
and grateful. But what’s even more
amazing, is that I chipped away at changing a tendency of seeking validation
outside myself and the benefit is letting go and releasing my attachment to a
result. My advice is to still set goals
then be open to the limitless possibilities that lie in the unknown, in the
letting go and the trusting.
Relationships!
It’s not who you know, but who knows you. Like any business, your acting career is no
different. You got to build lasting
relationships with Casting Directors, Talent Managers, Talent Agents, Directors,
Producers, Writers, actors and filmmakers of all kinds. You might know of Scott David, who casts
“Criminal Minds” and maybe you really want to be on the TV show, but if you
haven’t met Scott in a casting workshop or read for him at a casting session,
how do you expect him to know you? So,
make yourself known by him. Attend his
casting workshops at Actors Link, send him a tweet, go to his FB page, mail him
a thank you card. It takes time and work
but if you want to become known by Scott, it’s absolutely possible. I use him as an example because he’s one of
the most accessible Casting Directors out there for Los Angeles actors. Do the research. Let’s say you are a fan of a Director but she
doesn’t know you exist. Go see her
movies, tweet about her work, write her a detailed letter explaining why you
love her work so much and send it to her production company. Build those relationships. And stay in touch
with all the people who have hired you and all the people you want to work
with. Have fun building those
relationships and becoming known.
Promote,
Promote, Promote!!!
This is not the time to be shy. In today’s world, if you don’t post a selfie
of you there, it’s as if you weren’t there.
I get it, you don’t want to come off as “Selfish, egotistical, me, me,
me” but you gotta let all of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google,
Youtube (and a bunch of other social media sites) know about you and that movie
you just booked. If you didn’t book a
movie yet, don’t worry, let them know about your acting class, let them make
comments on your new head shots. Post
about your career goals and ask others what is their goal. Please stop being insecure thinking, “I don’t
have enough to post about,” or “I haven’t done enough, why would anyone want to
follow me?” You are enough, as you are
and the world needs to know about you, hear what you are all about and what you
want. You are talented and why not share
those gifts and talents with the world. You can even post about your love for
hiking and post a picture of you hiking.
Marketing is about sharing who you are.
I get it, Social Media can be time consuming and you may think you don’t
have that time to waste so here’s my solution, set a timer. Limit yourself to 10 minutes a day on Social
media. 5 minutes to post and the other 5
minutes to comment on other people’s posts. What I love to do is schedule some of my posts
so I remain consistent. Consistency is
Key. I prefer hootsuite to schedule my
posts. For example, I sit down for an
hour once a month to schedule in advance
all my living mantras (like an
affirmation) every morning at 9AM Pacific Standard Time on Twitter, LinkedIn
and my Facebook Fan Page. My fans,
friends and family all count on the daily inspiration from me with my living
mantras. It creates credibility with my
social media followers. Have fun with
your social media. Maybe you are a
comedian and do stand-up in LA, so schedule a joke post once a day at the same
time and watch all the followers who look forward to your jokes. That’s for sure a good way to secure more
stand-up work for yourself. Share
yourself with your fans, friends, family and the people you want to work
with. And remember to have fun with this
and don’t be scared like the lady in the picture below.
And one last word of advice, as Sir Winston Churchill said while
addressing his alma matter in a commencement speech, “Nevah, Nevah, Nevah Give
Up!”
Richest Blessings,
Christina DeRosa
