Don't Judge a Book by its... oh you get the idea.

So let me start this off with: Just because it's in New York City doesn't automatically make it amazing!

Now that that's out of the way...

This career is ALL about research, practice, and continuous education. Don't fool yourself into believing you can get by off of pure talent, because you can't. Talent certainly helps, but look at most of the big stars- Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Philip Seymour Hoffman - they're all extremely talented, but more importantly extremely educated; and not just in film acting. I had the great fortune of seeing Helen Mirren live at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC and she simply blew me away. A lot of Hollywood's greatest actors are also classically and musically trained and do quite a bit of theatre. For example: Hugh Jackman started off as a Broadway star. Don't limit yourself by thinking you need to pound away at learning how to act for film in order to become successful. Knowing all kinds of theatre just gives you so much more to work from, and the characters you play and performances you deliver will show it.

So let's look at the education part: IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT! Graduating from high school and moving to LA to try to be discovered is more than likely going to be a complete waste of time. Not only will you be competing against actors who are older and more "worldly / experienced", but they will also be significantly more trained and thoroughly practiced. You stand as much of a chance of being discovered as someone does of winning the lottery (unless your talented and have some REALLY good connections, then you're one lucky stiff).

So what's that leave you with? College, that's what. Now I bet you're asking "Well, why don't I just go do a 2-year intensive program in NY or LA?" and here's why: They're more than likely going to be a waste of both time and money. First of all, you have to dig through all the various programs and find the credible ones that aren't just out to steal your money. After that's done you have to audition (like most programs) and hope you get in. If you do get in, you then spend 1 year (or maybe even less) rigorously studying just acting. After that you get evaluated and the higher-ups decide whether or not you're worthy enough to continue; if you get cut you're shit out of luck and you just spent a few thousand dollars and came out with what? A years education in the basics of acting, and pretty much nothing else. Even if you don't get cut and you graduate with flying colors, what do you have to show for it? A lot of those programs aren't actually degree-certified programs, so you end up with a "certificate" (even MORE useless than a "degree" in acting, at least after having completed a 4 your institution you will get paid more at any job because of that degree. Present a certificate at a Best Buy and you'll get laughed at).

Now, don't take this the wrong way: I fully support these intensive programs, I think that the good ones are great, I'm just letting you know that there are a LOT of bad ones, and a LOT of reasons to do a 4-year institutional education instead / before. One thing you can do is get that college education and degree and THEN move on to an intensive program in NY or LA (while looking for work perhaps?). But there's another reason I support the 4-year track more...

Life experience. In the 2-year programs you are more or less drilled with work and constant criticism - not to mention you're surrounded by other actors (who can be a lot to deal with, I know, there's a reason why it's called "Drama"). Being in a 4-year institution gives you 4 YEARS of information to work from! I don't just mean the actor training, I mean real life experiences. The acting classes and such are just teaching you the method to access and deliver all the things you've already experienced to a certain degree. How can you play someone who's heart is broken if you've never been heartbroken yourself? How can you pretend to be an engineer if you've never even met one? The college life is a gigantic library for an actor. All the things you experience in your four years of college will only enhance your performances and give you more of a selection to work from.

So that's my little speech on that, I'm sure I left some stuff out, and probably added too much of some things. So, to sum up: Be careful of the 2-year intensive programs, be SURE it's good and what you want, and just remember all of the other types of information and education you get from a four year college education (not to mention a fancy degree and shit-loads of friends)!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I know, I'm late with my posting - but hey, technically the "this week is the exception" comment I made could apply. In any case, sorry.

So now let me happily wish you all a wonderfully happy St. Patrick's Day! With today being especially dear to me I will gladly encourage the festive tom-foolery that is no doubt going to take place. All I will say is, have a good time, and try to avoid the hospital. Now on to the post!

Take every chance you can get. I know that most of these posts have been sort of like "Come on man, I've heard all this before" but they are important things to be ground into your head. In the beginning you can't afford to be picky. I recently was turned on to an audition for "The Cherry Orchard" by a family friend. At first I thought about it and then decided against it (why, I'm not sure. Always remember: it doesn't hurt to audition. Even if you get the part you can still say no). Then just the other day a friend of mine sent me an e-mail, referring me to the same production. I, thankfully, thought that the coincidence was a sign and that I should at least go in for an audition. This whole encounter made me realize that, even if the production isn't your favorite, or the part is what you REALLY wanted - you've got to go for it. It'll help build your resume and much more importantly it will get your name out there. Doing school shows is great, but for the most part you fame and splendor will remain within the limits of the school; at least until around senior year when theres a stronger focus on finding you a place in the theatrical work force. By doing outside shows at other venues, even community theatre, you drastically increase the amount your name is mentioned in the outside world. Just keep in mind that you want them to be associating your name with a positive attitude - so play nice when you're working, don't be the self-centered twit that everyone hates, if your nice, you may find yourself being called up for future jobs! Which is never a bad thing.

George Michael Has the Right Idea...

Before I jump into this next post, I'm going to indulge in some self-serving business talk. I'm not exactly sure how many updates a week I want to do with this blog, and I'm thinking that one every day is waaay too much, but that I don't want to do what I always do with blogs and let them grow cobwebs and pretty quickly fade off into nothingness. So I think, this week is the exception, that I will do two to one post a week, update dates on Sundays and Wednesdays. Also, if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to contact me... somehow; I'll have to find some means of communication that's easiest for everyone. Alright, now that that's over...

You've got to have faith. This ties in pretty closely with my previous post about being positive that acting (or the Arts in general) is your kinda gig. But once you decide you WANT to do it, you have to trust yourself to be able to do it. Faith in yourself will give you something to work from and for. Confidence is everything in this business, if you can muster up the courage and gusto to plunge head-first into something, even if you make a mistake or totally screw things up the first few times, people will give you much more credit for just going for it, whereas if you'd been self-conscious and a nervous wreck, people wont be as forgiving. Who can be confident in someone who doesn't even have confidence in themselves?

Be careful though, confidence can often be taken too far and can often times be confused for "cockiness" or "pretentiousness". You need to have faith in your ability to get it right eventually. Thinking you always have it perfect the first time you try something out will basically make everyone who's ever breathed dislike you a lot. Criticism is not your enemy, nor is a friendly suggestion or idea. Imagine this scenario - if, say, Colin Firth came up to you and told you to try a different approach, you wouldn't say "Shove it Firth, I've got this" (at least I hope you wouldn't). The same should go for anyone that approachs you with ideas. Sure they may not always be the right suggestion or the best advice, but the point is that you listened, and valued their input. If there's one thing that will get you further than others (and isn't talent or connections) it's attitude. No one wants to work with some stubborn, self-serving, rightous prick. I mean, would you enjoy that kind of work environment? I'm gonna go out there and say no.

Having faith in yourself to get the job done and do what you need to do is extremely important. If you think you're going to fail then you will fail. But if you trust your ability to succeed, then you've got a much better shot. Oh, and don't be a douche, no one will want to work with you.

The First Three Words...

You need to ask yourself; "Are you sure?". It goes without saying that a career in the Arts, let alone acting, is risky business. You're exceedingly lucky and successful if you can manage to live off of it by itself; most people never get that far. A profession in the arts is nothing to be scoffed at, or taken lightly, because it requires a level of devotion that makes other jobs pale in comparison. However, if you want to be an artist (of whatever sort) you have to make sure that it's what you want. You can't half-ass it, it won't work that way. Dreaming about being an actor, or a painter, or a musician is all well and good when you're 10, but when it comes time to decide what it is that you want to do with the rest of your life, you have to be sure that your dreaming is more than just fantasy - that it's an actual goal that you will never give up on trying to achieve. Otherwise you end up wasting a large amount of time and money.

If you are sure though, if you are certain that you want to pursue a career in the arts, then you have to give it everything. I know I'm one to talk (I'll get to that later), but there's no more "I'll do my homework tomorrow night" or living your life by the seat of your pants hoping it all turns out just dandy. Doing that will only doom your career before it's even started. It's not enough to just want it - you have to fight for it. You can't simply say "I want to be an actor" and POOF! here you go, an Oscar on a nice shiny platter - that never happens. You won't be discovered if all you can manage to do is go to class and then play video games and watch TV for the rest of the night. Not even going to NYU, or Yale, or any other prestigious program will get you there. When it all boils down to the nitty-gritty, where you went to school, or what it says on some official looking piece of bleached tree bark doesn't really matter - all of that was simply the audition to see if you could make it to the real world.

This decision, I might add, is not one to be taken lightly either. You need to really weigh the pros and cons of it all. It's fine to feel really passionate about acting, or singing, or whatever, and to think that it's what you want to do with the rest of your life, but let me make this exceedingly and over abundantly clear: YOU HAVE TO BE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE. Saying "yeah sure I'll do this" and then deciding halfway through that you'd really rather be a software consultant is rather idiotic. If you're going to go all the way, then damnit, go all the way! Uncertainty will ruin you. Even if you have to pretend that you're confident - that's better than nothing, maybe you'll actually end up convincing yourself at some point.

Ultimately - be sure that it's what you want, and that you'll end up doing it no matter what gets in your way. If you're not sure, or if there's any shred of doubt, then you need to really reassess whether or not you're choosing the right path for yourself.