31 Fun and Spooky Activities for Every Day in October

Trick or treat! Welcome back to your actor activities roundup, friends. In this space, we recommend everything from empowering exercises to the best entertainment events for each day of the month, so you can fill your calendar with acting-related fun. Whether you’re just falling in love with the craft or have “be-leaf-ed” in your dreams for seasons now, these 31 carefully curated activities will spice up your career with autumnal inspiration this October.

Advice & Inspiration

1. Alohomora! Harry Potter isn’t merely casting spells these days, but actors. Child performers between 9-11 can now submit for HBO’s original series adaptation of the beloved books.
2. Keep the post-audition scaries at bay with this simple five step process for editing self tapes.
3. Tony-winning Broadway royalty and kind human Gavin Creel passed away at the young age of 48, shocking the entertainment community. Please honor Gavin (and find inspiration) by tuning in to his last podcast interview on The Quiet Part Out Loud.
4. We also recently lost the legendary Maggie Smith. Find advice in her interviews, and great inspiration in her treasure trove of projects (obviously Harry Potter), including the hidden gem Tea with the Dames.
5. Read of the month: I smell the perfect fall read. Drench yourself in movie-making magic and Halloween lore with Witches Run Amok: Hocus Pocus the Oral History. Shannon Carlin’s book certainly runs-a-mok of fun and also weaves a bewitching look behind the scenes at making a major studio film.
6. This month’s Instagram spotlight goes to: @thinkingmindspage. This down-to-earth account will warm your feed like a piping cup of inspiration.

Summer Blockbusters & Binges!

New TV:

7. Joan (mystery drama) premieres October 2 on The CW: Emmy-nominee Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) channels Britain’s most notorious jewel thief fighting to get her daughter back from child services.
8. The Franchise (satire) flies onto Max on October 6: Ever wonder what it takes to make a superhero flick? This satire series explores exactly that, following a crew working comically hard to bring a new superhero blockbuster into the world.
9. La Máquina (sports drama) wrestles onto Hulu October 9: Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal reunite for Hulu’s boxing drama, which will be its first-ever Spanish-language original series.
10. Teacup (thriller) streams on Peacock October 10: Synopsis: Inspired by Robert McCammon’s New York Times bestselling novel Stinger, Teacup follows a disparate group in rural Georgia who try to survive a mysterious threat.
11. Disclaimer (psychological thriller) streams on Apple October 10: Five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón brings Renée Knight’s bestseller to the screen in seven chapters. Disclaimer revolves around a mysterious delivery that threatens to expose a celebrated journalist’s (played by Cate Blanchett) past.
12. NCIS: Origins (procedural) premieres on CBS on October 14: The NCIS-verse expands with a prequel series centered on a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs beginning his career as a newly-minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office.
13. George & Mandy’s First Marriage (comedy) premieres on CBS on October 17: The Young Sheldon spin-off follows – you guessed it – Georgie and Mandy as they navigate parenting, family matters and marriage in Texas.
14. Happy’s Place (comedy) premieres on NBC on October 18: The Queen of Country returns to comedy as Reba McEntire’s Bobbie inherits a restaurant from her late father, only to find that she’s a co-owner with a half-sister she didn’t know existed.
15. Rivals (80s drama) hits Hulu on October 18: Enter the ruthless and radiant world of 1980s television in England for a wild series featuring stars like David Tennant.
16. Before (psychological thriller) streams on Apple October 25: Billy Crystal leads a veteran cast of players as a child psychiatrist who, while grieving the loss of his wife, meets a young boy with a haunting connection to his past.

Movie Mayhem:

17. The Wild Robot (family) plays in theaters this month: Shipwrecked on a deserted island, a helper robot (Lupita Nyong’o) must learn to adapt to its new surroundings. The robot soon develops a parental bond with an orphaned gosling. Based on the book of the same name, I think this animated flick is one of the best films of the year!
18. Lonely Planet (rom-com) types into Netflix (and our hearts) October 11: Academy award-nominee Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) wraps viewers up in the pixelated equivalent of a cozy fall sweater with Lonely Planet. Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth play two writers who develop a passionate affair during a writer’s retreat in Morocco.
19. Brothers (comedy) hijacks Prime Video October 17: Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin star as twin brothers with unlawful pasts who get roped back into the criminal scene. The outrageous romp features a star-studded supporting cast in Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, and Brendan Fraser.
20. Woman of the Hour (crime thriller) stalks onto Netflix on October 18: Anna Kendrick pulls double duty, making her directorial debut and starring in this 70s stranger-than-fiction flick. An aspiring actress in LA crosses paths with an active serial killer when they’re both cast on an episode of The Dating Game.
21. Your Monster (Halloween rom-com) rages into theaters on October 25: An actor on the brink of spiraling finds her voice again when she discovers an oddly charming monster living in her closet. This is a rom-com-horror flick about falling in love with your inner rage.

Wellness Activities:

22. October actor’s affirmation: “As the spooky season is all about fears, I push through mine and into the discomfort. My fears will not be my guide.” Follow along here for more affirmations!
23. Friendly nudge to book your health appointments. From physicals to eye exams, make your health a priority this month.
24. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a timely reminder to promote kindness, acceptance and inclusion for all.

Live/ Virtual Events:

25. The 7th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards will recognize outstanding contributions to television production, through advancements in engineering, science, and technology, on October 9 in NYC.
26. Thornton Wilde’s prolific play Our Town is coming back to the town that never sleeps. Led by Jim Parsons, Zoe Deutch, Katie Holmes and Ephraim Sykes, the star-studded revival opens on Broadway on October 10.
27. The 51st Student Academy Awards are set to honor university students from all over the world on October 14.
28. With one (stripped-down) look, Sunset Blvd. transfers to Broadway in a gritty fashion. Nicole Scherzinger is said to give a career-defining performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s acclaimed musical, officially opening on October 20.
29. Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler put the star in star-crossed lovers, headlining a Broadway revival of Romeo + Juliet. Opening October 24, the edgy take boasts the tagline: “The youth are f–ked.”
30. Happy Halloween! Surely ghoulishly good events haunt your local grounds, but I’ll shout out a few in major actor hubs. First, in NYC, you can observe Broadway veterans doing their witchy thing with brouhaha like the annual spooktacular I Put A Spell on You and 54 Below’s Season of the Witch concert. The Big *Rotten* Apple has tons of chances to run amuck this spooky season!
31. Now grab your brooms and fly off to L.A., where you can explore haunted houses, watch a horror flick in a cemetery, attend an epic monster mash, and much more.

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