After months or even years of auditioning, you’ve finally landed an acting gig; but what do you do now?
The work doesn’t stop once you’ve booked the role. That’s when the real work begins.
Just because you booked an acting job, it doesn’t mean you’re at the next level in your career. You need to maintain your newly acquired status with the same momentum as before, if not more. Competition is tough in the entertainment industry, so don’t let this get to your head.
Here are the things to keep in mind as you prepare for your big debut.
Insights: What You Need to Do After You Land an Acting Job
- Connect with a supportive acting community and actively network with cast, crew and industry professionals to build lasting relationships and find encouragement.
- Research and develop your character by creating a detailed backstory and understanding motivations, and rehearse scenes with others to enhance authenticity and rapport.
- Approach every new role with humility and gratitude, celebrating your achievements while continuously seeking learning opportunities to grow as an actor.
Celebrate Your Win
Take a moment to celebrate your achievement. The acting job you booked is hopefully the first in hundreds of productions. This is a big deal, and you should be proud of yourself!
That said, in a world where everyone is trying to achieve their dreams, it’s hard to feel supported sometimes. When your loved ones don’t share in your excitement or see the value in what you’re doing for your acting career, it can be challenging to stay motivated.
That’s why I encourage you to find other people who support you and your special skills.
If your family and friends don’t understand your passion for acting, seek out others who do. There are plenty of online communities and forums full of people who are living the same dream as you. Connecting with supportive people will help you feel appreciated.
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Research the Character You Will Be Playing
The better you understand your character, the more believable you’ll be on screen. You want to create a three-dimensional character for an authentic performance that audiences will love or hate.
When it comes to acting out a character who is a real person, it’s important to remember that you’re not the person—you’re playing a role. This means that you should study the person you’re portraying and ensure you understand their mannerisms, speech patterns, and overall persona.
It’s also essential to be respectful when portraying a real person. This means avoiding any caricature or mockery of the individual. Instead, aim to create a portrayal that captures the essence of who they are.
If you find yourself struggling, take a moment to breathe and refocus on why you took on this role in the first place. Sometimes, an expert on that person can be brought in to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask the production if that’s a possibility, should you need it. (I wouldn’t expect a “yes,” so when asking, just keep that in mind.)
If the character is not a real person, you’ll want to have an understanding of the period in which the story takes place, as well as any relevant cultural context. You should also get inside the head of the character and understand their motivations.
Once you’ve done the necessary research, you can begin to work on developing the physicality of the character. This includes aspects such as posture, vocal tonality, and facial expressions. It’s also essential for you to find ways to connect with the character on an emotional level.
Create a Backstory for Your Character
This backstory will help you to understand your character and how they would react in different situations.
Creating a backstory can be done by brainstorming key events in your character’s life.
Ask yourself and answer the following questions about your character:
- What was their childhood like?
- What significant events have shaped who they are today?
Once you have a general idea of your character’s history, you can start to fill in the details:
- What kind of music do they like?
- What’s their favorite food?
By fleshing out your character’s likes and dislikes, you’ll be able to understand them as a person better.
Work on Your Dialogue Delivery
To master dialogue delivery, you need to do more than memorize the lines. You need to understand the subtext of what your character is saying and find ways to connect with your scene partners.
- Read the script aloud several times before you start memorizing your lines. This will help you get a feel for the rhythm and flow of the dialogue.
- Once you start memorizing your lines, don’t just recite them like a robot. Instead, try to imagine what your character is thinking and feeling at each moment. This will help you add emotion and intention to your delivery.
- In addition to memorizing your lines, pay attention to what your scene partners are saying.
Food for thought:
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and felt like you were the only person talking? Maybe you were the only person interested in the topic, or the other person was too busy thinking about what they were going to say next actually to listen to you. Either way, it’s not a great feeling.
Now, imagine you’re in a scene with another actor. You’re both trying to construct a believable connection between your characters. But if you’re not paying attention to what your scene partner is saying, it’s going to be pretty tricky to do that.
Rehearse With Other Actors
When preparing for a role, I highly recommend rehearsing with other actors. This allows you to get a sense of the scene’s flow and how your character interacts with others.
It also helps to build rapport with your fellow actors and other industry professionals such as casting directors, which can make performances more believable and convincing.
If you’re new to acting or if you’re feeling rusty, practicing with other actors can help you regain confidence in your abilities. Seeing yourself act in scenes alongside other people can also give you a better sense of how you come across on stage or on screen.
Even experienced actors can benefit from rehearsing with new partners; it keeps them on their toes and prevents them from becoming too comfortable in their craft.
You don’t necessarily have to practice with your co-workers—you can ask other people to run scenes with you. I find this approach refreshing because you may interact differently with someone else and perhaps bring more to the scene.
Seize Learning Opportunities
Please take advantage of any opportunity you can to learn more about the acting industry and what it takes to be a successful actor. Whether it’s shadowing another professional actor on set, researching production companies, chatting with casting directors about the casting process, or attending workshops and seminars, soak up as much knowledge as you can.
Start Networking With Industry Professionals
Start networking with the other people involved in the production. Get to know your fellow actors, the director, producers, production community, casting directors and anyone else who will be working on the project with you. You can also meet people by attending industry events such as film festivals. These are invaluable experiences that can sometimes lead to more acting projects down the road. Remember, this career path is all about building your professional database of contacts. The more relationships you develop, the better chance you have of making a lasting impression in your role.
Enjoy the Ride
Your phone has been ringing off the hook with offers for new roles. You feel like you’re on top of the world!
- Take some time to savor your success and enjoy all the good things that come with it. From the red carpets to the awards ceremonies, soak it all in and have fun!
- Don’t let it go to your head. It’s essential to remain humble and grounded, regardless of how successful you become. Remember that this is just a role you’re playing, and it’s not who you are as a person.
- Be thankful. Always remember to be grateful for what you have, even when things are going great.
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