and improving their acting skills
Figuring out how to market themselves
Knowing how to audition
Being able to act reliably and consistently
To even get a chance to perform, an actor first needs to learn the craft of acting, which can mean taking acting workshops, improv classes, voice lessons, or hiring an acting coach. An actor must be able to improve his or her acting skills so well that acting appears flawless and natural even though it may be artificial and rehearsed.
Of course, developing the best acting skills in the world is useless if nobody knows you exist, so the second job of an actor is figuring out the business of acting, which involves reading trade papers to find out about possible acting roles, contacting agents and convincing them to sign you on as a client, promoting yourself, and auditioning in front of casting directors over and over again until finally landing a role.
After an actor gets a role, the final job of the actor is to show up on time, perform, and listen to the director. As an actor, you bring a script to life and turn stage directions and dialogue into the illusion of a compelling story that others will want to watch.
When one acting job is over, your job as an actor starts all over again with taking classes, marketing yourself, and (hopefully) landing another role, so you can keep learning and gaining valuable experience as an actor.
Be on time
Be prepared
Be reliable
Be easy to work with
Learn different accents
Study different skills such as karate, singing, dancing, and so on (refer to Chapter 6)
Be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done
Unions: An Actor’s Best Friend
Because so many studios, producers, and directors exploited the desperation of actors in the early days of show business, actors banded together and formed unions to protect themselves. The various actors’ unions have increased pay for actors (including lucrative residual payments — also known as royalties — for reruns and broadcasts in different countries), protected actors’ rights to work in clean and sanitary working conditions, restricted the time limits that actors can be expected to work each day, provided legal counsel, and even offered health and retirement plans.
Although a union’s main job is to protect your rights and ensure that you’re paid fairly, unions also offer a variety of other services that can make your quest for an acting career much simpler. Many unions offer seminars and workshops to help their members find work; they maintain bulletin boards where actors can post classified advertisements, buying or selling various items or advertising the availability of rooms or apartments; and they furnish libraries where members can borrow and study scripts. As a union member, you may qualify for a whole range of additional benefits, including credit union membership, health insurance, pension plans, and even access to a retirement home. Be sure to find these things out when you’re applying for membership and take advantage of whatever services your union offers.
Be prepared — when you decide to join a union, the cost to join may be fairly expensive. Also, after joining a union, you must pay dues regularly (probably semi-annually), but the regular dues are much less expensive than the initial union membership dues.
The two most popular actors’ unions, which we discuss in the following sections, are
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA)
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA, also known as Equity)
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA)
The Screen Actors Guild (www.sagaftra.org) covers actors primarily involved in films (both commercial films, industrial films and television). In addition, SAG also maintains a list of agencies that have agreed to follow SAG guidelines for working with actors. Check the website for the latest requirements to join.
One of the first major goals of any actor in film or TV should be to get into SAG. This process is often referred to as “getting your SAG card” (and, yes, you really do get a membership card).
