Katene Nicholas's Lounge Discussions

CORRECTION; Sorry guys, the competition was misread, and it was the voting period that closed in a week. MA BAD! But check out the site regardless as it could be a useful tool. Keep grinding!

What career choices would you recommend to begin with for someone that has interest in acting but had never acted.

Acting will be your career choice my friend. Steps to achieve this is what I assume you refer to. I am no expert, so I can only speak from experience. Firstly, read. There are soo many free e-books available online in the art - different methods to choose from. For example, the Method, Strausberg, Meisner. Personally I read all of them, took the excersises which drew the most from me as an actor and practiced, practiced, practiced, and practiced. Secondly, if you can, find work in the industry, or behind-camera. Even as a runner, or colloquially said 'Set B#tch'. Get as much experience or understanding in how a set actually works. There is a lot of jargon that can throw one off if not understood. But this understanding will take you a long way when you step onto the set as an actor. As an actor you'll need to learn. No matter what someone tells you, acting is simply real-life in a controled environment (a set). Soo ... learn to be real. Really, real. Observe people. Watch how people react in any given situation. Ironically, people are acting every day. Learn from the people around you. If you can, get a camera to begin your show-reel. This can be done at the same time you study the art. There are videos on youtube which will show the best way to produce your own self-taped monologue. You'll also need some form of income for all the costs incurred. Webpage subscriptions, head-shots, travel costs etc. But if you're smart, you can get creative and keep costs down. For example, get a friend to take your head-shots. Just learn online the best way to do this ie. what the casting directors are looking for. And as I said earlier, there is soo much information available on the World Wide Web, like STAGE 32 where one can learn. Search, and ye shall find. Finally, every 'No' is one step closer to a 'Yes'. You will have many people saying 'You don't quite fit what we're looking for.' Make no mistake of it, this will get you down. But remember, every 'No' is one step closer to a 'Yes' so get as many 'No's as you can. You've embarked on a career that in most probability will give you no financial reward for 80% of that career. But soilder on! You are, and you got that sh%t And people want to see that sh#t!!!! Good luck my friend!

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