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November 2021

title reads "Working together with the right representation"

Is it time to ditch your team? When to get a new agent

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The question in class was: how do I know if I should stick with my current representation or move on? I want to be loyal to my team but I’m not when to get a new agent… Check out the video to hear my answer.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: So the question that came up in class was, I’ve been with this manager for five years and they’ve really hung in there with me and I’m growing a lot as an actor and I’m not sure if I should hang in there with this manager because I’m not getting any opportunities lately. What should I do because I do want to be loyal to this person, but I also really want to have a career.

And this is a really good question, and it’s not the first time this question has come up. The first thing I always say is, are you doing everything you can possibly be doing on your end to make this decision? Because actors don’t mean to do this, but there’s this internally held belief that when you get representation, that you’re just gonna show up to auditions and they’re gonna make this career happen to you. And I know you think of yourself as a hard-working actor who would never do that, but it can feel like they’re gonna give you your career. And so unless you are doing everything on your end, you can’t know if your manager is able to do their job well.

So, meaning: what’s the state of your Actors Access profile right now? Or whatever world, whatever casting profile you use, whether you are the one who electronically sends it yourself, are you giving your representation all the tools that they need to get you in the door?

You know, sometimes I’ll have an actor say, you know, I really wanna be auditioning for these kinds of roles, but I’m not getting anything like that. And we’ll go and we’ll look inside their profile, well, there’s nothing to indicate on that profile, there’s no headshot that looks like that, there’s no work sample clip to indicate that, so…your managers and your agents can only take you so far. So you’ve gotta get that profile in such great shape. So that’s step one, like are all my credits and special skills up there? Do I have the slate? Is it a solid slate? I think that actually bumps up, that actually puts you ahead in the queue of who’s gonna be seen first. How many, if your current reel doesn’t represent what you’re capable of, then do you have other samples of scenes that you’ve put on self-tape that are up there in Actors Access, short scenes that show what you can do, the kinds of roles you could book right now, that are totally in your wheelhouse.

This is something that, I would say, 97% of actors haven’t totally done. That their profiles could be better, and this is something that, so many of the actors that I’m working with are working on in class. So, if your profile is not in great shape, they don’t have the main tool they need to open those doors for you. So you haven’t given them what they need to do their job. The headshots, the samples, the resume.

In addition to that, what are you doing to make new connections? You know, some people really like casting workshops because they get to make relationships, sometimes it’s hard to make relationships in casting workshops, but sometimes you can, especially if you are going back and going back a few times and becoming known.

So there’s strategies, there’s things that you can be doing, you can set up a meeting with your reps and ask them, what do you need from me? What else can I give you? I just taped this, I’d love your feedback. Are there any gaps? What else do you—how do you see me? How do you want to be submitting me? Do you have all the clips you need? Do you have the headshots you need? Give them a shot. Otherwise, you can’t possibly know.

And if you really are working really hard and you’ve got all the clips, and everything’s in place, then maybe it’s time to have that conversation and reevaluate. I always think it’s a good idea to leave representation when it’s really not a fit. I have some stories…any time a rep is doing something shady, asking you to do something that you’re not comfortable with, that’s not a fit for the long term. So I think that’s really important. And also just to keep in mind, sometimes you’re not ready for representation. Honestly, it’ll be really frustrating for you and for them, if they get you the opportunities when you’re not ready, so work on your craft. That’s what I’d say.

title reads "are you ready to call it quits on acting?"

When you’re ready to call it quits on your acting career

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What do William Jackson Harper, John Krasinski, Naomi Watts and Amy Adams have in common (besides being actors, of course)?  They were about to pack it up and quit acting when they got their big break.  (And by the way, the movie name I forgot in the class clip here re: Naomi Watts was the 2001 David Lynch film Mulholland Drive.)

The truth is, acting and mastery of any craft is hard.  Getting a meaningful career is not easy.  So how can you hang in there?

I don’t get into this here in this specific clip, but something I work with a lot of students on is helping you connect to WHY you act as well as creating measurable goals of things you do personally have control over.  This activates the center of motivation in your brain.

If you don’t know WHY you do it, it’s going to be very hard to keep going so ask yourself:  What lights a fire in my belly?  Is it my deeply held belief that powerful stories can change the world?  Am I compelled by my unique life experiences I wish to express in my work so others know they aren’t alone?  Is it that magical feeling of getting “in the zone” where I lose a sense of time and all I know is the world of the role I’m working on?  Great.  If you don’t know, keep asking.  Don’t settle for someone else’s reasons.  Know YOURS.

If you find out you want to act because, if you’re really being honest, you want to be famous, that’s ok because it’s true.  But a word of caution here:  it’s a fool’s errand.  Most people seek fame because they’re looking for love and validation and I promise, fame doesn’t give you that.  If this resonates, it’s time to dig deep in your personal growth work.

Why do YOU act??  Will you email me and let me know?  I promise I’ll read every response.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Student: The way that John Krasinski got the role in The Office is crazy. Did I tell you about it before?

Sarah: I don’t know. I can’t remember.

Student: He was, um, to shorten it, he was in New York and he was doing acting for two years and he was trying to get roles and stuff, and he told his mom, it’s not working out, I’m gonna come back home. And then he went to go audition for The Office, and then he’s like, and I got that role. I was just about to give up on it cuz nothing was working out for me, I wasn’t getting anything. It’s like, that’s crazy to hear.

Sarah: You will be amazed at how many of those stories there are.

Student: Yeah, I feel like there would be a lot of them.

Sarah: There are a lot of them. There are a lot. Naomi Watts has another story like that, and she even had had, she was starting to already have a career, but it wasn’t until…oh gosh, what was the name of that movie? It was a long time ago now. I’m forgetting the name of the movie. It wasn’t until the really big breakout movie that she got, where she was packed up, done, like I’m done with acting, screw this. She was like, I’m sick of being broke, I’m sick of all this stuff, and then got this big thing. So it’s…I really believe in that, like being in it for the marathon of it, and knowing that this is not fast and that doing it because, really because you have to, because you love it, and you love storytelling, and you love working on yourself and trying to become better and all of that stuff, and becoming the best storyteller that you can be. And maybe that means for some people, finding their own ways to do that, in the meantime, you know.

Help! I can't relate to this weird character

Making the want real

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How can you connect to a role who seems totally different from you on the page?  One powerful way in is through their wants, needs and dreams.

If this particular character has desires that seem insane or silly to you, ask yourself what their want boils down to.  If they want to launch a spaceship and steal the moon, ask yourself why?  Study the script for clues.  Is it really about the moon?  Odds are it has more to do with wanting love and respect from someone, needing power to gain a sense of self, to find a safe place…What is it really about?  

And then ask yourself what you understand about that.

Find something specific to you that you feel in your gut—something that stirs you up–if it makes you feel a fire of desire (ooh, that rhymes and I like it) that’s something you can use in your rehearsal.  

What you use to connect to a role is part of what makes acting so exciting and so varied from actor to actor.  It’s why we never get tired of the next great Hamlet. Keep exploring until you find something that hooks you in.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Right before you do your scene, in that moment you’re connecting to the circumstances and the deep need of the role you’re working on. This came up in my class this morning. I have an objective, and I don’t know…I know what it is but I don’t feel anything when I think about it. Right, I know in my mind what my character’s want is, but it’s not showing up in my work. It’s not showing up.

Student: Right.

Sarah: So, how do I get it to show up? And if it’s not showing up, it means you haven’t figured out your own way to hook into that want yet. What do I understand about what this person wants? What do I know about this? What do I deeply deeply understand about this need? And it may not be the exact same thing that they understand, that this character understands, but there’s a kernel of truth in there that is a jumping off point.

Student: Mmhm.

Sarah: So there may be something about, even when you’re playing a comedic role, you can easily…I think it’s not necessarily helpful at some point, as you start to work on a comedy like this role, to think of him as a buffoon. Because for you, his need is life and death. I need to be understood, I need to be recognized, I need to be acknowledged. I need to be seen as somebody who knows something. I need to be important. I just want to show up on their doors with a duffle bag full of cash and blow their doors off. God, I want that so bad. What do I understand about that? What do I, the actor, the human, know about wanting to be taken seriously, about wanting to prove myself, and that’s where you begin.

And so every role you work on is gonna be different, because you’re gonna need to understand something different about every role you play, and sometimes there’ll be some similarities, but the circumstances, the rules of the world, the relationships those characters have, their own obstacles and inhibitions, everything shapes how this is gonna play out.