As I told a fellow actor this morning, I am ready to shake the dust of 2020 off my shoes and get moving! What an awful year! Coming off of a national, multi-platform commercial for Rocket Mortgage in late 2019, I expected work in 2020 to really take off. Instead....bupkis! No work and almost nothing in residuals. (Even my old shows didn't air.) To top it off my agent decided to leave Los Angeles permanently and waved good-bye to all of her actor clients (I think she went home to Sweden!)
But in every crisis there is opportunity. Remember that. Already I'v booked a new agent and a new agency and I'm getting auditions, even with the current slowdown in Los Angeles. Feeling upbeat and working on being more relaxed on camera (your skills can get a bit rusty after periods of inactivity.)
Now, as I do every year, I've also taken time to review my life and career goals (and no, they're not the same thing.) Something I believe in absolutely is that if you can see a better future for yourself you can live it. The more you can imagine yourself in a future situation - in a setting with near cinematic clarity, down to the tiniest details - the more likely you'll be able to make that vision a reality.
How does that work? Instead of writing "I want to become a famous actor" (remember, O.J. Simpson and Sharon Tate are "famous" actors), write something like, "I see myself booking leading/supporting roles in highly regarded dramatic films shown in movie theaters, and seeing my name in foot-high letters on the screen." Or maybe "I see myself booking a breakthrough dramatic role that gets me noticed in the film industry, and my agent fielding phone calls with tons of opportunities for me in bigger films." Or "I see myself becoming a truly fine actor, winning an Oscar for a wonderful performance, and mounting the steps to thunderous applause in a huge auditorium to accept the award in person. I'm writing my acceptance speech now." (As a young girl, Oscar-winner Kate Winslet practiced her Oscar acceptance speech in front of a mirror, holding a bottle of shampoo!)
Dream big and don't be vague about it. None of this "I just want to act" business, which I hear from too many actors. As my author husband says, if you don't know where you're going any road will get you there. Don't settle for any road. Think about the kind of work you want to do and where you want to go with it, and write it down.
Also, don't tell anyone what your Big Dream is. This is where writing it down differs from the Vision Board idea that has become so popular. When Big Dreams are made public, others have a tendency to shoot them down, even those who love you. Don't give them the chance. Discuss short-term goals certainly, because others can help you connect with what you need, but keep the Big Dream in your heart.
And do everything you can to make it happen. Follow leads, research, make friends in the industry, prepare yourself as an actor. Ask, as Sean Astin asks in the 1993 film Rudy, one of my favorites, "Have I done all that I can do?" When you've done all you can do, good things seem to come like a bolt out of the blue.
