Keeping an Open Mind as an Actor

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Keeping an Open Mind

Part of being an actor or model is maintaining a positive attitude and an open mind. This is especially important when you are first breaking into the industry. You will quickly realize that there is intense competition for every job that you apply to.  Because of the competition, you need to keep an open mind about the type of work that you do.

Not everyone is going to be lucky enough to find a lead role in a movie or get a huge layout in a magazine for your first job. That being said, there are many jobs in the acting and modeling industries that are available. Not all of your auditions will be for high-profile jobs, but everything you do can go on your resume to help build your appeal to bigger employers. You need to be willing to start out with smaller jobs in order to establish yourself, gain experience, and find a groove in the industry.

As much as you may have your heart set on being on television or in a magazine right away, you need to be willing to accept different jobs so you can gain experience. There are many different areas of modeling and acting that you may want to consider. You might find castings for commercials that will air on the radio, television, billboards, magazines, newspapers or the Internet. Become flexible and have an open mind for any casting call or audition that may come your way.

Always focus on your relationships.  You may work with a particular designer, photographer, or director that likes you enough to recommend you for another job. It is important to make connections in the industry so you have more outlets for jobs. By trying different types of jobs, you may find that you are well-suited for a particular niche job and can then focus on that.

Dealing with Rejection

When it comes to modeling or acting, you should prepare for rejection. With so many people looking for jobs, there may be some gigs that you don’t receive an offer from.  Rejection is never a fun thing to deal with, but it will make you stronger.  Learning to deal with rejection is a natural part of the industry, but it is up to you to turn the rejection into a positive and build upon the criticism.

There may be times where you are rejected for a job, but that doesn’t mean that you have failed.  Casting directors, photographers, designers and agencies all have reasons for choosing the people they want for particular jobs. It can have to do with age, hair color or something even smaller. It is not because they think you are a horrible person or a bad actor or model. Take the rejection and use it as your motivation to improve yourself in order to reach your goals.   Work on your weaknesses so you can improve for your next audition. Focus all of that negative energy into motivation.

The important thing to remember is that you are not going to be defined by the rejections that you receive. It is the way that you act and respond to the rejections that will make you who you are.  Keep your spirits up and put the rejection in the past.

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