Congratulations you made it, you are in Hollywood, Los Angeles. A step that needs courage to take. It’s the place where you always wanted to be, the place where actors make their dreams come true, right? But now what? How do you start all that? First and foremost you need to understand that this is going to be a marathon and we are usually talking about years. It’s important to put all of it into perspective. If you believe you are making it here overnight and don’t have what it takes, then you should overthink of making it as an actor in Hollywood is the right thing for you. OK, you think you got it. Then let’s move on and discuss the mental state you must bring to the table to survive and make it in Hollywood. Believe it or not part of the reason why people leave Hollywood broke is cause they couldn’t deal with the challenges, ups and downs, the uncertainty this industry brings with it which can affect your mental health. Therefore we will talk about the key things you should have mentally as a human being or an individual but most importantly an artist to be able to break through this mass of people who want to do and achieve the same thing as you.

Be confident but grounded

The title says it all. Be confident and grounded, but what does it mean? In this industry, you are the product if you want it or not. You need to understand what you are worth and use it to your advantage. A lot of people always have the misconception that being confident comes across as arrogant, but it’s the way HOW you present yourself. That’s why you should always think about where you are coming from every single day. Then always remind yourself, the success that you live today or tomorrow can be already gone the day after. It’s a fast-paced environment and you have to accept that. So knowing who you are and what you are capable of makes you stronger in believing yourself and how you carry yourself on the outside. This has an effect on people which turns into respect, trust, and value of the person. Always make sure that your actions speak for themselves and louder than words. I specifically want to point out that not everyone in this town is that way, that’s why trust became such a valuable asset. People in this industry like working with people who know what they can bring to the table and in the end deliver. Let them FEEL that you are that person instead of saying it.

You might ask yourself, OK, but what am I good at? What am I worth? That’s a great question. The answer is ‘Reflection’.

Reflection

At the beginning of your journey in the world of acting and film, you are excited about the medium. In a later chapter, we are also talking about the business side of things, but one key aspect of this is already the way how you reflect on yourself and your environment. Have you ever asked yourself who you are as a person, as a human being? If not then it’s time. It is not just a valuable exercise to learn about yourself in general but discover your strengths and also weaknesses we all have as human beings. In the world of acting, as you know, it’s fundamental to understand characters in how they think and say certain things. But before you can do all that you need to learn about yourself first. What makes you feel happy, confident, strong, what sad or even mean but then, how do you feel about it, say or think and how does it reflect your facial expression and body language. I don’t want to sound like an acting teacher here but these discoveries are tremendously important as they will show you the emotions and behaviors you know well and are good at expressing.

As soon as you have a better idea of what that is, look more to the outside world, in your case, the film industry. What characters are being cast? What does the industry look for and how do you fit into that with the strengths you have?

After you have done that and think you have a good feeling about it, it is equally recommended that you talk to people you know but also to strangers and ask them how they perceive you when they look at you. It might sound weird to you but it’s even more powerful to determine how you should go about your career. Now you might hear things you don’t like or can’t see yourself in and it’s probably the complete opposite of what you discovered. If that’s the case don’t freak out, you took an important step in the right direction. These impressions you received by yourself and also by the outside will help you over time to nail down what your strengths are, where the parallels are, and what you should be focusing on especially at the beginning. Some of it might not be what you wanted to do as an actor or how you have seen yourself for such a long time, but trust me if you fight that especially at the beginning you might find yourself in a catch22 as what you want doesn’t equal to what the industry wants or sees you in. Believe me, when I say that I even thought I could do everything, I’m diverse and I trained for all of that for so long, but I learned how to put myself into their shoes and look at me from the outside. It’s a mind-blowing experience. Once you have done that, you will recognize certain things about yourself, you couldn’t even think of. We are talking about ‘Typecasting’ in a later chapter as well so you understand even better where I’m going with this. Yes, it’s real.

Another way of nailing down your strengths and things you should go after is by being honest and realistic to yourself at all times.

Be honest and realistic to yourself and others

I think this topic is maybe one of the most delusional ones for many people as it takes away the dream thinking at the beginning and puts it all more into perspective making it a reality. I also thought when I was younger, I could be a superhero type and that’s what I wanted to go out for right from the get-go, always the good guy doing the right things. But again I learned very quickly that’s not what it is and how it should be done. These dreams shouldn’t go away but also not blocking your view on the real steps you have to take to maybe get to your dream role. If it is to play a superhero character then use that as motivation, your daily engine but live every day realistically and clear-minded as the steps and characters you might play at the beginning don’t have to be the same you could play in the future. What we discussed in the chapter prior is the reflection of yourself by yourself and others. By the time you become more established and have a name and status in the industry, you will quickly see that people’s perception of you might change and might give you opportunities to play what you already wanted to do twenty years ago. Therefore don’t stop dreaming but as I always said and still do, be a realistic dreamer, envision your dream but see the journey and all that it takes in front of you as realistically as possible so that you eventually get there.

What do you want to achieve in your career and why?

Different people have different dreams about their lives, they want to achieve what they believe accomplishes them and makes them happy. Acting is a passion and most actors I know do it for the love of the art while they try making a living off of it. Being an actor is a very unpredictable journey especially at the beginning as you need to stay financially stable and continue doing it over time. It’s therefore critical to know what you want to achieve and why are you doing it. You pretty much recognize certain people who want to do it for fame, being on the red carpets and in every media of the world possible. If that is what you want and it’s your main driver then you might suffer from the journey ahead of you as this clearly shouldn’t be your main purpose of becoming an actor. Don’t think about the fame and glamour of being in the spotlight if you are serious about acting and feel that it’s the freedom to you, a form of art to express yourself, something that makes you happy and fulfills you and the people around you. If you do it for the love of doing it and people realize and feel your talent which makes them want to see more, then fame and everything else will come anyway. But if that is the only thing you are striving for using acting to get there, then this might not be the right profession for you. It sounds hard but it’s key to ask yourself that as I want to prepare you for the emotional roller coaster you will experience. If you don’t see the bigger picture acting has for you and your life then really go deep within yourself and think twice if you want to pursue it. Commitment is one of the key elements necessary, but commitment can just exist if you understand the real value something has for you. On the other side it’s important to not lose yourself in the art of acting but always come back to it if you start questioning everything in hard times. We are talking more about your inner belief system to be fully prepared for what’s ahead of you.

Be prepared for the hard times

We already mentioned the hard times, but let me tell you it doesn’t need to be hard if you follow what we are discussing in this book. Of course, you always have downs, questioning everything but it shouldn’t get to that point where your existence is in danger financially, physically, and mentally. Living in Hollywood and Los Angeles...