Table of Contents
Preface viii
1 Before You Begin 1
A Cautionary Tale 1
Should You Be an Actor? 3
Why. Do You Want to Be an Actor? 4
What Are the Odds? 6
2 Learning the Ropes (and Pitons and Harnesses and …) 9
Training and Education 9
3 Mapping Your Route 15
NY vs. LA (vs. Chicago vs. Scuttle) 15
"Go West, Young Man!" (or Maybe Go East) 15
A New York Actor 16
"Why I Do Theatre" 17
Tackling the Big City 22
4 Setting Up Base Camp 27
Survival Jobs and Day Jobs 27
"Mosaic" 29
"Know Your Product"-Socrates 32
A Climber Prepares 32
Know Who You Are (or At Least Who You Seem to Be) 32
Your Body Your Voice 36
The Four Questions 38
Your Family, Your Team, Your Karass 44
The Connection Card 44
A Family Business: from Granfalloon to Karass 51
Building a Family 52
Your Team, Your Network (Network, Network) 54
5 Outfitting Yourself: The Tools of the Trade 57
Headshots 58
Wyman Through the Years 58
Picking a Photographer, Picking a Look 66
Résumés 71
The Union(s) 80
"To Join or Not to Join: My Rejoinder" 81
Where to Find Work Opportunities 83
6 Beginning the Climb 87
Looking for Work 87
Auditions 87
Monologues 88
Acting in the Audition 91
Audition Songs 94
In the Audition Room 98
Letting Go of Your Auditions 103
TV and Radio Commercials 105
7 Sherpas, Guides, and Trail Masters 109
Representation and Representing 109
Finding an Agent 109
In the Room with the Agent 121
Marketing Yourself/Self-Promotion 124
Your Web Presence/Your Brand 134
Your Website 137
8 The Mental Climb 141
The Mindset of Success 141
Self-Esteem 141
Tenacity 146
Reviews, Critics, and Other People's Opinions 149
How to Deal with Success 151
Doing a Long Run 151
Plays Well with Others 156
Perspective and Comparisons 158
"You Have a Dream" 160
"Working All the Time" 162
9 Choosing, Changing, Creating Your Path 165
The Power of No 165
The Work You Want to Do vs. the Path of Least Resistance 165
Why Not to Do a Job 167
Prince of Broadway 168
The Five Insufficient "C's" (C What I Did There?) 172
Creating Your Path 174
Taking the Long View/Visualization 174
Other Sources of Strength, Stability, and Self-Esteem 177
Changing Your Path 180
Why Am I Here? 180
What Else Might I Do? 181
Another Mountaintop 182
10 Your Mountaintop 187
Index 189
