Actors: you’re working hard, but are you really preparing for your auditions? When I was working as a casting director, the worst thing an actor could do is walk in to an audition unprepared. It shows that they don’t care and they don’t put much effort into their work.

And that is why this blog exists. You might have heard of my previous blog, Spotlight 365 Days (www.spotlight365days.wordpress.com). It was a blog on actors and actresses who have earned themselves a role in the spotlight, and what they did to get there.

But you may be interested in another side of the business: supporting roles and smaller parts. This blog will tell you what it takes to get a gig in these parts, and how to prepare for them!

After all, every day is a new opportunity to get noticed!

It is no secret that life as an actor is anything but easy. The amount of rejection and disappointment that comes with the job, is unimaginable for anyone outside the industry. Yet the actors who succeed in making it a career or even their living, all have one thing in common: they remain focused on what they want and don’t give up. There are many ways to approach this goal, but only one way to get there: hard work!

The following blog post will focus on three different areas of an actors career and what they should be prepared for.

Spotlight: The main role

Actors who have been cast in a major role can look forward to a lot of fun things, such as costume fittings, rehearsals and studio/location shoots. But there are also some downsides to being a lead actor. Main roles usually require a lot more preparation than supporting roles, because the character has to be well rounded and thought through from head to toe. Actors should think about how their character would behave in all sorts of situations, what their motivation is and which physical attributes they might have.

Supporting Roles: The second fiddle

Even though they might not be on screen as much as their colleagues playing the main roles, supporting actors still have

The Oscars are this weekend and it’s a big night for actors. But the best actor in a role doesn’t always win, and sometimes the best actor isn’t even nominated. There are a lot of different roles that actors can be in, some of which have more impact than others.

A spotlight is when an actor has one or more lines to deliver at the same time that other actors are silent. This means that all eyes will be on them (or you) at that moment. If you are to do well in the spotlight, there are some things you should do:

1. Make sure you know your lines inside and out, not just memorized but understood

2. Speak clearly with good volume and emotion

3. Don’t flub your lines if possible as this will take away from your performance

4. Be confident

After you get used to being in the spotlight, it can be easy to excel at them, but they will always require practice since they are such important parts of any play or movie production.

So you’ve gotten your acting degree and now it’s time to make a name for yourself. Before you go out and try to be the next A-lister, you need to get your first break. The first step is to start looking for auditions. You may think that acting is acting but there are so many different types of roles that an actor has to be prepared for anything.

The most common type of role you will receive is a one-day gig in a student film or corporate video. There are several things that you should do before accepting this type of role. First, read the script and get an idea about what the director wants from his actors. Second, find out if the director has any experience (this will help your expectations). Third, find out how long you will be on set (it can be anywhere from a couple hours to an entire day). Lastly, ask how much money they can pay you or if they can give you lunch (This is where your negotiation skills come in).

When you’re on set, don’t take it personally if the director doesn’t use your suggestions because they only want to know what they want and usually don’t want improvisations. Just do what they ask and try to get into character as soon as

As an actor in 2015, you will be called upon to do a number of different things. Some of them will be acting – that is your job after all. You need to know what you’re doing on screen, be it comedy or drama, action or romance.

Sometimes though, you won’t be acting at all. It’s not a job requirement and it’s not something we tend to talk about much, but sometimes you’ll have to say “no” to acting. You’ll have to say it loudly and often, and you’ll have to say it on camera.

So if you’re going to be an actor this year, here are the five different types of non-acting jobs you might end up doing.

In the words of my acting teacher, “an actor’s job is to convince people that he or she is someone else.”

In order to do this, you have to be able to get yourself into the mindset of a character. You have to believe in them, their actions and reactions, their decisions and emotions. The more real you can make your character seem, the easier it is for the audience to believe in that character too. Even if the story itself seems absurd or unlikely.

But how do you turn yourself into someone else? It’s all about research. I’ve compiled a list of things that I’ve found helpful when working on a new character. That doesn’t mean it will be helpful for everyone and every role, but there are some things that are true for most characters and roles.

1) Research your script – once you’ve been given a script (or chosen a scene) read it over and over again until you know what every single word means. If there are any words that you don’t understand – look them up! Look up any references or historical events mentioned in the script too. Write down all aspects of the script that affect your character: relationship with other characters, actions within the scene and so on…

2) Research your role

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning “action” (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama) which is derived from “to do” (Classical Greek: δράω, drao). The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.

The early modern tragedy Hamlet (1601) by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex (c. 429 BC) by Sophocles are among the masterpieces of the art of drama. A modern example is Long Day’s Journey into Night (1956) by Eugene O’Neill.

Closet drama describes a form that is intended to be read rather than performed. In improvisation, the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience. Western drama originates in classical Greece; the theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr