10 Ways To Not Be A Crazy Actor

"I'm sorry. I don't date actors."

All of us have heard it.  Some of us have even said it.

It's a challenge to date an actor.  Actors can be vain.  Actors can be self-centered.  Actors can be poor.  Actors can be needy  ...not attractive qualities.

But you don't have to be that way.

Here are some things you can do for your own sanity maintenance, which will make you more date-able, more friend-able, and just plain happier.

1 - When people ask you how you are, don't respond with your auditions and callbacks first.  That makes you sound desperate.

2 - Don't abuse social networking.  Don't use Facebook and twitter to get the positive reinforcement you're not getting in your life.

3 - Develop other interests.  Don't just be a musical theatre queen.  Don't just watch commercials.  Read a book.  Go to a museum.

4 - Save some money, or be very plain with your richer friends about what you can afford.  Don't get caught splitting a big bill, and then passive-aggressively hate on your friends with 9-5 jobs.

5 - Don't miss opportunities.  Maybe fate has you in that horrible Fringe show so you can meet the man/woman of your dreams.  Keep your eyes open.  Don't have tunnel vision.

6 - Invest in your other jobs as well.  It's a lot harder to be a terrible receptionist than a good one.  And maybe the receptionist job will lead you to a different job you love.

7 - Make friend with the actors you audition with.  Don't look at them as competition.  Look at them as colleagues.  Take some pressure off.

8 - Don't get obsessed with your looks.  Be healthy-by all means-but don't get obsessed about being a size 2 for pilot season.  Eat your own birthday cake.

9 - Not everything is a networking opportunity.  Don't always be on parade, showing off your wares.  Just talk to people like a human being - especially when you run into a casting director at a bar.

And most importantly...

10 - Don't apologize for being an actor.  If you tell people you're an actor with dread in your voice, thinking you'll get rejected, you will.  Say it with pride.  You're interesting, brave and creative!

Let's change the stereotype, people.  Don't be a dick.

Pilot Season is done.

Hey actors,

Now that upfronts have happened and pilot season is way behind us... how did it go?
Did you get more auditions than last year?
Did you get callbacks?  Screentests?  Pilots?  Pick-ups?

I was talking to a client of mine about how to get auditions for pilots.  He was flummoxed.
In a tough-love conversation, I asked, "If you were a casting director for a project that cost a million dollars, and had a 1 in 20 chance of getting picked up, would you cast YOU?"

The fact of the mater is that (yes) casting directors are supposed to find new talent, but they also have to mitigate the risk of casting.  If they cast a newby, the chances that they screw up are way higher.  That's why networks tend to cast the same actors again and again.  They know those actors deliver.

For this actor (with his modest resume) I suggested that he focus his energy on getting costars and gueststars on TV.  A lot of them.  If you're going to pay $400 for a class with a casting director, it's better spent on a casting director from a CBS show shooting in NY, rather than a Casting Director working on CBS pilots.

Now, if you did some auditions, even some callbacks - how are you going to use this as marketing to propel you forward?  Is there an agent you're after who would be impressed that FOX called you in?  Maybe CBS would be impressed that ABC gave you a callback?  Though you may not have booked anything, even tiny successes in pilot season are a huge vote of confidence.

And if you sat at home during pilot season, what are you going to do in the next 9 months to make next year more productive?  What classes do you need to take?  What actors do you need to treat to a latte to pick their brain?  Is your brand correct?

I'm a big fan of reviewing success and not-successes to see how to go forward.  Maybe today is the day to do that.