Showcase Your Brand
Auditioning was a difficult thing for me to grasp. I always hated the idea of having to market my talents and sell myself. However I finally realized that all forms of entertainment is constant marketing. If I didn’t convince the casting director that I was worth selling to the producer, how could that producer then convince the viewers that I was worth paying the price of an entry ticket? Right? It’s all marketing.
No actor wants to hear that they are branded. That is: No one wants to hear they are branded until their brand is making them a living.
As actors, we want to be recognized as diverse artists who are able to tackle any role. We grow up with our favorite stars whose many films eventually showed us the wide range of their talents. We also wanted all of that immediately failing to realize that most the stars we cherished had a body of work to look back on, but when they started out, they too were branded.
Develop a brand for yourself. It sounds petty and you know you can achieve more than what you, at first, target yourself towards. But right now, why not prove to this industry that you know how to work? Listen to and accept what they see you as and then present the best that. With a little convincing you will have a say on what your brand eventually becomes. But until then be what they want you to be. You will work. I promise (at least thats what I keep telling myself:-)
If you are having trouble knowing what your brand may be, look for the clues. I had a a meeting with an agency early on in my career when I first left my conservatory. I thought this was it, they want to sign me and the rest will be history… Well I sit typing, and the rest has still yet to be written, but anyway… In the meeting, the agent told me, “There is a bad-boy inside of you that you didn’t bring to this meeting.” I was taken aback. She could see that I carried a confidence in myself that some would have called cocky, or arrogant. Unfortunately, I was making every attempt not to show these cards and to be extremely humble. I was acting.” She saw through me and did not sign me.
Should I have been an asshole? I don’t think so, but I know I could have been more confident with myself. I didn’t know my own brand. That’s what happened. I am not necessarily a bad ass, but I don’t like bullshit. So when I walk into a room, I can’t be bullshitting, I have to be as authentic as possible and my best work and self will emerge.
Would that agent have signed me had I not acted so humbly? Maybe. Maybe not. I can say that she would have signed me if I walked in there knowing what my brand was, and selling it.
Thanks for recycling. Fuck that.
Recycle, damn it.