“Find something you’re good at and do it well.” Wise words that have helped many people find their place in this busy, dizzy world. Unfortunately, this advice can come at a price for career actors who keep playing the same roles and getting the same jobs day in and day out.
“Actors are just like rubber bands—they should strive to stretch,” says Ellen Jacoby, CSA, President of Ellen Jacoby Casting International and member of CSA and ATAS. “The more versatile an actor is, the more opportunities he will have.”
Starting the Stretch
Though a big proponent for stretching one’s skills, Jacoby advises actors first study and find their acting comfort zone. Once this is determined, actors should begin “moving to the left and the right of this comfort zone” to continue growing their skill bases. Actors who take this approach find more opportunities that they either weren’t qualified or mentally prepared for.
These points ring true with actors across the globe. Actress Angela Bryan, whose upbeat personality and kind appearance made it a cinch for her to get into commercials, says she didn’t want to get pigeonholed into advertisements. To avoid being seen as a one-trick pony, she has worked tirelessly to stretch her skills. And it’s paying off (click here to read an earlier blog post about how Angela stays sharp and hones her craft).
She recently finished filming a miniseries, Another Man’s Wife for the Caribbean. Playing Robin Meeks, a housekeeper-healer, Bryan made use of her Caribbean accent, was stretched in new ways, and enjoyed every minute of it. Currently, Bryan is shooting The Magic City, a feature film in which she plays Jackelyn Castle, a horrible mother who drops her daughter off at her sister’s house to rid herself of her parenting responsibilities for the summer.
“As an actor, I really want to act and enjoy my craft, and it’s easier to do that if I’m versatile,” says Bryan. “Variety is the spice of life, and that holds true in acting.”
Helping Hand
Of course, many have felt being typecast is no big issue for big names. But even the biggest names in Hollywood hate being seen in only one light. Hence why Jim Carrey starred in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Arnold Schwarzenegger was in Kindergarten Cop. (Okay, this was one versatility experiment gone wrong.) However, without a hunger and determination to continue to grow as an actor, it may never happen.
“Actors have to remember that there are many more actors than roles available,” Jacoby says. Therefore, “actors have to constantly prove and improve themselves. If an actor truly has the ability to perform outside of the typecast ‘zone,’ the casting director will want to audition him.”
Sounds simple enough, right? Not exactly. After providing voiceovers and working on television, film, commercials, print advertising, and infomercials, Bryan still wanted more. Instead of waiting to land a role to boost her resume, she is making her own opportunities by writing a film script and jumpstarting her own food show.
“I’m always looking for ways to become more versatile—but that doesn’t mean I’m not selective,” Bryan says. “If a project isn’t right for me, doesn’t stretch new muscles and make me a better overall actor, I keep looking for other opportunities.” [Read how Angela went from having a dream to living it!]
Need an actress who is fantastic in front of whatever camera you have on hand? Contact Angela Bryan at (954) 661-8202, visit her at www.angelabryan.net or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.
Looking for a casting office that auditioned and chose casts for Edward Scissorhands, The Waterboy, and other fantastic films? Go no further than Ellen Jacoby Casting International. Check them out online at www.ellenjacobycasting.com or call (305) 531-5300.
Not working right now? You better be working out.
No matter how long you’ve been acting, there’s one thing your career can’t do without: training. But once you’ve picked up a few gigs, do you really need to go to classes and attend training sessions? It depends. Do you want to ace your next audition?
“Acting is like a muscle,” says Lori S. Wyman, C.S.A., founder of Lori Wyman Casting and author of The Organic Actor. “If you don’t constantly keep it sharp, it gets weak and atrophies.”
Wyman’s words aren’t just sound bites to force professional actors and actresses into training classes and seminars. With 30 years of casting experience under her belt, Wyman has seen firsthand the atrophy that can occur when professional actors don’t work on their chops when not working on a project.
Where to Train
Regardless of where you live, you likely have training opportunities within a short drive. You can hone your skills through classes offered by casting directors, community theaters, community-based acting classes, and local colleges.
Before signing up for a class, find out if you can audit it or try out a class or two for free. Additionally, actress Angela Bryan talks with other actors and actresses to find out which training choices are most beneficial. You may also want to find out the style of acting taught through a specific avenue and the teacher’s personality. And while the majority of training courses are valid and useful, some are too good to be true. Hence why Wyman tells actors to be wary when someone charges too much or promises to make you famous.
After Class
Necessary as training is, training is most beneficial if the skills learned are developed afterward. To truly benefit from training in a way that grows your career, you need to get out there and try out your new skills. That’s where groups like Actor’s Gym of South Florida come in handy.
“We’ve created a space where people can exercise their skills and receive feedback,” says Angela. “That way, when someone goes to a workshop, they can come here afterward to work out their new knowledge and stay sharp. Or if they’re preparing a monologue or getting ready for a scene for an audition, they have a safe and supportive group to practice in front of.”
According to Bryan, Actor’s Gym is not an acting class, and Bryan doesn’t claim any teaching skills. Instead, Actor’s Gym is a group that allows actors to practice what they’ve learned in training. As they work on monologues, scenes, auditioning skills, and improvisation, actors receive instant peer review. as they work on making a new skill become second nature. And that’s when acting magic occurs.
To learn more about Lori Wyman Casting, visit www.loriwymancasting.com or www.theorganicactor.com. For an easy-to-understand book that covers the ins and outs of auditioning in remarkable depth, pick up Wyman’s “The Organic Actor: Insider’s Secrets to Auditioning for Film and Television.”
Want to build up your acting muscles? Contact Angela Bryan at (954) 661-8202 to sign up for Actor’s Gym, which meets the first and third Friday of each month at the Schacknow Museum of Fine Arts (7080 Northwest Fourth Street, Plantation, Florida). Each meeting costs $5 per person to cover use of the facilities. And if you’re looking for an actress who is continually training, Angela can help with that as well! Check out her website at www.angelabryan.net or follow her on Twitter (twitter.com/TheAngelaBryan) or Facebook.
How Angela Bryan went from having a dream to living it.
Angela Bryan hasn’t always been an actress, spokesperson, and lifestyle model. Only A handful of years ago, she was a stay-at-home mom who was ready to pursue her passion: acting, a passion she lived with since elementary school and fostered throughout high school, college, and the Navy. However, she’d not been on stage or in front of the camera in some time.
“I was a little nervous, because I was just getting started when people were already well situated in their careers,” Angela recalls. “But something inside me said, ‘If not now, then when?’”
A Solid Start
Thankfully, Angela heeded the advice of her inner voice, and in December 2005 attended the Business of Show Business. A workshop put on by Actors Info Booth, it was then that Angela realized that those looking into acting fall into two camps: those who consider show business a hobby and those who look at it as a business. Angela placed herself in the latter camp.
“To make it in this business, you have to be tenacious, and you have to want it beyond the idea of glamour and fame,” says Lisa Bunbury, co-owner of Actors Info Booth, an acting resource that provides the tools needed to get people into show business. During the Business of Show Business workshop, Lisa provided a real-life look at the hard work required to make it in the business.
This no-nonsense approach didn’t deter Angela. In fact, it spurred her toward her goals with greater speed. The following month, Angela began a yearlong conservatory program at the Acting School of South Florida. Then, against her instructors’ recommendations, she had professional photos taken, business cards made, and went hunting for an agent before completing even three months of the program.
“I was itching to get out there and do something, and I couldn’t wait an entire year,” Angela says.
Her itch paid off. The first agent’s office she entered signed her on the spot. Before getting back to her car from her new agent’s office, her cell phone rang.
Was she available for an audition Friday?
Yes, she was.
When the audition came, she nailed it and was awarded the job.
Keeping Busy
But that was just the beginning. Over the next year, Angela booked an amazing three out of four auditions. She’s now been the principal on more than 100 jobs. She’s been on commercials, infomercials, and print advertisements; she’s provided voiceover services; been a spokesperson; and she has played roles in network television shows and independent films. As if her career doesn’t keep her busy enough, she has plans to produce her own food show, is writing a screenplay depicting a close friend’s traumatic divorce, and began Actors Playhouse—which she describes as “something like a gym for people wanting to exercise their public speaking and acting skills.”
While you may expect Angela to claim all the glory, she insists she isn’t the only one who made it possible.
“It is a real team effort,” Angela says. “My agent is picky, and only sends me to auditions that fit me, and my husband has encouraged me to chase after my dream from day one.”
It’s a chase that Angela finds invigorating, satisfying, and an absolute blast.
Get more on Angela at her website (AngelaBryan.net) or her IMDB page (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3018990/) and keep up with her busy life by liking her on Facebook (click here) or following her on Twitter (click here).
Interested in learning more about Actors Info Booth? Visit them online at www.actorsinfobooth.com.
This article was written by Daniel Brantley exclusively for Club Cabeza, part of the Amplification, Inc. social media network, please follow along on Twitter and Facebook. Daniel Brantley is a freelance writer who often acts as if he doesn’t know who ate the last cookie. Email Daniel or find him online at danielkbrantley.com or go to twitter.com/danielkbrantley to follow his made-for-TV life.
