Expert: Peter Messaline - 8/28/2009

Question
Hi there. I am a first-year university student living in downtown, Toronto. I acted variously throughout highschool (i.e. wrote and starred in the school play and coached an improv team) and tooking acting classes a few years ago. I love acting - it is my one true passion - but I am afraid to pursue it as I know there are thousands of other young actors just like me. I have skills in other areas of creative art (namely design), and I am looking towards a career in this - however: I am truly 100% happiest when I am acting and I dream of a life where I can do it forever. Do you have any advice for me in terms of looking for acting classes in Toronto, as well as at what point can one expect to look for an agent? Thank you. Your advice is highly appreciated!

Answer
My thanks for your question.

I think you may be looking out of what feels like the constricted cell of design work at the freedom and self-actualisation of acting.
I'm here to tell you the grass on this side of the fence is definitely not greener.

In reality, a professional actor's life includes very little of the acting that turns your crank.

First of all, most of the time most actors are not under contract. They are working fulltime to sell themselves and to improve what they're selling. When they are under contract, most of the time is spent waiting for other people's needs to be met. On a film or TV set, it's not at all uncommon to arrive early, sit in costume and make-up for five hours, break for lunch, sit around for the afternoon and finally arrive on set and have to rush through your pages to get the allotted scenes shot before overtime kicks in. In theatre, rehearsals are now short and the opportunities to grow and discover are limited before it's time to open. Smaller, more innovative companies may have longer rehearsal but they pay remarkable little. In the case of the Fringe, of course you get all the time you can manage to set aside, because you're not being paid at all!
People say that the main reason to take a university drama course is that those three or four years will almost certainly give you the most acting and the most concentrated acting you'll ever have in your career.

Take my advice: look around the college where you are to find where the acting is. Film courses always need warm bodies in their scenes, and most drama courses have some sort of opportunity for the students to mount their own productions. Offer your design skills -- put together some designs for plays using the college's acting spaces, and use that as a calling card to get you into the discussions. You'll get a chance to see other people making stupid mistakes, and perhaps be cast once people find out that you're keen and reliable.

Some acting classes would give you a chance to act -- look at the TAAS.ca website and call those who sound possible. Most studios have websites with information about what they do. You'll need to talk to the teacher on the phone, and avoid booking for more than a couple of classes before you discover whether the style of class is what you're looking for. Don't expect that taking classes will help you get work, or even get an agent. You may make some useful contacts and you will gain some useful skills, but agents are looking for some evidence that you can get hired, which often has nothing to do with being able to act well. As usual, you need experience before you can get work, you need a full résumé to impress an engager when you go in looking for work!

Concentrate on your course, don't let the joy of acting pull you away from the investment you are making in your design future.