Expert: Phil Nemy - 6/25/2006

Question
Dear Mr. Phil,

I'm a brazilian actress pretending to move abroad to start my career acting on movies. So I'm with a huge doubt: should I go to L.A, NY or some other place in Europe? I have a course in Paris on september at the Acting International. So which is the best place for me to start? I have a great english, and need help to chose a good course and a city to begin. Could you help me?

Best regards, Maíra Labanca.

Answer
Maira,

Thanks for writing. It's difficult for me to advise you because I don't have all the facts. You say you are "pretending" to move abroad to start an acting career. By pretending, do you mean that you're uncertain about whether to move abroad, or does pretending mean that you are not seriously going to move from Brazil? I'll assume that you are considering moving abroad but don't know where you should move.

Secondly, do you expect to have a career in English-speaking, American films, or do you intend to work primarily in Spanish-speaking or Portugese-speaking foreign films? If it's foreign films, then I would advise you NOT to move to America, but instead consider somewhere where they speak the foreign languages that you speak so that you can act without being self-conscious about your dialect.

If you are already scheduled to take an acting course in Paris in September, then I would move to Paris, take the class and see if you like living and working in Paris. If you do, then stay there and pursue your career.

Good luck!

Phil