“You don’t have to be in work to be an actor” DON CHEADLE

What is it to be an actor?

Of course, for any performer, the ultimate goal is to deliver something for an audience be that via stage or screen. But, given that there will likely be extended periods when you’re not in that position its vitally important to remember one thing…

You can be an actor just as much when you’re out of work as when you’re in work. 

In a discussion for The Off-Camera Show, DON CHEADLE explains the countless times people approach him with an all too common phrase;

People come up to me and say… ‘Hey man, I’d love to be an actor’.

Just because you’re not currently in a play, movie, or TV show does not mean you’re not an actor.

Do you wanna be an actor or do you wanna be a star or a celebrity? Yes somebody may not have put you in a TV show or a film yet, but are you acting now, do you read plays, do you read scripts? Thats all working!

A lot of times people think that you have to have a job to work on acting. Which you don’t!

You can read plays, work on monologues, work on script analysis, read scenes with people. That’s all a part of the work.

If you aren’t doing that work, the day when you eventually get your shot, people will quickly discover that your work is one dimensional.