Hardest experiences - Actor Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
In the acting world a lot you'll hear that you just have to like do whatever is required of you for a role and I really disagree with that. I think you need to be true to your values and the things that you're comfortable with doing. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't push yourself as an actor but as far as it comes to like morals and values you really need to stick to that and that can be really really hard because this industry doesn't necessarily understand that. They're like well it's fine just do it you're just playing a character like whatever. So there have been a few hard experiences where I've had to state what I am and I'm not comfortable doing in front of people who don't have those same views and I have lost out on a pretty lucrative job because I said that I wouldn't use the language that they were asking me to use and it can suck but I don't regret it. I would rather be true to who I am and feel comfortable with what I'm sharing with the world.
Video 2 Transcript
The hardest part about acting for me is the auditions. A lot of times you don't have another actor reading the other person's lines for the scene and you're just getting a bland read and it's hard to feel the emotions that you need to feel. So you need to really do your work in order to know what you are supposed to be doing for the scene.
Video 3 Transcript
I think one of the hardest things about being an actor is it tends to be kind of all or nothing experiences. So when you book a job, it's like so exciting and you're so busy for a while, which can be hard in and of itself. You know, you're just like go, go, go, go, go. You're filming 12-hour days. That can be hard, but it can also be really hard like waiting in between when you're just like not getting any auditions or you're consistently auditioning and not booking any roles for a while. I think it's really important to have confidence in yourself and to have things that bring you joy and make you feel like you have worth that are outside of the acting industry. I think that really helps cope with the highs and lows. Also just balancing things is hard. Now that I'm a mom, I have a hard time juggling my mom's schedule with getting auditions filmed and getting to set and figuring out childcare and everything like that.
Video 4 Transcript
One of the hardest experiences that I had was producing a short film with a good friend of mine. That good friend of mine was also producing the film and starring in the short film with me. We were set up in the mountains. There was a blizzard. It was a western, turn of the century story and I was on horseback and I had my good friend tied to the back of that horse dragging him through the snow and the sagebrush and we did this for 20 or 30 minutes and I banged that poor guy up. We both lost our core temperatures. It was a miserable experience for both of us but as soon as you heat up and you get the feeling back in your feelings and you clean up the blood and the scratches you look at the footage and go, wow, that was pretty amazing. Let's go do it again.
Video 5 Transcript
The hardest experience that I can think of so far is trying to remember your lines. You know, I can study for days and have the lines down perfect, then as soon as you get on set, your mind goes blank. That is embarrassing and kind of hard to handle. So yeah, learning your lines and trying to remember them at the same time, that can be kind of hard sometimes.
Video 6 Transcript
Until you get used to it, the rejection can be difficult. I've been doing it so long that that doesn't really bother me at all or every once in a while bugs me a little bit, but I don't lose any sleep over it, don't worry about it, it's just the way it is. But yeah, that can be tough on people and that's hard. Another thing that's really hard is the inconsistency of income and that's difficult on life, it's difficult on family life in particular and so you have to be really careful if you get into this business that you can handle the vicissitudes of being an actor. You make a lot of money one month, maybe two or three months in a row and then you go three or four or five, six months, we don't make any money. I mean zero, nothing. That can be tricky, yeah.
Video 7 Transcript
Some of the hardest experiences, and this one might seem kind of obvious, is when you get really close to booking a part and you just don't. It's a huge bummer sometimes, but always, always, always, I realize later on that I'm so relieved that I didn't book it, because in the moment it might seem like this is so right for you and this is definitely what's meant for your career, and then later you find out like, no that actually wasn't meant for me, like that person was actually completely right for it, or I was told no for this project but it made me available for this other project that completely changed my life, or introduced me to some of my best friends, so it's kind of trusting the process and knowing that sometimes failure isn't always a failure, if that makes sense.
Video 8 Transcript
One of the hardest experiences of being an actor is not getting a part that you feel like you're perfect for and that, you know, maybe you've gotten to callbacks and you think you're going to get it and then you don't get it. That could be really, really heart-wrenching and very difficult. A lot of people call it rejection. I try to look at it as just not getting hired. You're not getting rejected because essentially, when they're casting one role and they're seeing 200 or 2,000 people for it, you could look at it as those 200 or 2,000 people are getting rejected, but you can also look at it as those people just didn't get hired, which I think is a much better way of thinking about it. And then stunts can be really physically hard and tiring. I had to do a fight scene. I was just dripping with sweat and slept for three days afterwards. Not literally, but it was really tough.
Video 9 Transcript
Hi, I'm Sunshine again. So one hardest experience, I was on set doing a my first actual web commercial. I was a background actor and it was nobody told us to really bring jackets. I brought a jacket because I knew it was kind of cold. I happened to have some gloves in my glove compartment, but it was frigid cold. We were outside and it was like 25 degrees outside and everybody had to be outside, like pretending like they were in a spring park area. And so it was actually winter time, but the scene was supposed to be in the springtime. Super cold. Another time we were on set and I didn't realize how long, nobody knew how long it was going to take on set. And so we were on set probably 15 hours and I ended up having to spend the night and I had no place to stay. So I had to stay at a truck stop with my gun.
Video 10 Transcript
Most of the hardest experiences I've had is just waiting around because there's a lot of waiting around in this business You sit and you sit and you sit for hours and hours and hours Film for a few minutes and then sit for a few more hours. It's draining and that's that's hard But one time I shot a film in 20 hours. I'm non-union. So not a lot of protection, but that's fine 20 hours in this freezing cold cabin in the woods in the middle of rural, Massachusetts And it was the longest night I've ever filmed the way they are like I said 20 hours I left at the crack of dawn and drove for two and a half hours home That's kind of hard. That's a hard experience and that film is called hell's company Another film I did called stray. I was stepping over someone. I just shot and tripped and fell on both knees drove them into the cement and Activated the apparent arthritis. I've had on my knees for a while now. That was tough, but You know what it's all worth it
Video 11 Transcript
So much about this job is difficult to be frank. You have to have really thick skin. So much of this job is rejection. You know, you get 99 no's for every one yes. And so you have to just stick with it. And so many times you're being told, like, oh, you're not tall enough, you're not handsome enough, you're not blonde enough, you're not whatever enough. And that can start to chip away at you and bring you down. And so I would say just keeping your head up and moving on to the next thing. Submit your audition and move on. If you book it, that's great. But if you don't, it sucks, but you have to kind of just move on and take those punches. So that is easily one of the hardest things about this job.
Video 12 Transcript
Recently one example that comes to mind, working on an episode of a show in Los Angeles, which is very intimidating working right in the studios, you know, the old-time studios and all the big names and all the just how professional everything is on the set. And it was my very first scene of this episode and so I didn't know anybody at all and I had some pretty long lines, kind of a little speech or two to give. And it's hard to just jump right into that and just go and connect and do a good job. And especially when they're shooting with different cameras and different angles. And one of the angles is like, you know, it was a camera that just crept slowly as I was talking right up into my grill. And I mean, I didn't want to, I just was biting down on my tongue. Don't get flustered, don't freak out. And I'm grateful I got through that, but it was tough.
Video 13 Transcript
Man, I feel like I could talk about this for like a long time. Not that I haven't been very fortunate, but there's just, acting's just a, it's a roller coaster. One day you feel like, you're like, oh, I'm doing this and it's all coming together. And then the next day you're like, am I ever going to get hired to act again? There's just this constant, you know, there's just so much rejection and highs and lows. But I think that's what it's, it's just hard to stay even keel. So, um, last year I did my first movie and are so excited to finally be in a feature film and COVID hit and we weren't able to finish the film and we still haven't been able to finish because the, one of the main actors is from Canada and we're still waiting on them being able to come to the U S before we can finish this film. So it'll be almost two years before we get to finish this dang thing. And it's just, it's just frustrating because we put so much work to get it funded and things and then it all kind of fell apart with COVID, but we're pressing on.
Video 14 Transcript
Just looking through these responses, I thought it was super funny that the most answered, at least at the time I'm recording this, the most answered prompts are the hardest experiences and why people quit. I think that's telling in some way. Here's the thing, everything gets easier after you get the part. The audition, in my mind, is the hardest part. It's all the in-between. And if you can just stick through it and be like, I'm going to just keep auditioning, you'll be fine. Because once you're on set and you have the wardrobe and you have the other actors and you have the set and you have the director and the crew and the vision and the plan, everything is so much more fun and so much easier. So just remember that. The last movie I was on, there was a kid who was like, this is why I do this. Now I remember, this is why I do this.
Video 15 Transcript
The hardest thing about theater for me, and I think most actors, is just that because it is so subjective, you kind of have to get comfortable with the idea that no matter what, you just might not be the right fit, you know? Even if you are an insanely talented actor, if you have the best voice, the best acting skills, the best dancing out of anyone ever, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be right for a role in the director's eyes, or just in general. And so while someone like, say Hugh Jackman for example, may be super good, you're never going to see him playing a prima ballerina or something, you know? To a certain extent, you just have to get comfortable that there's things that you're capable of and things that you're not.
Video 16 Transcript
Hands down, the hardest experience as an actor is the audition. Auditions are the absolute hardest work for no money, for absolute free, that you will ever have to do as an actor. Everything gets easier after you get the part, so do remember that. The audition is horrible. You have to- you're not paid, you have to do all this work, you have to think of all this stuff, there's no guarantee, um, everything about auditioning is the worst. Just- it's awful.
