How to become a good actor

Lights! Camera! Action!!

Do you ever imagine what it will be like to become a big movie star? To have thousands of fans stay glued to their TV when your face comes up in a movie? Or to smile in front of the cameras while receiving that prestigious award for the best lead role in a movie? Do you ever imagine what it would be like to be a good actor? Here are ten tips on how to become a good actor.

First of all, you don’t become a good actor overnight or after one feature film even if it’s a lead role. This is partly because the film industry produces thousands of films month after month and year after year with hundreds of buzzing actors aiming for the top just like you and also because you may not be that good after all. The Genevieves and Desmond Elliots of the industry did not become popular just like that; a deep search into their acting past would reveal years of practice and applications of some or all of the tips listed below.

Desire: To become a good actor, you have to actually want and desire it. Without passion and desire, nothing good and long-lasting would come your way. Desire is a very strong driving force. Success is not just going to come naturally but like everything else you would want out of life, you must deliberately demand it. Most successful local and international performers would say almost the same thing. There was the desire to become good in their chosen fields and they started to take steps to get better. You too must begin with knowing what you want and what you have to do to achieve it.

Spontaneity: Acting is, in some way, about reacting. An actor must be in tune with his environment. The skill of acting grows out of his knowledge of his environment and how he reacts to it. Therefore, the actor must always be prepared and spontaneous to be able to gather skills, ideas and characters out of life’s situations to keep in his repertoire so as to be able to reproduce them at any time he needs to. For example, in an audition where an actor is asked to act like a mad man, a good actor’s mind immediately searches all the characteristics of a mad man he must have actively or passively observed in the past and spontaneously reproduce it at that moment. Whereas, a bad actor who has not observed his environment well enough would be lost or would perform badly.

Practice: The saying ‘Practice makes perfect’ cannot be overemphasized when it comes to a very practical profession such as acting. To become a good actor, you must be ready to have a lot of practice. Talent alone is never enough, to become a good actor, you should be ready to put in loads of work. The actor is meant to be fit physically and creatively which requires several mind and body exercises. Some actors put in days and months of work to be able to playthe roles that make them stars. To be better than the rest, you have to be prepared to put in more work than the rest. Accept criticism. While you are on your journey to be a better actor and a better person than you already are, you are going to meet a lot of critics on the way. Those who know and those who don’t know and most of what they say would discourage you but you must be ready to put bad criticism aside and recognize good criticisms. Accepting constructive critical points of view from knowledgeable people would put you on the right track of becoming an all-round better person.

Study/Learn: To succeed in any field in life, there is always one overriding principle – studying. The acting sphere is not left out. You must learn to study new ways to better your art. You must add to yourself on a daily basis. An actor’s tool is his body, his voice and his mind. Therefore, the mind must be in a very good shape and this is done through studying. Leave your comfort zone. A lot of people are held back in mediocrity because they refuse to come out of their comfort zones. To become a good actor, you must dare to take on challenging roles and you must be bold enough to take those steps that will carry you to the next level. Go for that audition! Accept that role! Go out of your comfort zone.

Master Your Emotions: A good actor is one that is in control of himself, his thoughts and his emotions. He must know what he is feeling and must be able to conjure emotions from deep within even if they are not what he’s feeling at the moment. For instance, a man who has just lost his child, is told to play the role of a jester or a woman who is very excited is told to render sad lines. In both situations, the actor must find these differing emotions and summon them. The actor then must be in control of his thoughts and must not let what he is feeling affect what he must feel while acting.

Seek Advice/Mentorship: In becoming a good actor, you must never underestimate the power of mentorship and advice from professionals. If you can, get your role model to mentor your acting, to hook you up with new productions where you can learn and grow. If you can’t, get to meet the role model of your choice, then follow them, watch them and learn the good things from them.

Invest in Yourself: You must be ready to invest in whatever you love and cherish. Sometimes, what you need to be a great actor would not be free. You may need to pay to attend workshops, seminars and events that would increase your passion (but never pay for roles). The impact of investing in your career is something you should never underestimate. Time, effort and money needs to be set aside in growing yourself.

Watch Others: To be a good actor, you have to watch good actors and be ready to learn from them. Just as writers must read good books and dancers must watch trending dance steps, so must actors watch good actors and even surround themselves with them. In the pursuit of becoming a better actor, you must continuously watch others act and strive to be better.