What are the chances of me becoming a famous or somewhat famous actress?

Question

I think I'm pretty good at acting. I'm still trying to get over the stage fright thing. But My dream is to become a famous actress or at least be one t.v but what are the chances? Will I have to devote my whole life to acting or what?

Answer 1

Hi Jenny,

I have a couple of different messages for you to address:
1) stage fright
2) becoming famous and what the chances will be.

First of all with regard to stage fright, have a look at the following page on my website for aspring actors. It's on the site, because this question comes up more than you can imagine: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/how_to_get_over_stage_fright.html

Secondly, with regard to becoming famous, although I have this on my site as well, I'll give you the whole shabam here. Here you go:

Some years ago when I played American football in college, we were on the practice field at the end of August right when the new school year started. It was hot and we sweated our butts off! To get to the practice field we had to walk across campus and our college mates were out playing Frisbee. The girls were laying out in the sun. The guys were drinking beer and laughing and having a good time. And what were we doing? We were going to put on our equipment in 95° heat and go out and practice for three hours.

You can imagine that in that kind of heat, practice was hard. Sometimes we wanted to rest or get a drink of water, but we couldn’t. Our coach saw that we were tired and wanted to rest and it was always at those moments in the middle of practice when he would call us all in, tell us to take our helmets off and “take a knee”. He used to tell us a lot of things during those little speeches of his. One thing that he always used to tell us was, “Men, when it’s too hot for the other teams, it will be just right for us.” Something else that he used to tell us was, “Men, if you’re out here practicing in this menacing heat, you gotta love it.”

First and foremost you gotta love acting or singing or whatever you want to do. If the reason you are doing it is to become famous, then I would strongly advise you to seek out some other field. I know that this and the other answers you received might be difficult to digest, but it’s all good advice.

Your first priority as an actor, should be to learn the craft and try to be as good as you can be. And that in itself will take dedication and hard work.

Another time, when I was in college in my sophomore year, I was trying to decide what to major in. What I really loved was languages, but I thought that I should really major in business administration, because that’s where the money would be, but I didn't like it enough to make it my major. I talked to a professor in whom I could confide and told him that I was undecided. He told me to do first and foremost what I was most passionate about and be as good at it as I possibly can at it. He told me that if I did that, then the money would come and fame too, if that’s what you want.. He said that one day I would be thankful that I chose to do something that I really love to do. And you know what? He was right.

It's important to know what it really means to be a working actor. Maybe you already know. I don't have much information about you other than what you wrote. http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/working_as_an_actor.html

Here are some of the issues that actors face before they even get close to working as an actor: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com

There are certainly more of these issues, but this my friend is the reality. I certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but rather to help you understand that you need in my opinion four things that will help you get started so that one day you will have a good chance of getting work as an actor and then MAYBE get to be famous.

Knowing that many, many, many young actors and even older ones have the same issues and hearing about them over and over again, and knowing that I had the same issues not long ago, I decided to create a resource for this same group of people. It takes you through four critical and crucial steps that I consistently see actors overlook and skip, because they’re too impatient and want to jump in right away instead of first creating the base. For actors who think they have their priorities in order, but believe that the real goal is something other than to be a brilliant actor, to be the best actor they can be.

I say all this to let you know, something that you already know which is that there will be a lot of things to do before you get there. You will need clarity of what you really want and for you, why being famous is so important to you, motivation, determination, thick skin, a method of planning, business skills and you will need to see how these things can actually bring success when you interact and hear the stories of other actors, working actors.

After all this, you need to study, study, study. I would advise you to get information about the different techniques that there are and then choose one. Here is some other information that can help you in choosing classes and schools and to learn more about the different techniques there are:
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acting_classes.html

One last thing. Don’t disregard all the other types of acting possibilities there are:
Film, television, theater are the obvious ones. There is also hosting, industrials, commercials, commercial print, student films, independent films, spokesperson. They can help you to get your feet wet and help you get started.
Community theater, extra work, student films and commercial print work can all help you to get your feet wet, while you’re studying.

I hope this gives you some insight and I hope to have made you think. Unless you get lucky, becoming famous can be several years out, if it ever happens at all. Statistics say that it probably won't. If you are an exceptional person with exceptional talent, then you can make it happen, but will come with a price and sacrifice, dedication and devotion.

One last little lesson I learned that I would like to share with you. When I first started acting, my teacher told me that it was probably my football and military training that taught me that I had to strive for the goal and that I achieve my goal, when I reach my objective. She told me that acting is not like that at all. She told me that it is not about “nailing” a scene, but rather about living each and every moment of the scene. That’s what makes it more real. We have to be “in the moment”. It’s not about the final destination of becoming famous. It’s about doing something you really love and enjoying your development and your experiences along the way.

Study, learn, be the best actress that you can be and enjoy it; each and every moment of it. If you become famous, I’ll be happy for you. If you don’t, be happy for yourself that you did something that you really loved and enjoyed. If you don't think you can do that, then you might want to think again about what it is you really want.

Best of luck!

Tony
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acs-blog.html

Answer 2

If you want to be famous, then, yeah. You've got to pretty much devote your life to it.
You've got to be willing to do whatever it takes, no matter what your morals are.
That's just how Hollywood is.


Move to LA and get an agent.
There's SO many people out here trying to make it big, and you either do or you don't.
But, I think, hey, at least you tried if you don't make it.

If you really love it, work in a community theater and have a side job and McDonald's to pay the rent.


BUT, the question is, are you really a theatre nerd? Or do you just want the fame and glory?
Hmm...

Answer 3

Concentrate solely on becoming an outstanding actress. If you make "fame" your primary goal, you doom yourself to disappointment and failure.

Think of it this way: If you're going to become a "star," it's going to be via a well-written hit project. And the only way you would ever get cast in it would be if you were ready -- highly skilled, very disciplined, and quite experienced.

Answer 4

Chances are slim to none.

Only a casting Director, Prodcuer or Talent Agent can determine whether you are "good at acting."

They are the professionals, not you.

Answer 5

About the same as winning the powerball lotto. And you would have to devote your entire life to it, believe me, it is the hardest of all occupations. the acting is easy, the success is hard. You do not have to compromise your morals. What a doofus!

Answer 6

You don't need to devote your whole life to do what you really want. But you will need discipline and you must be very persistent. A little luck will also help you to get you where you want to be. If you dream of something... You must fight for it till you get it.