Professional Acting Resources

BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON ACTING FOR FILM AND TELEVISION

Acting How To: A College Degree

Answers to various acting questions I get from aspiring actors and actresses.

Q: I'm an aspiring actress from France, should I get a theater degree? Or, should I get a college degree that is more "relevant" as a back up plan to my acting? Should I move to L.A. right away?

A: As far as a B.A. in theater, that's really up to you. I know a lot of young actors and actresses that have theater degrees that serve food for a living. I personally think that if you want a "back up" plan, you should definitely get a degree in something useful, like business, engineering, law, etc. 

Having said that, if you don't get married or pregnant and you keep your living expenses really low, you can always pursue your education later in life, which then frees up your "younger" years to pursue what you want. I started working in this industry when I was 22 years old, I'm 38 now and I just started law school. But, I don't have any bills, a wife or children to worry about. It would be much more difficult for me if I did. 

If you can remember that, then going for acting isn't really as big of a deal as people make it out to be. A lot of actresses do move to L.A. and most don't succeed in acting. Like I said, it's a very difficult industry to work in and it takes a lot of time to learn how to do the job. Almost all of the successful actresses that you see in the movies started acting in front of the camera when they were really young. 

But, you ARE still young and if you start learning what you need to know right now and be really diligent about it, you could be ready to work by the time you're old enough to move out here or the U.K. or wherever you ultimately decide. They make really some really wonderful films in France by the way...

Not to sound like a salesman, but you should read my book "Acting For Film and Television: A Professional Guidebook". It can really help you to decide if acting is right for you or not. If you follow what the book says, you'll have a good chance...better than most. It's not easy to become an actor, but it's "do-able". It just takes a lot of work, and usually, that work load is more than most people are willing to do, if you want the truth. 

I hope you like the book and I hope it helps you decide the right path for you.

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As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, or would just like to share some of your successes, please feel free to drop me a line.  I actually answer them.

Best of Luck out there and remember, you can't fail if you don't quit.

D.L. White