10 Tips for Aspiring Actors
From Actors Who Have Made It In Hollywood
People flock to L.A. every day with nothing but the dream of making it in show biz. Hollywood is a land of dreams and we love it for all of the opportunities it presents to creatives with a story to tell in the entertainment industry.
There’s so much competition and those who don’t see success right off the bat can get burned out on rejection. We know many of those living in our apartments in Los Angeles or looking to rent one of our Hollywood apartments for rent have acting career dreams of their own.
We scoured the interweb for the best advice from Hollywood actors and actresses who have made it in Tinseltown because we want to support you and your dreams. Also, if you do land the lead role and make it big after reading this blog you owe us 10% of your future earnings. This is non-negotiable. 😉
Advice For Aspiring Actors from Actors Who Made It
Who: Harrison Ford
Best Known For: Portraying Han Solo in Star Wars & Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones franchise
Advice: “The only advice I’ve ever offered young actors is to try and figure out how to do it for yourself. Never be caught with the idea that you can imitate someone else’s success.
As much as you might admire what someone else does, don’t try and imitate that. Find your own way. Find your own voice.
Find your own feelings. And that will give you a unique opportunity.”
Who: Rebecca Field
Best Known For: Portraying Lacey in The Client List
Advice: “Do your research and fill in the world of the character you are playing so you know them and the lines so well, no one can do it better than you and you can just ‘be’ in the scene as opposed to ever ‘trying’ or ‘performing’.”
Who: Bryan Cranston
Best Known For: Portraying Walter White in Breaking Bad
Advice: “Know what your job is. About 18 years ago, I had this cognition that I realized that I was going into auditions trying to get a job … And that wasn’t what I’m supposed to be doing.
An actor is supposed to create a compelling, interesting character that serves the text, you present it in the environment where your audition happens, then you walk away. And that’s it. Everything else is out of your control, so don’t focus on that.”
Who: Kyanna Simone Simpson
Best Known For: Portraying Kiesha in Black Lightning
Advice: “Do not be discouraged from rejection! I’ve learned that this industry is filled with 99 “No’s” and 1 “yes”. Sometimes a “No” could mean that there is a more fitting role in the script for you. That is how I got the role of Tasha O’Neal on HBO’S Show Me A Hero!”
Who: Natalie Portman
Best Known For: Portraying Nina Sayers in Black Swan
Advice: “Ninety percent of how you learn is watching great people. When you are surrounded by good actors it lifts your performance.”
Who: Benjamin Papac
Best Known For: Portraying Bale in Into The Badlands
Advice: “Don’t Quit. Tenacity, patience, and diligence are the main keys to success in this career. People expect everything to come from a magical “Big Break.”
And those happen. But they usually happen after ten years of hard work, heartbreak, and a lot of near misses.
When actors don’t book a role, we usually don’t even get the word, “no.” We just get silence. You have to fight your way through thousands of silences until you hit that one day that the world shouts ‘YES. We want YOU.’”
Who: Zendaya
Best Known For: Portraying Rue in Euphoria
Advice: “You have to focus on what makes you happy and make decisions in your career and in your life that make you happy. Say no to things that are negative. Say no to things you don’t want to do.”
Who: Broderick Hunter
Best Known For: Portraying Felix in Insecure
Advice: “Don’t be afraid to look stupid.I had to learn to embrace my inner fool all over again. I’d be so comfortable being my weird and funny self around people I was comfortable with but in the audition room or on set, but I’d turn that off and it’d dull me down. I had to learn to embrace myself all over again.”
Who: Tom Hanks
Best Known For: Being Tom Hanks but also Forrest Gump
Advice: “Act wherever you can … If you are in a circumstance where no one is paying you or offering you the chance to perform, make it yourself. You can make a theater in an empty gas station or the basement of a church.
You can go off and find a place to perform. There’s this tendency to think, ‘I’d like to be an actor. How do I get the chance to act?’
If no one’s asking you, create it yourself. And never ever ever turn down the opportunity to go somewhere and perform.”
Who: Beth Hall
Best Known For: Portraying Wendy on Mom.
Advice: “I think my most important acting tip would be to love what you do for the sake of performing, not for the glory. When you are acting for the love of it, it shows through. ”
Our advice is to be the child of a wildly successful actor or actress (or both) and if that’s not possible a director or a producer or something. We hear that helps.
But for realsies, we love the advice from these experienced performers. Please let us know what your favorite acting advice is and we can share it on our social media. We’re even on
TikTok!
If you are an aspiring actor or actress looking for a place to call home here in Los Angeles, check out our affordable apartments for rent.
Stay focused. You’ve got this!
