Hurry Up and Relax

All you young performers out there--i'm talking to all you guys finishing up college or grad school and thinking about/moving to New York/LA to begin your careers...GET TO IT!

There's about a 10 year curve to "master" any profession you may choose (somebody famous said that righ?), and that doesn't exclude the arts. So pick NY or LA, pick theater or film or television but start working at it. Start auditioning, start studying in NY/LA, start meeting casting directors, start building the foundation of your career in your cells.

Because it takes time. It takes time and luck and hard work and change and money and a whole lot of joy, pain, fear, and love for a casting director to BELIEVE in you. To know that you are capalbe and experienced enough to carry a $15million musical or a $20 million dollar pilot or $30 million dollar film. It takes years.

You will audition thousands of time for hundreds if not thousands of people over the years. You will model, you will do voice overs, you will do commercials, you will do readings, workshops, favors, concerts, benefits, plays, musicals, soaps, tv, student films, films, industrials...you will write, you will direct, you will produce, you will style, you will coach...

You will cry, laugh, celebrate, whine, seek guidance, ...this is life no matter what profession you're in. But for some reason people think in showbiz, you just show up and overnight you're famous. Well Katherine Heigl's been acting since she was a kid and Morgan Freeman didn't have a regular film career until he was 50 (after 20 years in the business). So sure, there's a chance you could be the next Tom Cruise. But what if you're the next Morgan Freeman?