What Makes You So Special?

What are you uniquely qualified to do as an actor that NO ONE else can do or be?  Have you ever thought of that?  What’s your brand, archetype, bread and butter niche range of characters that you’ll become known for and reliable and counted on to create time and time again?  This is where the rubber meets the road.  Having this down pat is not an option.  It’s what will inform and feed the actions you take in advancing your career. Your actions determine your results.  This is a big CLUE here so if you haven’t taken this important step, this is your reminder to do it now!

In my last post I began to offer some thoughts on figuring this out for yourself using the well-known (and well paid) actors on the series Friends as an example.  But words don’t teach.  Only experience teaches so…

Take on this inspired action if you want to start the process today.  Don’t just think about defining your product, take ACTion.  Start by watching the performance of another actor in the area of your focus.  Find someone you enjoy and see what qualities and characters they have built their career on.  What is their archetype and/or brand?

Make a date/time commitment with yourself to watch a film you’ve been wanting to see (if your focus is film), go to a live theater performance (if your focus is theater), purposefully watch commercials or listen to voiceovers on camera or on radio/podcasts (if your focus is commercials or voiceovers), etc. You get it, right?

I know you’d give almost anything to have the careers of the many actors that you respect and admire right? So check out their IMDB page or Google them.  Do your homework and you’ll see that that with little exception, they have a niche.  They’re the “bad guy” (Devil) or the “femme fatale” (Lover) or the “funny one” (Jester) in just about everything they do. Yeah, there are the exceptions like Meryl, Johnny, and RDJ but you’re probably not going to “buy” Steve Martin as a killer or Mark Walburg as a scientist.  How about Julia Louis Dreyfuss as a political leader? Only when it’s a comedy!  Get it?

So what is YOUR brand or niche?  I’d love to hear in the comments section below!