The Working Actor - The Essential Guide to a Successful Career

"'You are an actor. You have worked hard to be an actor. You have made a considerable outlay, financially or emotionally, and often both, to do this. So do it. Do it with style. Do it wholeheartedly. Do it every day. Be a working actor"

Being a working actor isn't just about the days you spend rehearsing or performing

It's about approaching your chosen occupation with dedication, energy and focus, so that you always think of yourself as an actor

Especially on those days when you're not acting

So that every single day you do something - however small - to help further your career

The Working Actor is the essential guide to putting yourself in the best possible position to get work, to keep getting it, and to make a living from it

It covers a comprehensive range of topics including ...

★ Finding work: the types of jobs on offer, how to track them down, working with your agent

★ Landing the job: nailing auditions and meetings (and how they can go wrong), writing a winning letter

★ Promoting yourself: compiling a showreel, building your website, choosing (and resembling!) your headshots, networking both on-line and off-line

★ Supporting yourself: choosing a suitable day job, staying positive, avoiding feeling isolated

Each chapter features a work task to inspire you to reflect on what you've learned and to put your knowledge into practice

By the end of the book - armed with your own personal Working Actor Plan - you'll be ready to find your path in the industry, manage your career, and maximise your potential.

This is an inspiring, reassuring book for actors of all ages and backgrounds from recent graduates, to more experienced professionals who want to take their career to the next level

It won't teach you how to act

But it will teach you how to be an actor

REVIEWS

"Paul Clayton's great experience as a working actor shines through these pages. His passion for our profession remains undimmed, but he doesn't disguise the pitfalls and doldrums that are an inevitable part of an actor's life. Paul's book is an essential companion to anyone starting out, and pretty damn useful to those already out there. I only wish he'd written it forty years ago" ~ Alex Jennings

"The most comprehensive, informed and practical advice on the job of acting you are likely to find" ~ Paul Clarkson, Head of Acting, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

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