Rejection.
All actors face a lot of rejection, that’s part of the job. Even Hollywood movies with popular actors bomb sometimes.
You have to have a thick skin going into this. And you have to believe in yourself, respect and love yourself otherwise you will not stand. You have to keep working regardless of the size of the roles you land.
If there is no work out there for you, create something for yourself to perform in. You need to keep being visible, accessible and you must always keep learning something new.
Sometimes it will seem that all you are doing is auditioning but never getting the part. This could go on for years!
Kate Winslet in a recent interview said she auditioned for 4 years early in her career before she got cast in a part! The key is to have a thick skin, be persistent and keep learning.
Also, you should be genuinely nice and pleasant with everyone you meet in the industry even if they reject you. They might reject you today for a billion reasons that may not even have to do with you personally, but you might end up meeting with them again in the future.
You don’t want to burn any bridges or be nasty to even the lowest position held in the filmmaking ladder. That person holding that position may be calling the shots the next time you see them and if you were nasty with them, they will remember that.
Besides, isn’t it just better when you know you were professional and kind to everyone whether someday you will need something from them or not?
Going back to rejection for a moment. I just want to let you know that if you audition for a part and you have not gotten it and you believe you did a fantastic job, don’t take it personally.
Most of the time the reasons for them rejecting you has nothing to do with you at all. They may have already promised that role to someone else. They may be looking for a certain quality that you don’t have for example height. Some things are just out of your control.
There is an episode of Friends I like to remember when I don’t hear back from casting directors, and it happened at Monica and Chandler’s wedding, Joey is trying very hard to impress a Broadway director and Joey says, “I can do anything, just try me.” (something like that) and the director says, “It’s an all Chinese cast. Can you be Chinese?” That line right there gets me.
Now, not only do I understand there is nothing I can do to control beyond what I put out there but now I understand there are somethings I have to let go and move on to the next audition.