Showcase Your Brand
Auditioning was a difficult thing for me to grasp. Â I always hated the idea of having to market my talents and sell myself. Â However I finally realized that all forms of entertainment is constant marketing. Â If I didnât convince the casting director that I was worth selling to the producer, how could that producer then convince the viewers that I was worth paying the price of an entry ticket? Â Right? Â Itâs all marketing.
No actor wants to hear that they are branded. Â That is:Â No one wants to hear they are branded until their brand is making them a living. Â
As actors, we want to be recognized as diverse artists who are able to tackle any role. Â We grow up with our favorite stars whose many films eventually showed us the wide range of their talents. Â We also wanted all of that immediately failing to realize that most the stars we cherished had a body of work to look back on, but when they started out, they too were branded. Â
Develop a brand for yourself. It sounds petty and you know you can achieve more than what you, at first, target yourself towards. Â But right now, why not prove to this industry that you know how to work? Â Listen to and accept what they see you as and then present the best that. Â With a little convincing you will have a say on what your brand eventually becomes. Â But until then be what they want you to be. You will work. Â I promise (at least thats what I keep telling myself:-)
If you are having trouble knowing what your brand may be, look for the clues.  I had a a meeting with an agency early on in my career when I first left my conservatory.  I thought this was it, they want to sign me and the rest will be history⌠Well I sit typing, and the rest has still yet to be written, but anyway⌠In the meeting, the agent told me, âThere is a bad-boy inside of you that you didnât bring to this meeting.â  I was taken aback.  She could see that I carried a confidence in myself that some would have called cocky, or arrogant.  Unfortunately, I was making every attempt not to show these cards and to be extremely humble.  I was acting.â  She saw through me and did not sign me.
Should I have been an asshole? Â I donât think so, but I know I could have been more confident with myself. Â I didnât know my own brand. Â Thatâs what happened. Â I am not necessarily a bad ass, but I donât like bullshit. Â So when I walk into a room, I canât be bullshitting, I have to be as authentic as possible and my best work and self will emerge. Â
Would that agent have signed me had I not acted so humbly? Maybe. Maybe not. Â I can say that she would have signed me if I walked in there knowing what my brand was, and selling it. Â
Thanks for recycling. Â Fuck that. Â
Recycle, damn it.












