The business and marketing side of acting doesn't need to be complicated. I worked with an actor once who told me, "You're good at the business and marketing side of acting. I need to work on it." Are you going to be an actor that just talks about it, or will you take action this year?

Most actors hate the words business and marketing. The good news is that you don't need an MBA to market yourself as an actor. In this post, I'll give you a few super easy ways to better market yourself that you can take action on today. 

Consider what leadership expert John C. Maxwell has to say about taking action: "Dreams don't work unless you do."

How many social media platforms are you using? Comment and let me know. I suggest having at least one but no more than three that you actively use. Otherwise, your entire life will be consumed with posting.

One of the easiest ways to make yourself look more professional online is to brand your social profiles. In other words, make them all look the same or very, very similar. I'll teach you how to do that for free in this post.

Branding your social profiles will be a lot easier if you create separate personal profiles and acting profiles. I suggest that you create private personal profiles and public business or creator profiles.

The public profiles can showcase both your acting and personal posts. However, the personal posts on your public profile should be limited to what you would share with a stranger on an airplane (with other people listening). I learned this concept from Jasmine Star.
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Human brains love consistency, so if your social profiles look the same, it creates a sense of trust that they're in the right place. It will also give you a professional, polished online presence if someone searches your name.

That consistency on your social media platforms can also build trust with your followers in case you ever want to monetize your platform. You don't need to know how you're going to monetize it right now. If you do make a decision on how to monetize your platform, then the foundational branding work will already be done.

It's also important to remember that casting directors for mainstream film and television will not cast you directly from your social media profiles. They may have someone research them to make sure you haven't posted something that will hurt the production, but only once you've auditioned.

In order to even be considered for the audition, you must have a reputable talent agent. In order to get a talent agent, you need to take these five very specific steps. If you have an agent, but you're not yet getting requested for mainstream film and television, then you've most likely skipped one or more of these five steps.

An actor in my agency told me something interesting at an audition. She lived in Los Angeles where she worked as a producer's secretary before moving to my market. 

She booked a number of TV shows during that time because production sometimes needed an actor last minute. Since she was already on the studio lot, they'd pop in and have this convo:

Production: "Hey, aren't you an actor?"

Actor: "Yes."

Production: "Great! Do you want this role? If so, pop over into hair and makeup."

Besides the fact that she's beautiful and talented, she was booking like crazy because she had constant exposure to the people that could offer her a role.

How are you getting yourself more exposure? How can you be more present within your local and regional film market? Attending more film and acting events in your area is a great way to connect to the film industry, whether that be mainstream or indie jobs. Let's look at a few ideas you can research today.

FIND A LOCAL FILM OR ACTING COMMUNITY
There's most likely at least one established film community in your area if you live in a film hub. Ask other actors you know if they're involved. This is a great way to meet indie filmmakers and network with other actors to potentially earn yourself more demo footage or festival awards.

FIND REGIONAL ACTING WORKSHOPS
Even if you're not ready to perform, some of these workshops have observation only tickets. These are great for helping you decide if you want to invest more in that particular workshop in the future. Either way, your name and face are showing up more in those circles.

FIND ACTING SPECIAL SKILLS INTENSIVES
It's better to find special skills training in your city if the training needs to stretch out over time. However, there are a lot of weekend or week-long workshops focused on one special skill set that would get you exposure for that skill. Consider out-of-state or out-of-country multi-week intensives if they're reputable. Casting may recognize the host organization or an instructor's name that bumps you to the top of their list.

VOLUNTEER AT FILM FESTIVALS
Yes, the goal is to be an actor in a film at a film festival. However, volunteering may get you great exposure with directors and producers, especially if you're able to help them in some way during the festival. I do not suggest that you market yourself as an actor unless they ask you if you're an actor. Also, let it be a surprise to them if you show up in a film. No need to tell them. They'll appreciate you more for not talking about it.

GET INTERVIEWED ON FILM PODCASTS
I was invited to participate in two interviews without pitching myself simply because I've been present in my film and acting community. If you agree to an interview, please make sure you have something of value to offer the listeners besides talking about yourself. What takeaways have you learned on your shoots?

Do you have other ideas on how to connect to your film and acting communities? Comment below to share if you do. Remember to put acting events into your calendar to increase your chances of attending. It's okay if you're not ready to signup or buy a ticket yet. Having it in your calendar will remind you to decide closer to the event. 

Please, please, please stop wasting your money printing and mailing resumes or postcards to people you haven't worked with. I know for a fact that the casting directors you want to get your headshot and resume in front of don't have legitimate addresses listed.

I let an actor friend of mine use my P.O. Box as her return address, and all of her mail to the most popular casting directors was returned because, well, they like their privacy. 

Writing thank you cards is always a good idea because you'll be writing to people that you've actually worked with, and you'll have a call sheet or email containing a legitimate address. 

Word travels fast in this business, and everyone likes an actor that expresses gratitude. Gratitude also increases your confidence according to a study cited by Forbes.

Please don't assume you know how to write thank you cards correctly. I had a steep learning curve, but now I can write cards that get a response, even from directors. Learn more about how to get started here.

I had a director email me after receiving my thank you card saying he planned to work with me again. That has never happened from me sending out marketing snail mail, assuming it even gets to where I hope it's going (see the first part of this section).

A lot of actors only ever communicate about themselves. Imagine how tiring that is for casting directors and directors. Now imagine how refreshing it must be for them to have an actor not only say thank you but personalize their card in a meaningful way. I'll teach you how to do it here.

Remember, dreams don't work unless you do. 

Here's your marketing checklist for today:​

• Make your social profiles look the same.
• Research local or regional film and acting events you want to attend. Would you like to make that your goal this year? Get my free weekly goals coaching here.
• Write someone a dang thank you card.

​Actor Boss Insider:

• Free weekly goals coaching emails
• Tailored to screen actors
• From a certified coach (me)
• Click here

Actor Boss Kickstart:

• Still looking for a talent agent? Or...
• Still not getting requested for mainstream TV and film?
• Click here

Actor Boss Pro:

• Already have a talent agent?
• Already getting requested for mainstream TV and film?
• Need passive income to replace your dying residuals?
• Click here

One day, my hubby and I were watching the TV show The Blacklist. In case you aren't familiar, the show features FBI agents that use handguns. I have that special skill listed on my acting resume.

One of the agents sometimes engages in hand-to-hand combat. I started to wonder about the actor's special skills. Did he already have these special skills on his acting resume, and did they help him get cast in the show? Did they train him after he was cast?

I'd like to play a federal agent or detective at some point. I asked myself, "What special skills should I work on to be more marketable to casting?"

Then I thought:

"Which acting special skills do casting directors love to see so I can work on one of those?"

I know that you're always looking for a way to stand out from the crowd, Actor Boss, and special skills are a great way to do that. 

What special skills do you have listed on your resume? Comment below and share. I'd love to hear!

Mine are currently fitness instruction (kickboxing/weightlifting), handguns, Southern dialect, and karaoke queen. No, I cannot sing, but I can perform the crap out of a song.

It's ok to have one fun thing, such as karaoke queen, as long as you can actually follow through on it. However, do not list anything that you can't perform in front of a camera such as fashion or travel.
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In this post, I'll discuss the one special skill that you should be working on this year. I found it mentioned over-and-over again by casting directors when I researched the most in-demand skills.

I'll also share my favorite free tool to help you learn how to do it.

Don't dismiss the rest of this post if you already have this skill.

​The one special skill that you should learn this year is a foreign language. This is the acting special skill that casting directors consistently listed in interviews when asked which acting special skills they love to see. Don't forget to include sign language in this category, which has been used in multiple hit films.

Do you already know a foreign language? Comment to let me know what languages you speak. Why not learn another one, especially one that's similar?

How do you know which foreign language is best for you? I'm personally learning French right now because I took two years of classes in both high school and college. You'll be surprised at how much you remember! I could easily be cast as European, so most languages from that region suit my look.
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Consider these criteria when choosing a foreign language:

• What basic foreign language classes have you already taken?
• What languages makes sense for your look?
• What foreign culture do you already love?

You can also use your newfound foreign language skills to make freelance income as a translator or tutor. The average salary is $20 an hour. Translators are often hired by hospitals or government officials to help with cases, and there are a number of online tutoring services that allow you to work from home.

Learning a foreign language is easier than ever.

I highly recommend the free version of Dulingo. The smartphone app is very user-friendly, and the desktop version has grammar lessons attached to each module.  You can pay to eliminate ads, or you can watch the ads to earn gems and make "purchases."

I decided in 2021 to upgrade to eliminate ads. Why? I can always make more money, but I cannot create more time. The ads were a time suck in my day!
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Duolingo has made learning a foreign language feel like a game. In the free version, you can only miss five answers before you lose all of your health. However, you can use your earned gems to purchase more. Trying to keep all of your health is a fun challenge, though.

They also offer cool badges that encourage you to learn. My next goal, for example, is to earn 100XP in one day, which requires me to complete ten lessons in a day versus my typical three. You decide how many lessons you want to do each day, and Duolingo sends you reminders if you want. It's stupid easy.

Here are a few effective study methods to help you quickly learn your language. These include:
​

• Use Duolingo
• Try a method called Deep Work
• Speak with a native

​The trick to using Duolingo is to finish multiple lessons each day from various categories. For example, I currently take one lesson per day in Food, Animals, and Weather as opposed to three lessons in just Food. That forces my brain to actually learn the words as opposed to just memorizing. I'm always surprised at how much I've retained.

I highly recommend that you read a book called Deep Work by Cal Newport. It's the best way to quickly add any special skill to your resume in my opinion.

Essentially, you'll need to block out a chunk of time, say four hours, and lock yourself in a room with zero distractions. That means no technology, which means no Duolingo, so you'll need to go old school and buy an actual foreign language workbook. The only other option is to use Duolingo in conjunction with an app that shuts down the other functions on your phone or desktop.

The best and only way to know if you're accurately speaking a language is to talk with a native speaker.
​

• Hire a tutor.
• Search for a free meetup.
• Join a local foreign language chapter.

There are a number of internationally recognized groups that promote particular foreign languages. Better yet, try all three! You do not want to show up to an audition and be embarrassed if there's a native speaker in the room to test your skills.

​EASIEST FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS

According to Babbel:

1. Norwegian
2. Swedish
3. Spanish
4. Dutch
5. Portugese
6. Indonesian
7. Italian 
8. French
9. Swahili
   
   

Read more about each here.

BEST LANGUAGES TO LEARN RIGHT NOW

According to Busuu:

1. Arabic
2. French
3. German
4. Hindi
5. Mandarin
6. Portugese
7. Spanish
   
   

Read more about why here.

​BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE MOVIES

According to IMDb:

1. Life Is Beautiful (Italian)
2. The Intouchables (French)
3. Cinema Paradiso (Italian)
4. Oldboy (Korean)
5. The Lives of Others (German)
6. 3 Idiots (Hindi)
7. High and Low (Japanese)
8. Pather Panchali (Bengali)
9. Sansho the Bailiff (Japanese)
10. A Separation (Persian)

These have been sorted by user ratings. See the entire list of 50 Best Foreign Language films here.

You can also type "Top (insert foreign language) films IMDb" into your search browser to watch movies in the foreign language you're learning. Additionally, why not watch your favorite shows or movies again with foreign language subtitles for the language you're learning?

OVERLOOKED LANGUAGE POPULAR IN FILM

American Sign Language has been used in a number of popular films, so don't discount this language for your special skills. While there is no universal sign language, ASL is your best option for acting in the United States and Canada.

According to IMDb:

1. The Eternals
2. CODA
3. A Quiet Place II
4. There Will Be Blood
5. Baby Driver
6. A Quiet Place 
7. Godzilla vs Kong
8. Cry Macho
9. The Shape of Water
10. The Replacements

These have been sorted by popularity. See all 143 (!) movie titles that use American Sign Language here.

FICTIONAL LANGUAGES ARE AN OPTION

A number of popular TV shows and movies have fictional languages that you can now learn. Duolingo teaches both High Valyrian and Klingon!

​Be sure to read Screen Rant's post with 13 fictional languages, plus links on where to learn some of them.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO LEARN FOR JOBS

Want to make some extra moola with a foreign language in between shoots? There are ten languages you should consider.

According to FlexJobs:

1. Mandarin Chinese
2. German
3. Portuguese
4. Japanese
5. Spanish
6. Korean
7. French
8. Arabic
9. Hindi
10. Russian

Read more on FlexJobs here. They also list companies hiring for bilingual jobs on their site, plus a list of bilingual job titles that may help you decide which foreign language is best for your acting special skills.

MOST IN-DEMAND FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR VOICEOVER

According to Voices.com:

1. Spanish
2. French
3. German
4. Arabic
5. Portuguese
6. Mandarin
7. Italian
8. Japanese
9. Russian
10. Dutch

Not sure which voice over languages are getting requested or searched for the most? See the top searches on Voice123 (different site than the one featuring the list above) here.

Should you learn only your lines in a foreign language? If you want to be in the ranks of actors like Meryl Streep, you'll become fluent. My acting coach told me this interesting fact about her performance in Sophie's Choice. Here it is on IMDb trivia:

"Meryl Streep not only learned a Polish accent but also learned how to speak German and Polish in order to have the proper accent of a Polish refugee." - IMDb

That's dedication. Are you willing to go beyond what's required of you?

What if your big break happens because of this newfound special skill? Comment and let me know which foreign language you want to learn.

Download the free Duolingo app today and browse through the language options. Pick a language and try the very first lesson.

You'll be hooked! You can also find friends to follow or compete with. 

Not sure what you should focus on in your screen acting adventures? I'm not only a screen actor, I'm a legit certified goals coach, so I've created three possible paths for you. Go here.

A producer asked me my age at a commercial callback once. 

Randomly, in the middle of a slate, they asked me, "How old are you?" 

Me: I typically get cast as young 20's.

Producer: I'm not from casting, so it doesn't matter if you tell me.

Should actors tell their age? There's been a lot of debate in the media over the years about whether or not sites like IMDb should allow actors' ages to be posted.

When I personally fell victim to that dreaded question, I was unsure of how I would respond in the moment. We'll talk more about my response later in this post.

Ultimately, it's up to you to make this decision, but I want you to consider a few things first.

There are reputable Facebook groups for actors managed by casting directors, so what I'm about to tell you comes from a post I saw in one of those groups.

The industry standard (apparently released by SAG-AFTRA) is to pick a 5-year age range.

After doing a quick online search, I didn't find a link directly from the union on this topic, but I did find a few other reputable sources saying the same thing. Do your own research, and comment to let me know if you have a good reference.

My acting coach, who has been on the other side of the camera for hundreds of productions, says we should put 0-99 because the answer should be based on how old the casting director thinks you look.

So which is it? Let's chat through a few options.

I like the idea of not using an age range in my casting profiles. Let casting figure it out!

Ask your agent their two cents because they're the ones submitting your profile and have a better sense of what age range to submit you for.

I would love to change my age range from 0-99, but if it complicates filtering roles for my agent, then it's doing more harm than good. It might not, though, so double check with them to see.

If you don't have an agent, then you can either change your age range to 0-99, or post and ask your friends and family on social media to crowd source your five year range. 

There's an exception to the age range rule that's super important.

The only time an actor should reveal their age is if they're a minor, for legal purposes. A production company can get into big trouble if they violate certain laws. If you look 18, but you're 16, do not lie!

​SAG-AFTRA has great resources for Young Performers and Parents including a PDF download discussing information for minors.

Age discrimination is a real thing in this business. Once someone knows your age, they can't see you as any other age, which sucks for your casting opportunities.

Here's how that casting conversation I mentioned earlier went:

Producer: How old are you?

Me: I typically get cast as young 20's.

Producer: I'm not from casting, so it doesn't matter if you tell me.

Me: (knowing this is false) What's the age range for the casting?

Producer: 18-22

Me: Yea that's how I typically get cast.

Remember to keep the conversation light and humorous. Don't get defensive. Directors and producers make the final casting decisions, so their knowledge of you is just as important as casting's.

If someone keeps pushing, my suggested response is the following: "Unless my agent gives me explicit instructions to tell my exact age, then I'm going to stick to the standard age range we've discussed." This takes the pressure off of you because now the answer depends on your agent, who is not in the room.

If they keep pushing, just smile and say, "Nope."

You're going to spend a lot of time with your hair and makeup artist. They're typically sociable, especially if you're not a diva. Hint: don't be a diva. You can be confident without being a diva.

Anywho, I broke my own rule, and now I regret it. I started chatting with my makeup artist on a shoot about weird issues with my hair. She naturally asked, "Hormones make a difference. How old are you?"

I told her, even though I could've said, "I thought that, too, but I've gotten them tested. No issues there."

Hair and makeup artists are friends with everybody. After I told her my age, I only started receiving auditions in that age range, even though I've had multiple people volunteer I must be within a younger age range based on how I look on camera. It could be a fluke, but now I'll never know.

I 100% do NOT blame that makeup artist. I volunteered that info, but did not ask her not to tell anyone. Even so, once you've said it, you've said it. I have zero problem telling people outside of acting work how old I am, but there's (unfortunately) too much baggage with telling people in this industry.

Take my advice: even as a very direct person, I'm telling you to deflect like I've shown you in this post when this topic presents itself.

STICK TO YOUR ACTING AGE RANGE
Work Contact: Are you really X years old?
Actor: (smile) Maybe. My acting age range is X years to Y years old.

FOLLOW UP ONLINE
What if someone posts your age or suggests it on a profile like IMDb Pro? You can always request to have it removed. I also suggest that you submit your five year age range to be included on your profiles. 

FIND THE SILVER LINING
Find what's good about no longer being considered for a certain age. For example, if you're nearing 30, do you really want to play an 18 year old?

Here's your checklist:

• Pick two potential 5 year age ranges.
• Ask your agent for their opinion.
• Post a poll on social if you need.
• Update all of your casting profiles with your decision.
• Do not tell any acting work contacts your actual age if you're older than 18.
• Stay cool and stick to your five year age range if people do find out your actual age.

Several actors asked me business of acting questions on set when I first started working as a professional actor.

After repeating those same business of acting answers multiple times, I realized I needed a place to send actors to see those answers in order to save time. That's when I decided to start this blog.

Then something unexpected happened.

Some of my blog posts started ranking on the first page of Google (second only to Backstage articles) even though I wasn't an SEO expert. I realized this was a great way to get more exposure as an actor, plus start generating passive income.

Have you considered starting an acting blog? Why should actors blog anyway?

I avoided the blogging craze for years, but I've since learned how insanely important it is for my acting career.

We live in a digital world that we can no longer avoid, but most actors are making the mistake of posting their thoughts and content only on social media--platforms they do not own. 

In this post, we'll discuss a few ways blogging can help your acting career and change your future.

People, including casting directors and producers, are researching you online. I've directly heard a handful of very reputable casting directors say so. Let's give them something good to find.

Disclosure: the Weebly links in this blog post are referral links, which means at no additional cost to you, I receive financial credit towards my account if you use my link and make a purchase. However, I still highly recommend Weebly whether you use my link or not. It's the company I used to easily build this blog and site.

When you want to know more about someone nowadays, what do you do? Look them up online! Why should you assume that's any different for someone wanting to know about you?

Casting director Marci Liroff (who casts for Spielberg by the way) has such a great quote about this in her article on Backstage:

"I know firsthand that producers, studios, and networks can and do go through your social media. As an actor, when you get hired you are entering into a partnership with the filmmaking team. On a television show, the producers and network are beholden to their advertisers, and they need to make sure that the people involved with their show don’t have skeletons in their online closets."

But let's not assume that the research stops at social media. If anything, they're most likely getting to your social media accounts via a Google search, which means you need hits on Google from your website.

Do you even know what pops up online if you Google your name?

When you start a blog, a majority of search engine results for your name will come from your website and blog content, creating a professional and polished online presentation.

I used Weebly to build this site and blog because of their easy drag-and-drop system. However, you don't need to just blog about your acting. In fact, I recommend against that because it will bore your audience to tears. 

Holy smokes, people are making a crap ton of money blogging!

I resisted blogs for a long time. I truly assumed it was only mom bloggers talking about stuff that didn't relate to me. However, blogging has become a legitimate source of income, especially if you create your own digital products. 

Please know that it takes time to build up the minimum amount of page views required to really make money with ad income, sponsored posts, or affiliate posts.

​However, I'm also currently beta testing a course where I teach you the seven streams of income every actor should try, with five of them being passive, that do not require large traffic numbers.

Ultimately, you need your blog posts to start ranking on Google now and years from now. If your blog focuses on a particular topic, it makes it much easier to rank.

​If you like the way my blog looks, check out Weebly. They make it super easy for me to utilize SEO to help me rank on the first page of Google, even though I'm not an SEO expert.

Aren't you aggravated at the number of social media stars and athletes hopping over into film and television without legitimate acting coaching? I mean we've been working our butts off to get coaching, auditions, and bookings!

But you know why they're able to do it? One word: fans.

Studios and streaming platforms are interested in casting people that are easier to market or already have a fanbase that they know will tune in to watch.

Fans mean less money in the production company's marketing budget and more money in everyone's pockets which makes projects more successful. It also proves that you're a sure thing since people are already attracted to you.

There's a major caveat here: you cannot keep building your fanbase only on social media.

It's not enough to add 500 followers to your Facebook page anymore because you do not own that platform. You can lose those fans at any time for a number of reasons. 

I can't express to you how important a loyal fanbase is these days. Even if you become an A-lister, you need to move your fans off of social media and onto an email list. You cannot do this with Gmail!

Think of your favorite famous actor. If they wanted to write a book, the first question a book agent will ask them is, "How big is your list?" What they're referring to is an email list. Guess what that actor with millions of fans is probably going to answer? "Zero."

If you want ultimate control over your career, you need to safely interact with your fans outside of social media, and the best way to do that is an email list. The best way to grow that email list is by starting a blog, or at the very least have your own site. You can still grow an email list without being famous!

Your niche blog will help you attract your best fans and give you legal ownership of your reader relationship and content, whereas social media companies maintain the rights to your profile followers and the content you post!

Weebly makes integrating your social media really easy. They offer Facebook and Twitter share options at the end of each post so your readers can market the post for you.

If starting an email list sounds overwhelming and confusing, I explain how to do it in this course. You can also join my email list to see and example of how I connect with my followers via email.

Are you curious about how to generate more passive income to replace your dying acting residuals? Learn more about my course. Click here.

I just love a good quiz. I was a sucker for quizzes sponsored by Seventeen magazine when I was in high school. I also took multiple science-based personality tests for the various leadership positions I had in high school and college.

What I didn't realize was how much they impacted my self-awareness. That increased self-awareness led to increased acting confidence. The right quizzes can be beneficial for us as actors to build our self-awareness and help us breakdown scripts in an authentic way. 

I will caution you, however, that not every quiz out there is reputable or backed by science, so be careful. But if you're looking for how to get better at acting at home, keep reading.

In this post, I want to introduce you to a great reputable quiz called 16 Personalities. ​I’ll show you how to use your strengths and weaknesses to build your acting confidence and make strong acting choices in your scene work.

This quiz is very similar to Meyers Briggs if you’re familiar with that test. There's also an individual acting exercise included in this post showing you how to find the best acting tactics or acting strategies for your scene. 

First, open up the 16 Personalities webpage in a new tab to take your free test. Try not to leave any neutral answers.

You should immediately see your results once you finish. True to its name, there are 16 potential types. Comment on this post to share your results.

​I'm an ENTJ, so I'll use that as our example to explain how to use your results specifically for acting.

You'll see a breakdown on the left sidebar with nine areas of exploration. For now, we'll only focus on one. Click option two, Strengths and Weaknesses, for our exercise.

Once you finish this exercise, you can go back through the other eight options to explore acting choices if you're playing a parent, employee, friend, etc. since those breakdowns show you strengths and weaknesses in each of those areas.

For example, I'm not a parent, so I could look through option five Parenthood to see what I would be like as a parent if cast as a mom.

Now you need to explore your strengths and weaknesses in terms of tactics or strategies, based on your training. 

In order to find your strongest choices, you need to look at your strengths and weaknesses together. 

These results show that a strength of mine is Self-Confidence and a weakness is Impatience. I know in reality I like results, and I like to get them quickly. I process and filter information at a rapid rate, so if someone else is still thinking about their answer, I've already moved on to the next thing instead of giving them time to process. 

So how does this translate into tactics or strategies? Here are a few options based on the example above:

Potential ENTJ Tactics (action verbs):

1. to force
2. to hurry
3. to demand

Potential ENTJ Strategies (adverbs):

1. forcefully
2. abruptly
3. demandingly 

I mentioned in the example above that my personality type tends to leave people behind without giving them time to voice their thoughts. Once my brain gets a satisfactory answer, it feels rushed to solve the next problem and forgets about the other people involved.

While our weaknesses can be negative in reality, they are dynamite on camera because they create conflict. 

If we were having an actual conversation right now, and I became demanding and forceful, you would walk away thinking I was rude. However, if I acted that same way in a scene, the sparks would fly on camera!

This should simultaneously make you feel crazy and relieved as an actor.

While we need to work on our weaknesses for the sake of others and our social well being, we can totally be ourselves and let those weaknesses loose on camera regardless of how bad or ugly they make us.

Your weaknesses can be strengths as an actor because you can use them in a scene to create conflict, and conflict is what drives our scenes. Conflict creates obstacles that hinder us (or our scene partner) from getting our objective.

Let's look at a few examples that cover a broad spectrum of personality weaknesses. Remember, we're using these to create conflict in the scene.


I'd love to hear your ideas about how actors can use these in the comments. Feel free to elaborate on what I'm saying.

Personality weaknesses and the conflict they create in a scene:

• Impatient: constantly interrupts
• Lazy: doesn't respond to stimulus
• Shy: won't yell or fight 
• Strict: doesn't like change
• Impulsive: constantly distracted
• Fearful: scared to engage
• Bossy: won't take advice or orders

What other weaknesses can you think of that actors can use? Now let's translate these into strategies. You can use tactics as well, but for the sake of time, I'll use strategies since that's how I'm trained.

Acting strategies for these personality weaknesses:

• Impatient: quickly
• Lazy: sleepily
• Shy: quietly
• Strict: curtly
• Impulsive: distractedly 
• Fearful: nervously
• Bossy: harshly

Let's take this exercise further with objectives. Remember, an objective is active, so we can't get someone to stop doing something. We need them to do something.

Potential objectives for these same personality weaknesses:

• Impatient: I want you to say yes (or no).
• Lazy: I want you to leave.
• Shy: I want you to whisper.
• Strict: I want you to stand up straight.
• Impulsive: I want you to participate.
• Fearful: I want you to laugh.
• Bossy: I want you to agree.

Here's another hard but effective acting exercise for you to try: ask the people closest to you to tell you what they think your personality weaknesses are or what you need to work on as a person.

Yikes. It's going to be hard. However, it will make you a better actor. While it's worth working on those issues for the sake of your relationships, you should use the crap outta them in your scenes.

For example, if they say you interrupt them too much, make an effort to stop interrupting them, but interrupt the mess out of your scene partners and feel good about it! 

If they say that you never seem to get excited about anything, then work on expressing your feelings to them more, but use that nonchalant attitude to drive your scene partners freaking crazy!

Alright, Actor Boss, let me know in the comments which personality weaknesses you're gonna start using and how they create conflict in your scenes.

Go take that quiz!

Comment if you want help finding the best tactics or strategies for your personality type in the comments.