A few thoughts on being an actor.

If you type into Google (in my house at least) '10 Upcoming British Actors' you would not find my name among them. What you may notice is that the first-page listings will direct you to many websites that have their Top Ten 10. These lists will invariably contain names such as; Andrew Garfield, Nicholas Hoult and Lenora Crichlow amongst other very famous starlets.

Now the most observant amongst you will detect a faint whiff of name dropping as none of these actors, many of which have starred in their own TV show or movie (or both), can even vaguely be considered to be upcoming. They are, quite clearly up and come. At the reading of this article they may very well be down and gone.

Now this may not be the best way to go about finding true upcoming talent but it is the way that most of you would do it if the notion took you of a Sunday afternoon. I am, of course, not the first actor to pontificate on the musings of the industry (said with the same connotation as the word 'merchandise') - Michael Simkins is one of many that have written about being an actor. Here is an extract from his book; What’s My Motivation? Published by the Guardian (You don’t have to read it):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/may/09/tips-surviving-acting-industry

It’s good advice for an actor on the surface. And whilst most of these publications have some very, very, very, very (sigh) basic advice, they do seem to glibly skirt over some very important topics, and, I might add, some hilariously silly traditions within the industry (merchandise) and completely leave out the day to day must-knows. Certainly must-knows for someone who isn't Andrew Garfield or, well... Michael Simkins.

I'm an actor in London. I'm not sure if I'm upcoming, outgoing, incoming or backsliding. But I'm working as an actor in the capital and I have some thoughts to share, which you may relate to, benefit from or cathartically hate. Thoughts that don’t get talked about in these wonderful books about being actors that cost £10 a pop. But things you will certainly have to face if you are trying to be an actor in 2012.