Talent Manager Henry Ravelo reveals the Origin of Opportunity.
Break out roles require strong actors and Talent Manager Henry Ravelo believes that uniqueness plays an essential role in landing jobs. He described how to make the most of your attributes in Part 1 of this Big Break Theory. Now, Henry takes the individual and pushes them out into the universe! To prepare for anything that might happen at an audition…
Key Element #2 of The Big Break Theory = WORK HARD
Chance favors the prepared mind. If you look at everyone who as made it… Madonna is very good but she’s not the best singer in the planet, she’s not the prettiest, she’s not all that. What she had going was talent, she is talented, and she had a passionate desire and an unrelenting focus to own the world; and look she does. She was prepared to step into that life she was imagining, Henry says.
Just like Brad Pitt is a good looking person but not the best looking person in the world. Not all these people are what they’re marketed as. They are human beings. It starts with a desire and is followed up by a whole lot of hard work.
How do you get there? Henry says, Through class, through practice. You don’t even need to take a class. Get your friends and do a scene. Watch bad actors, watch good actors. Put yourself in that situation and visualize. I’m not saying you have to spend a whole lot of money, but get prepared so when you have your shot you can deliver. Or if you get your foot in the door you can fight for a shot.
A casting director’s job is to get you work but it is your job to make sure they have a positive impression of you. You need to be on top of your game and the more you are on top of your game the more opportunities that will come your way if you are persistent.
Artists always need to learn. The older you are the more texture you have. As far as being able to take care of yourself, some people can do that with no training and shear spunk. Some people played roles when they were a kid, in their head or whatever, and when they had an opportunity to do it in an audition they were fine. But they are still inexperienced, which can be a problem, Henry advises.
Henry teaches a class called No One Hires a Green Actor. He helps talent present themselves better and shares the raw truth that most people don’t want to take chances on someone who might screw it up because getting a pitch meeting is next to impossible, getting the person whose job it is to listen to pitches to listen is next to impossible, getting a job to be green lit is next to impossible, getting someone to invest millions of dollars in a pilot is next to impossible, ordering 13 episodes of that pilot is next to impossible, and getting America to tune in and watch you every week is next to impossible. You don’t want risk anything by giving a chance to an actor who doesn’t know what they are doing.
The more you know the better off you’ll be. The more you can handle yourself and rise above that pressure, and it’s a lot of pressure, the more you can deliver.
To get this experience Henry suggests theatre. It has gone back to that, Henry says. I mean look at Glee. Yes, there are some people in there that are new but people who have done things carry the brunt of the show; they’ve been around. Theatre tells that you have discipline because doing eight shows a week isn’t easy and it shows that your talents are strong because that’s a live audience and you could get a bad review. If you are doing TV and you have a line can I take your order you don’t necessarily get a review but if you’re in a show and you say can I take your order you could get mentioned. Marlon Brando started with one or two lines and then he went on from there.
Once you have experience and feel ready for your shot, Henry reminds actors being talented and being trained is not enough. You have to find a buyer. If you are a salad that’s great but no one is going to eat the salad if you don’t dress it up right. You have to make yourself marketable or it doesn’t matter how much talent you have. You will be the most talented person on the unemployment line, Henry says.
How do yourself attractive to buyers (aka casting directors, producers, directors, etc)… one way is by having a magnetic personality. Learn how to draw people to you…
Part 3 of The Big Break Theory reveals how to how to draw people to you Check it out now!
