# \*Could You Be An Actor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245 "2008-06-25T23:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/1 "2008-06-25T23:33:38Z")
I could. I know I could. Instead I took electronics. :smack: Seriously. I know I have the right stuff to memorize lines and throw my emotions out there in a believable fashion. Is it just me? What about the rest of you poor middle income schmucks who missed your calling? \*Christ, it could be the next reality TV show… ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/2 "2008-06-25T23:37:39Z")
I’m fairly certain I could. Memory is no issue, faking emotion no issue, every ‘job personality’ test I’ve ever taken said I should be an actor or a politician. However, I would hate the noteriety. I value my privacy too highly to ever want a job that was that much in the public eye. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/3 "2008-06-25T23:39:51Z")
I’ve been an actor (on stage, not film.) In one play, I even portrayed a gay cowboy. No joke. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/4 "2008-06-25T23:52:29Z")
No way. I once performed a dramatic role in a computer operations training tape. It was MST3K bad. No, wait, it was worse than that. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/5 "2008-06-25T23:53:57Z")
Nah. I doubt I could. I’m sure I could memorize lines and convey certain emotions, but I do think it’s harder than it seems to be **good** at it. We have enough mediocre to bad actors floating around. Also, I enjoy job security. Acting is a feast or famine type of career, it seems. Plus, what if they wanted me to kiss somebody oogy? No thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/6 "2008-06-26T00:04:15Z")
Nope. Too weird looking. And being an actor is a lot more than memorizing lines. When my daughter went for her first audition with a manager, they asked the kids to say “I love Cheerios.” They were able to winnow out 95% of the kids just from that. After many hours spent on sets and in the waiting room of agents all around New York, I can see that actors have this charisma that most of us don’t. I certainly couldn’t be an agent or casting director, but we were able to identify one kid in her day camp as someone with “it” - and he went on to have significant roles in several movies. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/7 "2008-06-26T00:26:06Z")
Speaking as somebody who does stage acting as a mere hobby, I’d say there are more components than the ability to memorize lines and to emote successfully. Those are important components, it’s true. The ability to listen to yourself as you’re speaking is useful; it helps you determine if you’re hitting your marks successfully. The ability to improvise when something goes wrong and the ability to concentrate when someone (like the audience, laughing) throws you off your stride. Plus, it’s helpful if you have a high tolerance for rehearsals — you may rehearse the show for more weeks than you actually perform it. It’s also very useful (though not essential) to be able to replicate your performance day after day, consistently. And… well, if you’re in front of a live audience, it helps if you’re not shy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/8 "2008-06-26T00:30:19Z")
No. I cannot do a single thing that **Fish** lists with any degree of competency. It would be the worst possible career choice for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/9 "2008-06-26T00:33:41Z")
I could do it, if I could only learn not to act but to _lie_. I’m a good liar, but when I try to actually act I blow it. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/10 "2008-06-26T00:45:19Z")
Whoa - you’re barely scratching the surface. Where is - Sound like a real person talking when you deliver lines? (Much harder than it seems.) Behave in a way that isn’t natural to you and make it look natural? Create a believable character who isn’t you? Elicit truthful emotions on cue? Create a reality when there isn’t one in front of you and react accordingly? Do all this over and over and over again? And hardest of all - get a job doing it! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/11 "2008-06-26T00:51:44Z")
I’ve acted in companies as an undergrad a grad student, and since leaving school altogether. Heck, I even got together a company to perform a radio play I wrote, directed it, and took a part when one of my actors quit at the last minute (and post-produced it and got it on the air. I now have INFINITE respect for Ed Wood, Jr., and anyone else who ever gets something made and distributed). So, yeah, I think I _could_ act. I also think I haven’t got anywhere near the training or experience I’d need to make something good of it. But I can do all that’s requiredof an actor. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/12 "2008-06-26T01:52:45Z")
Well… I could do melodrama. I brought the house down in a Jr. High production as Widder Jones. And I got high marks for my Churchill impersonation. But two notes does not an actor make. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/13 "2008-06-26T02:08:48Z")
I’ve been pretty successful in auditions, and I have an agent and a few years of training, so yes, I “can” act. There’s a lot more that goes into it than what the OP mentions, though. I used to think actors were just blank slates that executed very precise commands from the director. Not true at all. It’s a very creative process that can at times be stressful and draining. You can’t really understand what actors are saying when they say a movie was “hard work” until you’ve done a 14-hour shoot, and then done 6 of them in a row. I recently finished a year-long shoot on a movie. It was spread out, of course. We probably had ~15 days of rehearsals and 10-12 days of shooting. The director’s estimate of how long the final cut will be? 15 minutes It’s very thankless at the lower levels, and the pay, if any, is almost insulting. No one will ever see that short film. It didn’t pay any of my bills, and it won’t make any connections for me. A Hollywood type won’t see it, think I’m great, and dig up my agent’s contact info. I did it for the experience. I mean experience in a very personal way - not meaning just something else to slap on my resume to further my career. So could I be an _actor_, though? I dunno. It’s gamble. No one knows. I know I’ll never make it in this town; despite what you hear out of people’s mouths here, there’s no good work around. Most sustainable acting work is still in LA and NY, and increasingly Canada. I’m really not sure if I have what it takes or not, and I’m not sure if I’m passionate enough to starve while I try to find out. Maybe if I was single. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/14 "2008-06-26T02:49:50Z")
I could be a Jack Klugman type actor, in that every character I’d play would be the same person, basically. So, no. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/15 "2008-06-26T03:07:54Z")
I’m on stage every day at work, playing to a much rougher audience than you could know. No sweat. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/16 "2008-06-26T04:21:13Z")
Oh HELL no. I cannot _stand_ people looking at me. I might could play someone in a coma - I can lie still for a long time. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Pangloss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Peter\_Pangloss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Pangloss)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/17 "2008-06-26T05:20:31Z")
I am an actor. I’ve been doing it, both on the stage and in the occasional film, pretty much nonstop since I was seven. I eke out a pretty good supplemental income from it, but if there’s anything this business has taught me it is Never Give Up Your Day Job. It’s been my experience that “talent” is subjective, and what really counts is enthusiasm for the work. I think Katharine Hepburn put it best: “Acting is the least of all talents. Shirley Temple could do it when she was four.” ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/18 "2008-06-26T13:41:13Z")
I am a horrible actor. This was confirmed yesterday when I had to shoot a video for a group project. Luckily I didn’t have too many lines. I blanked out and badly ad-libbed them. In my head I know what to say and how to act but between my brain and my mouth something goes wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/19 "2008-06-26T13:52:19Z")
A person I know who is a superb actor gave it up because auditions made her sick and rejection made her sicker. You have to be able to audition and handle rejection. I could act, except for those two things. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245/20 "2008-06-26T14:21:04Z")
I’ve acted on stage many times, so after much rehearsal I did a fair job of it. Remembering lines and entertaining people was pretty easy, once I got into the swing of it. But the camera does not love me, to the point where I couldn’t even be a decent character actor. I just have no stage presence or charisma whatsoever. Shame, as it would be sort of fun to do, in some situations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-be-an-actor/454245.md?page=2)