I've been having doubts regarding a career as an actor, how do I know it's for me?

Actors are made. The Actors’ Studio isn’t in business for nothin’.

If you really knew you had to stop, you wouldn’t ask. You’d just stop; sure, you might feel bad, but you’d know. So here’s a bit from long-form improv that we improvisers learnt straightaway when we doubted our “talents” or natural improvisational ability: “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

If there was ever a career that is “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”, it’s acting. Talent is part of success, but not as large a part as being willing to constantly work on your craft and learning how to sell yourself to casting directors.

One wonderful director told me that if any actor is completely confident in his abilities and believes he is perfect at his art, that actor has lost his way and should be selling cars.

We strut and fret our hour upon the stage and then are no more-W. Shakespeare

Actors are born, not made. Stars are made. It’s the most competitive thing you could aspire to. If you have doubts, it’s probably not the right way for you to go.

Literally five minutes ago, I finished reading True and False for the first time. It says taking that self doubt (and every other unpleasant feeling) on stage and courageously saying your lines anyway is what acting is. Does this excite you?

The book is worth a read.

Of course you can do it. Doubt it not. As long as you have the PASSION, the world is your stage. Think Paul Giamatti and Harrison Ford along with lots of other formerly ordinary people who worked hard for it and btw, also got lucky. Yes, luck is a factor here as well. Harrison Ford worked as a carpenter after being unhappy with playing bit roles. He built a studio for Sergio Mendes. Amazingly, he ended up doing some carpentry work for George Lucas and can you imagine, that’s how he was casted as Han Solo after Tom Selleck turned down the role?!

And Paul Giamatti, I distinctly remember him as a very minor character in Kevin Spacey and Samuel Jackson’s “The Negotiator”. The next thing I know, he was being praised for his quirky role in “American Splendor”. Now he has been elevated into a serious and in-demand actor. I mean Paul Giamatti? Don’t get me wrong I’m not belittling him. He was not the typical handsome Hollywood guy but he filled and performed roles Brad or George could not do and he did it with elan!

Bottomline my dear fellow, the best way for you to know if an acting career is for you is to understand whether you are HAPPY doing it. Why would you want to go up there in the stage? Why would you stay up late and expose yourself to the stressful and oftentimes chaotic and budgetless independent film shooting experience? If your answer comes with a smile and a quickening of your heart, then you know.

Close your eyes and imagine for a few minutes what you see yourself doing in 5 years.
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If you saw anything but acting, then you’d better find another line of work.

I do not mean to discourage you, but the biggest factor is wanting to do it. It really has to be in your blood. Acting is one tough career. You have to deal with times of unemployment and the whims of directors and producers and audiences. Some actors make tons of money, but most pretty much scrape by.