Moving to LA to become an actor/model (Los Angeles: loan, hotel)

[Lovetheoutdoors]

Originally Posted by yamota

take the case of Lana Clarkson for example. She came to LA a beautiful young 20 year old with dreams of Hollywood stardom in her eyes, she did everything right, made the right contacts, got an agent, made good auditions, and yet even after 20 years of toiling and working hard she still ended up an woman in her 40s waiting tables at the hard rock cafe and eventually shot to death on Phil Spector's couch...

And she was even the hot wife of that weird teacher in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and still couldn't get a major break.

[Cyanna]

I know a woman, a fellow apartment manager, who is 70 years old. Came to California 50 years ago to be a star. She is STILL hoping to become a star and is always looking for auditions to attend. I think she was in a few minor commercials and did bit parts in two movies. Not much to show for 50 years of dedication to an extremely fickle occupation.

[sfpycroft]

Originally Posted by cyanna

i know a woman, a fellow apartment manager, who is 70 years old. Came to california 50 years ago to be a star. She is still hoping to become a star and is always looking for auditions to attend. I think she was in a few minor commercials and did bit parts in two movies. Not much to show for 50 years of dedication to an extremely fickle occupation.

lmao.

[readymade]

Really? TV is better than it's EVER been! Dexter, True Blood, Modern Family, Community, Burn Notice, Doctor Who, and on and on.

I don't watch half the shows I wish I could.

As for movies, I haven't seen anything lately that's really blown me away except for maybe Avatar. Paranormal Activity was pretty amazing, but that was a while ago. I enjoyed "Youth In Revolt" quite a bit. "Exit Through The Gift Shop" was pretty great, too.

Originally Posted by MassVt

There's virtually nothing in movies or television today that I would actually feel proud to appear in; an endless parade of mediocre ( or worse) sitcoms, B-level movies and embarassing reality shows, easily forgettable and of no lasting quality..

There's really no reason to have cable...you're not missing anything.

[Gurbie]

Originally Posted by John23

Honestly, with the number of people coming to LA to "be in the business", it's crazy. Do they ever consider the current economy when they're thinking about being a star? It seems like an automatic reflex...come to LA, be a star.

-But what if its hard to be a star with traffic, a recession/depression, stiff competition?

I agree with the baseball analogy, at least you know where you stand. With acting, its such hit or miss.

-Although on the other hand, go for your dreams! I'm all for that. If I lived in the midwest or in a small town and had dreams of making it in hollywood or california, sure, go for it. Spend a few years having fun. Be sure to be realistic, don't let it take over your life.

This makes me curious-maybe someone in the business can help. What percentage of people who come to L.A. looking for a career in show biz make it? By make it, I don't necessarily mean becoming a star- I mean get steady work as an actor and make a living? One in 25? One in a hundred? One in a thousand? I have no idea. Anyone care to speculate?

[John23]

Originally Posted by Cyanna

I know a woman, a fellow apartment manager, who is 70 years old. Came to California 50 years ago to be a star. She is STILL hoping to become a star and is always looking for auditions to attend. I think she was in a few minor commercials and did bit parts in two movies. Not much to show for 50 years of dedication to an extremely fickle occupation.

Reminds me of the guy who does the Dos Equis commercials (Stay thirsty my friends!). The most interesting man in the world.

Something like, he had been working for 35 years. And finally, people recognize him because of those commercials. It was a long number of years before he broke through.

[Domsey]

Your friend will be fine. He'll either make it or get tired of being broke and go to med school.

[415_s2k]

I moved to LA because I wanted to live in LA. Sure, I played in a band back in Boston, but I had no plans to join one in Los Angeles. I just wanted to be there... and so I moved at 18.

I was floored when I got there at how many people were f'in rich. A third of the people I met or saw who were my age were driving a late-model car; I was driving an '86 Saab hatchback that needed to have fluids dumped in it every few days to keep it moving. Everyone was wearing the latest, coolest designer duds; I dressed like the Boston hardcore/punk kid I was. It blew me away; I had no idea how they did it, and it just seemed that the further people got into their 20's, the more were successful.

Then, I started selling cars, and had access to everyone's credit report, and got to listen to their stories about how they were going to make it: most of them were living on credit (which was plentiful around '02-07), or on their parents' money. The ones who were actually working were, indeed, usually waiters, waitresses, bartenders, barbacks... the lucky ones were assistants to successful entertainment biz types, and they made barely above minimum wage to be someone's glorified beer *****. But they would milk the hell out of that position, and they'd heap their living expenses onto the pile, knowing that in just a few more weeks they'd get that big break, and they wouldn't be able to walk down the street without being noticed by fans and they would be jetsetting across the globe, ruling Los Angeles.

I recall in particular having a young guy come to the Lexus dealer I was a manager at. He was in perfect shape, super-cool looking, and was driving a beat-up 80's Ford Ranger. The way he talked and acted, you'd have sworn he'd just woken up in a penthouse west of Bevery Hills on Wilshire in a bed full of European models, who then bathed and dressed him as he nursed his hangover, then roared up in a Ferrari to see if Lexus had anything he was interested in today.

I asked him what he did, and he said "actor" in a cooler-than-thou lethargy. After a bit more conversation, it came out that he'd moved there three days ago and was sleeping on someone's couch, but his agent was really awesome and got some ******* on some *******y show that only *******s watched. Right now, he had no income. But he was really going to be the next big thing. He was young, hot, the best actor at his high school in PA, had a good agent who had some really good auditions lined up for him... he told me that although he had zero credit, no money down, and probably couldn't make the first month's payment, we'd get a big, fat check in the mail for the total balance of a brand new LX470 plus ten thousand dollars gratuity in a few weeks if we let him drive it off today. He was serious.

I called him back a couple times to find out how it was going, if he'd made it yet. He always had auditions lined up... was always about to get his big break... the last time I called him, he told me to f-off and he was moving back to Pennsylvania.

When I went back to school and was working in a hotel, I'd see a new, hot girl in the employee lounge eating a salad and go say hi, introduce myself... I'd ask what she did (as in, where in the hotel she worked) and generally I heard, "I'm an actress. *crickets* But I'm a cocktail waitress here, for now."

At the restaurant Fred 63 up Vermont in Hollywood, they have some witty shirts the waitstaff wear... one of them is "Jesus is our dishwasher," but my favorite is black and says in big, white letters: "ACTOR AT WORK."

The thing these people have to remember is that although you may be talented; you may be attractive; you may be just plain damned awesome at your craft... many of the most talented, attractive, and just plain damned awesome people in the world are flocking to LA to do exactly what you're doing, and many of them have way more financial and social resources to work with than you do from the get-go... so you'd better be prepared for some seriously stiff competition.

[readymade]

One of my favorite LA "stories" is I met a couple at a bar one night (they were sitting next to me and we got to talking). I asked the woman what she did.

"I'm in the process of developing my own unique vocal style," she replied. Like that was a job.

HAH!

My cousin, who lives in Reno, told me that he knew about 5 or 6 people who moved to LA to act and now ALL of them are making a living at it. Nothing major, and one of them is a voice-over guy. But still! It does happen! Not often, of course, but I was very surprised that all of his friends were working actors.

[impala666]

Originally Posted by Gurbie

This makes me curious-maybe someone in the business can help. What percentage of people who come to L.A. looking for a career in show biz make it? By make it, I don't necessarily mean becoming a star- I mean get steady work as an actor and make a living? One in 25? One in a hundred? One in a thousand? I have no idea. Anyone care to speculate?

I wrote this about film school but I guess its the same for actors.

The rule of Ten.


For every 10 film students 1 thinks about moving to to LA.
For every 10 that think about it 1 saves up enough cash to do it.
For every 10 who has enough cash 1 actually makes the move.
For every 10 who make the move 1 gets a job.
For every 10 who get a job 1 still has it after 12 months.
For every 10 who last a year 1 makes a career.
For every 10 who make a career 1 becomes successful.
For every 10 who become successful 1 makes it to retirement.


If the Drugs,Alcohol or Women don't get you the Taxman will.