Acting Career FAQ
Talent 2 ... Will-Power 10
by
Bob Fraser

I am frequently asked what I think is the most
important ingredient in a successful performing
career -- talent, looks, connections or having
the right agent.

My answer is that those things can be helpful
but none of them are crucial to the successful
pursuit of an acting career.

In fact, when it comes to making your dream a
reality -- I believe that WILL-POWER is king.

Here's why: Back in '64 when I first wandered
Broadway with my headshots and resumés, I met a
man who taught me the meaning of will-power.

I was newly arrived from the "sticks" and I
jumped into the actor's life immediately -- I
got a job proof-reading the Manhattan phone
book.

When I wasn't at my J.O.B., I was at an audition.
I got Backstage early on Thursday morning and
spent every off work hour going to all the open
calls for Broadway shows, Off-Broadway shows,
off-off, touring groups --practically anyplace
actors lined up looking for work.

The first thing I noticed about all these auditions
was that I saw a lot of the same people at every
open call. It soon became clear to me that I was not
alone in my quest for a paying acting job -- that a
lot of actors got Backstage early on Thursday
morning... etc.

After several unsuccessful auditions, I began to
realize that 'making it' was not going to be an walk
in the park.

Of course I was talented! Heck, I was the best
actor to ever come out of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Everybody there said I was going to be a famous
actor someday. So I was stunned by all the VERY
talented actors I was seeing at every audition.

I was a decidedly small worm in The Big Apple.

But I had reason to be optimistic, because there
were also a lot of actors I was seeing at the open
calls, who weren't really competition -- I mean,
some of them must have been delusional -- they were
so-o-o NOT talented.

Which brings me to the man who taught me a great
lesson.

He was a tall, strange dude with long unkempt hair.
He always carried two shopping bags full of food,
headshots, clippings, scripts, candy bars and second
hand clothes.

This is before folks were called "homeless" -- but
he would definitely have fit the description.

His auditions always consisted of the same "act."
No matter what kind of show he was trying out for,
he would get up in front of everybody, put on a
silly hat, wrap a scarf around his neck, haul out
a battered, out of tune ukulele and sing. He would
sing one of the recent hit songs from a Broadway
show, in a horrible falsetto voice. In those days
he was murdering songs like "Cabaret" and "Hello
Dolly."

At every open call, when his name was called out,
most of the other actors in the long line would
groan and grouse -- this clearly untalented BUM
was taking up THEIR valuable audition time.

The casting people just sighed. He was always
there. It was an "OPEN" call. They had to deal
with it.

He would sing his horrible song, get many unwanted
laughs, be dismissed with a loud "NEXT!" and then
endure a spate of mean spirited remarks from his
fellow actors, as he left the building.

"Stop wasting your time."
"You stink."
"You have no talent."

But this guy ignored his fellow performers and
just kept showing up. He was always the same:
Awful. And nothing anyone said to him had any
effect on his behavior. He didn't get better.
He didn't comb his hair or clean his clothes.
His singing got worse, if that's possible.

But he kept showing up.

I must admit I felt the same way about this
guy as most of of the other actors. I wasn't
vocal about it, but we were all so talented and
we weren't getting anywhere -- what made this
guy think he stood a chance?

Then, as sometimes happens with people who write,
I became fascinated by this character. I was
curious about what made him tick. What kept him
coming back?

He was never going to "make it"-- everyone could
see that. So, I made it my business to chat with
him. I discovered that all this pathetic guy wanted,
in the whole wide world, was to be in show business.
He was passionate about it. He just purely loved
performing. I also found out that he had been going
to open calls for close to 7 years.

7 years! To me, the idea of 7 years of failure was
very scary. Could I do it? Would I end up like this
guy -- who was clearly not the brightest bulb on the
tree?

Maybe I was delusional, like him, and everyone was
laughing at MY pathetic auditions. But, I kept going
to open calls -- and so did he.

A little way down the road, I got in an off-Broadway
show. The show ran 3 months. When I went back to
pounding the pavement -- the guy was still showing up
at every audition.

Then I went South on a dinner theatre tour. 4 months
later I came back to the city and, yes, he was still
showing up.

Then I got a national tour and was gone for half a
year. That's right, when I got back he was still
popping up at every open call.

I chatted with him again. I asked him directly
whether he ever felt that his desire to be in show
business was a hopeless cause. (As I thought it was.)

He said, "No. I will never give up, because it's
all I want. I know it's a just matter of time. All
it takes from me is the will-power to keep trying."

I probably chuckled -- in those days I didn't
believe in "will-power" or any other mumbo jumbo.
I believed in talent and agents and connections.

But mostly, I believed in talent.

His "will-power," in the face of eight and a half
years of rejection, just didn't make sense to me.

Then, I got cast in a long running musical, did a
couple of commercials and got an agent. I wasn't
going to open calls anymore -- and so, I never saw
this guy at an audition again.

CUT TO: 1970, some 5 years after these events, my
wife and I had bought a theatre in South Dakota.
That's where we were, watching TV one night, when
suddenly -- there he was! On television!

He was a guest star on Laugh-In. I was stunned.
He looked exactly like he'd looked years ago at all
those open calls. And he was doing the same act!
He strummed his bedraggled old ukulele and sang in
his off-key falsetto.

Then, as the months went by, he appeared on Carson,
then Merv Griffin, and he became a regular on
Laugh-In. His face was on magazine covers. His name
was immediately recognized. He went on to become a
world-wide celebrity. One of his TV appearances
still holds an all-time high rating record.

This strange, unkempt man had gotten what he
wanted. It took almost 13 years -- but he was in
show business, he was famous, he was making the big
bucks -- and, believe me, he had not become
talented, good-looking or connected in the meantime.

In other words, his "will-power" had conquered all
those seeming obstacles to his success -- and he
had reached his stated goal.

That's how Tiny Tim taught me that knowing what
your really want and will-power are more important
tools in the actor's kit-bag than a genetic gift,
like talent or looks.

So, the answer I give is this: I believe it's
critical to your dreams of success that you have a
clear goal and the will-power to beat the rejection.
(Which IS going to happen to you -- whether you are
talented or not.)

And, BTW, you remember those actors who complained
and made remarks about Tiny Tim wasting their time?
I've never heard from any of them again.

They didn't "make-it."

Probably because they were JUST talented.

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Bob Fraser is an actor, writer, director, show-runner
and author of You Must Act! "The Actor's Bible"

Find out more by clicking this link:

www.youmustact.com

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