How Long Does it Take to Become a Successful Actor?
I was introduced to a rather well-established Australian director a few years ago. When I told him I was an actor, he said: “Awesome. It takes a while, you know.” It was a refreshing break from the usual “Oh that’s a tough gig, do you have a plan B?” and it’s a good bit of off-handed advice that I come back to whenever I feel like things are moving a bit slowly, career-wise. But it certainly raises another question. How long is a while? How long does it take to become a successful actor?
The time it takes to become a successful actor depends on a multitude of factors, not least of which is your definition of success.
One of the most common things you’ll hear as an actor is that our career takes patience and persistence. If you hang in there long enough, you’ll make it. It’s great advice – so great that I offer it in just about every article I write – but I think it’s worth addressing just how much patience we might need. The main reason people give up on acting is due to how long it can take for things to happen.
So, when does it all pay off?
Whilst us seasoned, jaded actors might be tempted to roll our eyes and jabber on about waiting your turn, it’s an important and layered question that deserves a good amount of consideration.
The Timeline(s) of Success
You’ve probably heard all about those late-bloomer success stories in Hollywood. Actors love to remind each other that Morgan Freeman, Ian McKellen and Samuel L Jackon didn’t hit it big until they were well into their 40s. What often gets left out when reminiscing on these veteran tales of success is the years and years of work these three, among so many other actors, put in to get to that point.
Overnight success stories are often the stuff of myth and legend – anyone who tells you acting is an easy profession deserves a friendly smile and a comforting pat on the shoulder.
Let’s look at three different scenarios.
The Child Star
Some people start working in film, television and theatre from a very young age. Sometimes it’s a matter of having the right connections – maybe their parents are established in the industry. And sometimes it comes down to having the right look for a particular role. I’m not saying that child actors aren’t talented or deserving of their success so early in life but at this stage in their career, their frontal lobes are barely fully developed let alone their acting career. Getting lucky and having enough talent to meet the luck early in life (Leonardo DiCaprio) can set kids up for major success later down the track but it’s by no means a guarantee of a long and successful career.
Fresh Out of Drama School
Almost everyone who goes to drama school secretly thinks they’re going to hit it big as soon as they graduate – I know this because I was one such case. Whilst it didn’t happen for me, it certainly happened for a few people I know. At this stage in your career, you’ve learned enough about the craft to hold your own in front of an audience or a camera but you’re likely jumping into the industry with little to no credits on your resume so it’s still very much early career at this stage. The biggest challenge with landing roles at this point in life is maintaining professionalism and staying realistic. Massive success and global attention aren’t necessarily something humans are equipped to deal with at the best of times, and particularly if you’re young and fresh out of drama school, it’s an enormous amount of responsibility to assume. The best thing I think one can do at this stage is put all of their focus on treating everyone with respect and kindness, and making sure they continue to train and grow throughout this early stage of their career.
The Veterans
After developing a frontal lobe and going to drama school and working in independent theatre and film for many years, these actors get their breakout role later on in life after they’ve had a family and got a good taste of the industry. There’s a lot of advantages to finding success later in life because at this stage, you generally have a well-rounded understanding of who you are and you’ve worked enough to build a good reputation and knowledge of what it’s like working as an actor.
These are three very broad strokes, of course. There’s a lot of room in between all of these scenarios for finding success which leads us to an unfortunately rather frustrating answer.
It varies. There is no way of giving a concrete answer on how long it takes to become a successful actor because there are just so many different factors at play. Your age, your experience, your look, your connections – the list goes on and on.
Jamie Lee Curtis talks about how after a job, she’s unemployed. And whilst she is fortunate enough to be in a position that she feels confident she’ll find work again, there is always the chance that one day, you simply won’t be what people want to see on TV anymore.
Global success finds a very small percentage of actors out there and it can fizzle out just as easily for them as for anyone else.
Which brings us to the most important part of this article.
Okay, but what do you mean by success?
Phew, that was all pretty sobering, wasn’t it? It’s tough. Acting is a tough gig and success in this industry can be esoteric. The most important part of the question “how long does it take to be successful?” isn’t the “how long” bit, it’s the “successful” bit.
Thousands of actors go their whole careers without ever stepping foot in the limelight. Does that make them unsuccessful? That’s up to you to decide.
When I set out on the path of an actor, the allure of fame and fortune was undeniable. I fantasized about it a lot and thought that surely if I worked hard enough, I was destined for it. Hell, I still do fantasize about it occasionally, but I’ve learned a lot since my days of high-school theatre.
My personal ideas of success are no longer attached to becoming a famous actor and are now more geared towards the kinds of projects I want to work on.
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