Welcome to ProActingWorkshop.com
How to Become a Professional Actor: Professional Actor Resources, Advice & Training for Actors of All Ages

Acting Professionally: This website is dedicated to Professional Actors and all those who want to become one.

Why is acting the only profession where pros feel the need to introduce themselves as "professional"?

Do doctors say, "I am a professional doctor"? ... Do teachers say, "I am a professional teacher"? ... No! Yet many actors, when asked, "What do you do?" feel the need to reply, "I am a Professional actor."

Acting professionally is about much more than just getting paid for acting, and it's our purpose in this website to give you an ever-widening stream of information on what it takes, what to know, and what to do as a professional actor.

Professional Acting is also more than just a "quality" statement of how good an actor you are... there should also be a significant connection to your active pursuit of professional acting jobs, your spirited and enthusiastic involvement in professional actor training and workshops, and your thoughtful connection and contribution to the community and social network of working actors.

What does it take to become a "Prefessional" Actor? There are really only 3 MOST important necessities all pro actors should acquire: Training, Experience, and Perseverance.

Pro Actor Training: Acting styles and techniques are always changing, and they are different for different media and venues. Not too long ago, stage actors were trained in the art of vocal and physical "projection" -- being loud enough to be heard by the last row in the balcony, and using gestures and facial expressions that could be seen from the "back of the house."

So, stage actors proudly developed big, booming voices that could sometimes literally shatter glass, and physical techniques that could make a raised eyebrow of suspicion be visible to the back row in the theater.

But, as film and TV emerged as the dominant platforms for pro acting, those big-voiced stage actors had to be re-trained in the art of performing more naturally and nuanced for the microphone. Not to mention, those exaggerated physical acting techniqes -- the stage actor who could masterfully raise his eyebrow almost an inch to show suspicion had to come to terms with the fact that his eyebrow would literally be traveling 10 feet in a close-up on the silver screen.

It's the same nowadays. The styles and techniques a pro actor deploys for their Netflix sitcom, will probably not work on stage, and definitely not in a film targeted for the "big screen."

So, Pro Actors need to be TRAINED in ALL the current acting styles and techniques.

Pro Actor Experience: Actors should always be looking to gain more EXPERIENCE in their craft, and actors, especially those who are early in their career, should look for constant acting experiences, including what might be called the"social experiences" of meeting and developing friendships with other performers, writers, directors and technicians.

Of course, actors gain much needed experience as part of their training in class, BUT, it is just as important to find experience in front of real audience. We will talk more about finding performance opportunities on other pages in this site, but here are just a few to think about: community theater, student film and TV productions, TV (and other media) commercials, podcasts (especially those just starting up), local library readings and recordings, and many more.

Pro Actor Perseverance: Almost all actors must learn the art of "Persevering" lots of rejection -- especially in all those auditions they will lose out to other actors. The best first lesson to learn in the art of Pro Actor Perseverance, is that almost nothing in the business of acting is about you. You might make the 3rd callback for a part you are perfect for and in the end lose out because you are an inch too tall/short opposite the leading man/woman they just cast.

We will have much more to say on What it Takes to Be a Professional Actor across all the pages of this website and we encourage you to bookmark this page and check back often as new material will be added all the time.

One Quick Piece of Pro Acting Advice: Never stop training and socializing with other actors. Many of your most important acting skills will be learned by watching another actor's success (or failure) in class.

We also invite you to check out our Online Store for Pro Actors, as well as the links we will provide on each page to interesting books on professional acting, professional actor resource materials, and suggestions for useful items actors should consider including in their Actor's Bag of Essentials for Auditions & Class. Check out a few samples of each below.

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Here are other Professional Acting Topics currently in our site:

The Topics below are Coming Soon!

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