​There’s a great little meme for actors circulating Facebook called ‘The Actor’s Iceberg’ shared by the Performer Stuff page. It’s a reminder that acting is not always what it seems. The image shows an iceberg, with the tip of the iceberg surrounded by social media, Oscars and awards, online references, money, cameras flashing and so on… but below sea-level are things like “study and training”, “patience”, “rejection”, “sacrifice”, “building relationships”, and ”determination”.

 A number of our students and graduates have responded warmly to this little graphic – simple though it is, it does capture the life of the actor. What the public sees – the end result, the play or film and its publicity machine – is not the half of it. Acting professionally is work – and requires a high degree of self-motivation, personal preparation and stamina to get to that end point.

Several actors have chimed in on social media with things they’d add to the picture, or noted that rejection appeared four times below the surface. Several others emphasised “therapy” and its importance to the actor.

So why would an actor need therapy? Here are a number of ways counselling can offer help to actors:

• Help with shifting to a “success” mindset
• Help with career planning or coaching
• Help with “stage fright”
• Help with depression or anxiety
• Help with managing feelings around a difficult, emotional role or character
• Help dealing with career discouragement, or feelings of rejection after a failed audition experience
• Help with problems faced in the workplace
• Help with past traumas raised by the content of a play or screenplay you’re working on
• Help with the common problems of life
• Help with family relationships

Did you know Perform Australia offers actors coaching and counselling, with a specific empathy for their particular concerns?

But more than that, sometimes an actor needs some one-on-one attention in other areas. Auditions coaching, to build confidence and prepare for an important opportunity. Accents tuition, for your next role. Or perhaps some private singing training to improve your voice.  Perform Australia can offer you assistance.  Find out more here. 

Theatre Games offers exercises & activities that can be enjoyed by broad range of ages & abilities.​At Perform Australia, we practice these high-energy & fun-filled games to encourage clarity of thought, remain calm under pressure & connect  emotionally & physically to the spoken world. These activities act as a warm-up to train  performers to get ready to unleash their imagination & performance.
Students of Perform Australia
1. 1-10
A simple yet effective exercise to bring everyone's focus at the beginning of every session. 
The group stands in a circle and is asked to call out one number at a time. Sounds easy? Well, if two players call out a number at the same time, the exercise is stopped and needs to start over.

2. Spaghetti
A fun-filled, physical activity that helps performers to connect their emotions with their character. It easily creates a drama lesson plan that will  inspire each performing arts student.
The group forms a circle and each player gets a  chance to play an emotion by coming in the center. The group gives the chosen player a specific emotion, that needs to be played by saying the word 'Spaghetti'.

Emotion/character-traits are as such:
Excited-spaghetti, Intelligent spaghetti, rock star spaghetti, cool spaghetti

3. Wink Murder
This activity focuses on promoting concentration and group awareness of all the performers.
The group sits in a circle facing each other and a volunteer is asked to become a detective. This selected detective is then asked to step outside the circle. Meanwhile, the group chooses a murderer from the group that the detective is unaware of. The task for the murderer is to kill the other players (victims), while the detective finds who the villain is.

“Travel broadens the mind”, the saying goes. But how can travel help you as a performer?
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1. When you travel, your mind has a chance to open itself to new ideas. When travelling, you may spend hours in transit, allowing your mind to wander; or you may visit new places, meet new people, and see new sites that awaken your brain to think new thoughts. Our brains love these types of experiences. You shift into a more curious, but relaxed mode. This ‘open mode’ is actually one of the conditions necessary for creativity to flourish – and travel helps it happen. So when you have a quiet moment during your trip - put that phone away, and allow yourself to daydream instead! You may experience a creative burst of energy as a result... perhaps you’ll get an idea for your next creative project!
2. You can see works you wouldn’t normally see in your hometown. When you travel to a city like London, New York, Berlin or Los Angeles from Australia, you’ll get a chance to see cutting-edge theatre. There’ll be everything from large-scale mega-productions, like major musicals, through to unique, avant-garde fringe productions in small theatres – both of which push the boundaries of the art form. Or perhaps you can see some films that wouldn’t normally be released back home. Going to a major cultural centre is a great way for you to understand the extent and breadth of your own artistic field. So when planning your trip, sniff out some interesting creative experiences, and aim to experience something you may not otherwise see.
3. You can actively network with industry professionals. When travelling to a new city, find out where the professionals hang out! Perhaps you can meet locals by attending an acting class or workshop, or by researching local networking events in advance. You may even be able to tour a film studio or theatre, or meet someone at the stage door after a show. And we’re not just talking about selfies with famous people, fun though it might be! Make sound and sensible connections - plan to include something in your trip which may help you professionally later on. An actor can work just about anywhere – so you never know what that holiday connection may bring in the future. Have a business card ready or aim to connect on social media after meeting someone important.

​Did you know that at Perform Australia, we combine travel with training in one of our courses? In the CUA40513 Certificate IV in Musical Theatre, we take students overseas as part of their course. Sometimes other students and graduates of other courses can also join the trip. Get in touch with our office to find out about any upcoming trips we’re planning. 

​From Macbeth to Julius Ceaser and Othello, we know William Shakespeare as the world's greatest dramatist or the writer of English Literature. 

Here are  a few facts about Shakespeare that you probably didn't know:
1. William Shakespeare was baptised at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon on 26 April 1564.

Source: Waymarking

2. The legendary started writing from 1589. He's written a total of 154 sonnets, 37 plays and a number of poems. Additionally, he also collaborated in a number of 'lost plays'.

3. His last play  'The Two Noble Kinsmen' was written in 1613, at the age of 49.

Source: Haverford College Special Collections
4. Apart from writing many plays and sonnets, Shakespeare was also an actor, playing the role of the Ghost in 'Hamlet' and Adam in 'As You Like It'

Source: Wordpress
5. He had his own personal style - of wearing a golden hoop earring in his left ear, as depicted in the Chandos portrait - one of the  famous portraits of Shakespeare.

​1. Hugh Jackman
An Australian actor, who rose to fame with X-men’s Wolverine, Jackman started his career by taking up a drama course in his final year of university. He performed as a lead in  Václav Havel's The Memorandum. Later he did his first drama show with ABC’s Correlli. 

​​In 2018, Jackman posted a throwback picture of himself in a soccer team. Being athletic since childhood, he’s been a part of both soccer and rugby teams.

​ 2. Channing Tatum
​The American actor, singer and producer started his career with a drama film named “Coach Carter” in 2005. Interestingly, the actor was discovered working as a stripper in a night club.

The secret behind his chiseled body is being a great sports player – football, martial arts and baseball. Tatum played football for his school team and later was offered a football scholarship.

3. Tina Fey
The comedian, who is best known for her appearances on American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live had been involved in various extra-curricular activities during school times. Tina Fey, played Varsity tennis in high school and also joined the choir and the drama club. She’s a successful writer, producer, playwright and an actress. 

​4. Terry Crew
​Always putting a smile on our faces, is none other than the ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ actor, Terry Crew. Formerly known as the NFL player, the celebrity started his acting career by co-writing and co-producing ‘Young Boys Incorporated’

5. George Clooney
​The poised, pepper-haired George Clooney, comes in a package. He’s an American actor, producer, director and a filmmaker, who always wanted to make it big in Hollywood. He rose to fame with a medical drama, ER in 1994.

Before entering the film industry, Clooney tried his hand at professional baseball. Apart from baseball, the actor has also played basketball.

​Learning lines is an important skill for the actor. You've got to learn your lines before you can step on stage or set and perform. But how do you actually go about it? There are lots of different approaches to the task, and really, you have to find one that suits you. Learning lines is simply about committing the words you have to say to memory - and that's just plain hard work for most people! While some actors have a natural flair for line-learning, others have to spend many hours on the task.

It's important to honour the writer's work, and not paraphrase it. Every time you change the words, even just a little, you change the original meaning that the author intended. While in some contexts "improvisation" around the lines may be permissable, for the most part, the actor is expected to present the words as written. It's your job!

And it's not until after you've learned your lines that a director can really work with you. Some beginning actors think, "As long as I've got my lines down by opening night, I'll be fine..." - but in a professional setting you're usually required to have your lines down early in the project's timeline.  Reason being, a director can do far less in creating a scene if you're still wandering around with a script in your hand. You're not free to play, to create, to experiment during the rehearsal process.

And while theatre productions may have long rehearsal processes over many days or weeks, a film project may have very little rehearsal at all. So in that case, you've got no choice - you just have to have those lines in your head ready for the director to call "Action!"

Here are some tips and tricks that may help you get started on learning your lines: 

1. Chunking: Go through your script from the top, and cover the words, say them, and check them - in phrases (chunks). Be careful not to memorise words in rhythms, though – well-trodden rhythms in your mind can mean you end up delivering you lines in a sing-song way. Moreover, at the line-learning stage, you don’t know how a director is going to ask you to deliver each line. Don’t become wedded to a way of speaking them too soon. 
2. Visualisation: If your text uses a lot of imagery, as you might find in a Shakespearean work, for example, use visualisation to help get the lines down. Imagine the scene in a series of pictures. Draw them if it helps. Tie your line memorisation to images, rather than words.
3.  Use your phone: Not only can you record your lines on a phone and play them back, you can source an app that is specifically designed for line learning. Apps like Script Rehearser and Rehearsal Pro let you upload a script, record it, or play it back line by line.
4.  The Buddy System: Once you’ve got the basics down, find someone who’ll run your lines with you. That may be a fellow actor, or just a willing friend. Give them a copy of the script, and have them read opposite you, ready to correct you when needed. Working with another person can make line-learning fun and less tedious.
5.  Get the words into your body: If you’re struggling getting certain phrases into your head, assign physical movements to the tricky bits. Sound them out symbolically with gestures or whole-body movements. When you physically repeat them, your brain is finding a way to make connections beyond the words on the page. Some say this method works wonders.
6.  Write them out: This is perhaps the ‘old-fashioned way’ of line-learning - but there’s something to be said for the magic that happens once words travel down your arm and out your pencil! The brain loves a process to help solidify learning.

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Then, once you learn your lines, you must maintain them. You may find that during a season, if you’re not going over them regularly, some of the words slip away and you start paraphrasing - so it’s always good to revisit the script throughout your project. 

​Tom Hanks in the movie 'Philadelphia', 1993 (Credit: IMDB Photo Gallery)
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A lot of aspiring young actors face obstacles to building a career. Some of those obstacles are external – family and friends being unsupportive of their career choice, for instance – while others are internal: an actor’s own thoughts and fears threaten to stifle their creativity and ability to move forward.
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Sometimes these negative influences can leave you with self-doubt about you own ability, and perhaps make you question whether it’s really worth their while to pursue acting professionally. Setbacks can also come early on from auditions that don’t go so well, a bad review, or the long slog of working through smaller roles in the hope that one day a bigger role will come your way.
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So it’s good to be reminded from time to time about how an actor benefits society at large by the work they do.

1. Actors can create empathy for marginalised people. Movies, plays, TV and musicals have a significant impact on public opinion – and even if you’re just a small role in a larger story, you can make a difference. Back in the early 1990s, Tom Hanks took the starring role in Philadelphia, a film which cast a new light on the discrimination suffered by people with HIV AIDS, shifting people’s awareness about the disease and the additional pains caused to sufferers by prejudicial actions taken against them. The musical West Side Story presented Latinos and their culture on the Broadway mainstage for the very first time, throwing light on racial issues in American society. The musical Hair in the 1960s famously helped older generations to understand younger generations and their protests during the Vietnam war. TV series like CSI, presenting key female characters in forensics and police investigations, caused a rise in female applicants to these professions. Even the movie Black Panther reputedly caused an increase in the adoption of black cats from animal shelters, when previously they were neglected due to cultural associations with bad luck! There are many more examples besides. When actors do their job well, they cause their audiences to experience empathy for the characters they play. This can sway the tide of negativity in society.
2. Actors help others to connect socially. One of the great scourges in our society right now is social disconnection and division – despite us all being connected 24/7 to social media. There is so much research now to show that participation in the creative arts, as both an active creator and as a spectator, is good for our social wellbeing. In the UK, there has been a push for medical doctors to prescribe the arts as part of health plans for people suffering various ailments, on the basis that good social connection hastens recovery from illness. The arts bring people together for shared experiences, end loneliness, inspire creativity, and provide personal enrichment – all things which enhance general health and wellbeing. Actors are part of this effort, whether they are bringing people together through performing a play, are conducting an acting workshop for the community, or simply by being in a movie that’s a point of conversation between people. Actors can contribute to social connection in direct and indirect ways.
3. Actors create significant life memories for others. When actors tell stories that matter, they create memories for people. And as we’ve already said, memories are often shared experiences. So not only do we remember a particular movie, play or musical we’ve seen, as often as not, we remember who we saw it with. This is all part of the experience – and actors are significant in this process. Our favourite film or show stays with us – perhaps it was a character that reminded us of ourselves, perhaps it was a story that touched our heart, perhaps it just spoke to us in a way that made life clear in that moment. Often we’ll quote lines from a favourite movie, or we discover ourselves humming a tune from a favourite musical. These stories work their way into our subconscious and make a home there, becoming part of our own story. Actors are a big part of our experience in this way. Without the actors telling those stories, our lives would be the poorer for it.
4. Actors can draw attention to important issues off-screen and off-stage. Because of the pulling power of actors, and our fascination with celebrity, often when an actor has something important to say, people listen. The #MeToo movement, which was promoted by a number of prominent actresses, has drawn attention to the sexual harassment of women in society so that it has become an issue that is addressed across many industries. Many prominent actors have given their names, their time and their money to important causes, whether it’s Australian Samuel Johnson and the Love Your Sister cancer foundation, or Leonardo DiCaprio and his environmental activism, or Emma Watson and global gender equality. While not every actor garners as much attention as these icons do, every actor can work into their lives a cause they want to follow and promote. Life is never only about art, it’s about leaving a legacy in other areas too: in our families and our society. Together these elements give us meaning. So when the eyes of the world do happen to glance your way, there may be opportunity to draw attention to a cause that’s close to your heart.

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So next time you’re feeling discouraged about your journey as an actor, remember these important lessons. What you do does make a difference to people – and you may not even realise the impact you are having. Acting will help you leave your mark on the world – so make it a good one!

Maintaining good mental health can be challenging for anyone, but actors face certain difficulties relating to their profession. Periods of unemployment can result in financial stress. Audition failure can feel like personal rejection. And even if you are having some success and winning roles, sometimes the jobs aren’t creatively challenging enough to keep you happy.

Every actor must take measures to protect their mental health.

1.      Eat well. As an actor, your voice and body are your instrument. So: feed it well. Be aware of your eating habits, without obsessing. Actors performing at night can be tempted by fast food on the way to the theatre, or may skip dinner before a show. If this is you, have a good breakfast and lunch packed with nutrients. Go for fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meats and carbs, water over soft drink and juices, and find snacks that are low in sugar and high in protein to give you energy through to the next meal.

2.      Sleep well. This, too, can be a challenge for actors performing at night. The adrenalin rush of performance can stay with you when it’s really time for bed.  So, have a sleep hygiene routine to help you wind down – get off screens, have a warm drink, read a book quietly, listen to soothing music, shower - whatever works. If, on the other hand, you have to get up for an early morning shoot, plan ahead. Be disciplined about getting to bed on time the night before. Send visitors home, set yourself a “time for bed” alarm, grab an early night – your brain will love you for it.

3.      Exercise. This is the best natural mood booster that there is, because of the release of dopamine that results. Whether you just walk regularly, or have a more structured exercise program, exercise ensures your mind is clearer, you’ll sleep better, and your mood will improve.

4.      Have a coach or counsellor. If you know you’re struggling with mental health, it’s time to check in with a professional. There are many options to choose from: online chat counselling, telephone counselling, face-to-face counselling, as well as classes and workshops. Alternatively, a life coach may be able to help you set some goals. Taking the step to get help can be daunting – but treat it as an investment in your career as an actor. Be aware, too, that you may need to “shop around” for the right helper – find someone you want to work with. A practitioner will not take it personally if you say that they’re not right counsellor for you. They know that client rapport is important for healing.

5.      Have some other (non-acting) work. Some actors falsely believe you have to give up everything (including a regular income) to pursue an acting career. An actor’s life is project- to-project: you might get a voiceover one week, then a commercial the next, then a guest spot on TV – then nothing for three or four months. What do you do the rest of the time? You have another job. An income gives you self-confidence and stability until you get your big (or bigger) break. (Also, we have a tendency to define ourselves by our occupation, but that’s not always psychologically helpful. Don’t wrap up your whole identity in acting – for the sake of your mental health, acknowledge that your influence in the world extends beyond acting - into other fields and personal relationships.) Save up your annual leave from your day job so you can take time off to audition or participate in a project. But make sure you pace yourself – if you don’t get a decent holiday break one year, factor in other forms of downtime to rest and regroup.

6.      Educate yourself financially. In this industry, think of yourself as a business person as well as an actor. Alleviate financial stress by learning about money and how it works. You must understand income and expenses, agent’s commissions, invoicing, and other business terms. Books, websites and courses can teach you the basics. Second to this, become a saver. Several actors have told me they wished they hadn’t spent all their money when they first became successful. (Remember, success in one movie or TV show doesn’t guarantee you’ll be hired again immediately afterwards.) At a time when they could have bought a house or established some longer-term security, they didn’t! So if you do hit the big time, plan to alleviate the possibility of future financial stress by putting some of those earnings aside.

7.      Have a creative project. Some acting jobs are over in less than a day: the TV commercial, the voiceover, the MC gig. While they may pay well, they may not stretch you creatively. So have something creative on the go. Write a one-person show for yourself. Join a choir. Start a play reading group with other actors. Find something stimulating that will allow you to express your creativity, even when the work you’re doing, doesn’t. Creative activity is good for you and will lift your spirits if you’re feeling low.  

8.      Keep up your old friends. To protect your mental health, a social support network is vital. When you are focused on building a career, it’s easy to leave behind the friends who know you best. It’s great to have actor friends – because they will understand your highs and lows – but it’s also great to have people who knew you before all this started. One of the most powerful, scientifically proven methods for alleviating depression and other mental illness is human connection. So, if you’re feeling down – reach out. This is a big call when you’re low, but it reminds you that the world isn’t only happening inside your head.  Make contact with a friend, catch up for a coffee or a beer, get out the board games – whatever floats your boat! Don’t forget to reach out to family too; connect with anyone who reminds you what it means to be alive and loved.

Combine these eight methods and you’ll be in a better place mentally and emotionally for your next role. Don’t wait till you feel yourself sliding downhill before you take action. Instead, work these things into your life today.

​Written by Elizabeth Avery Scott, CEO and co-founder of Perform Australia. She is also a playwright and an actor’s guidance counsellor.
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