Ball State

» Modeling

By China at 8:00 PM

I never want to act or be a model. To start, I do not have the looks nor the skill to even begin starting a career in the entertainment industry. More than that, I would not like to go through the whole process of landing acting jobs or modeling jobs. Whenever I see an advertisement for open calls at a nearby school or shopping mall, I shudder at the thought of standing in line for hours with other potential actors only to be dismissed in a heartbeat before a bored director who had scene the hundredth bad actor from the general public. The same goes for modeling jobs. From what I hear, modeling is as hierarchical and connection-driven as electing politicians or drafting future sports stars. I have so many questions when I think about even starting a modeling career. Do I need an agent? Do I have to insure my face in case I get disfigured? But anyways, back to acting jobs. The first step for such jobs would mean trying out at acting auditions. Not only would that require a lot of energy, imagine the emotional reserves and self esteem necessary to withstand the critiques about how you act and carry yourself, and by seasoned directors no less. Even watching American Idol starts to make my hands a bit clammy the moment I think about actually standing in front of the camera to sing, only to be tepidly praised by Paula, dismissed by Randy, and shattered to pieces by Simon. No, it is enough to worry what your friends, family, and colleagues think rather than have to worry what other strangers think as well. But forget open calls and acting auditions, the real scary scenario is having to perform in many film auditions. First, who knows what type of scene you will have to play at the audition? More than that, if your employment options are slim, you may have to take on a really weird or uncomfortable role in order to even start your acting career. Imagine all the film auditions for B and C rated movies Tom Hanks had to go through before he finally made it Big? And the real worry is, even if you do land an acting job, you may end up getting typecast into playing a certain type of character for the rest of your acting career.