Just Do It
Show business is a very tough business. Once you decide to join the ranks of unemployed actors, you must resign yourself to the possibility that you may never make it. Only those who stick it out for the long haul ever succeed. You should not set time limits on yourself. This is very stressful and restricting. I know plenty of actors who have said to me, "If I don't make it in five years I'm going back to Kansas." I say, "If that's the case, you should have stayed in Kansas to begin with." To me, acting is a life, not a career. You either live it or you don't. If you do live it, you will be willing to pursue it for the rest of your life and enjoy every minute of it. The process of learning, growing, improving, auditioning, creating--that should be your primary focus, not becoming rich and famous.

There you have it. Study long and hard, learn to act, make a short but stunning demo tape, get an agent, audition, audition, audition, study some more, audition some more, and somewhere along the line you may just find yourself the next Bart Simpson or Yogi Bear.

So now you know the real story, not a sugarcoated, Hollywood glamour version of life as a voice actor. Still want to be one? I have the number of a good therapist.

Joe Bevilacqua (joebev@ibm.nett) is a Los Angeles-based voice actor, writer, producer, and director. His radio plays have been aired on public radio stations throughout the United States. He is currently working on a comedy Web site, featuring his original online animated cartoon, "Barnaby and Max, Radio Repairmen", which will soon appear on the Internet. voices can be heard at the following Web site: http://www.cybergraphix-anim.com/staff/joebev