What do you do if your dreams of stardom are shattered by rejection in the Theatrical Production industry?

Rejection powers the Bullet. Eject the cartridge and keep loading. The ball in the goal the hole in the green are a rejection in a sense. Rejection transfers to reflection, reflection builds strength or depression. Which is nicer? Chose the nice! Love rejection, love yourself and remember the most famous Movie Stars had a beginning called……………….REJECTION.

I am not clear what event /moment /comment would 'shatter' your dream? Let me break down some thoughts: 1- Big dreams bring big challenges .. sometimes internal some external. Sometimes -our skills. Are you working hard / learning /growing / treating EVERYONE with kindness? Determine if you should be developing more skills? Seek the valid opinion of an acting coach who is honest with you about your skills and your nature. Take time to be sure that your chosen path leads to success and not just temporary praise and ego affirmation. Are you acting because you love the craft or love the ego boost after a performance? Reflection is looking at you not at others. Buddy Brennan - Acting Coach

3) Remember why you love acting * Recall the defining moment you had to become an actor * Project yourself into the future...where do you want to be in 5 years? * Scale up your skills Review: Not a conflict but situational circumstances Turn negative thoughts into actionable decisions Recall the love and scale up your professionalism

You've a choice: quit and go home whining or get back up, dust off and continue moving forward. You are either in charge of yourself and your efforts and career or others are. Which is it? What will you settle for, dog crap or diamonds? Yes, it may hurt but if your career is important to you, get over it. If you genuinely decide to do something else there is no fault in that. It's your career, your life MAKE IT what you want it to be. Pain causes us to wither or to act. It's completely up to you. You decide. Whatever you decide BE ok with it!

I love this quote and I use it often. You might need to read this out loud a few times ... “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ― Calvin Coolidge

Resilience is the key to success. There are many sayings and quotes such as if you fall get back up again! I’m definitely a believer in auditioning and then treating myself to lunch/dinner. I actually learned that from one of my teachers at HB studio. (Herbert Berghof) Another statement, try try again!

Rejection comes with the territory. If you want to be successful, you'll likely have an early part of your career filled with rejection. Each one, if viewed and evaluated properly, will make you stronger and more competitive. You'll want to eat, but don't let these moments discourage you. Build on them.

Resilience is a very powerful weapon, because there are more doors that close on you than doors that open. The best thing is to adapt and know how to accept a YES or a NO

When something doesn’t happen it is normally for a reason. Something beautiful lies ahead and you need to believe in that. Perseverance is critical and one needs to remain focussed on one’s goal.

It's funny how many people look at the eclectic nature of the choices of jobs or education they have under their belt and feel that they somehow failed because they didn't stay with one field. But, I like to look at it this way... If I hadn't worked in the jobs or had the education or experienced so many different things in my life, I wouldn't have as much to draw on presently. I work in security, but I started in cartooning and comics in my education, moved into theology, spent time in electronics, and now here I am doing something that seems so far out of field with all of that. BUT, so many times those things aided me in what I do now, and I know that one day when I get into voice acting, they will all aid me in that as well.

When I attended college, I chose not to major in theater, but rather filmmaking. I wanted to know what the director and cinematographer needed that I could literally learn by looking through their lens. Those skills have provided their own successes.

You always have to explore different alternatives. We must be prepared with a plan A, plan B, plan C. We must not close our minds to a single possibility.

Reframe the way you think about rejection. You are not auditioning for that singular project, you are auditioning for the people behind the table who presumably will have more opportunities available after this one production is done. This field is ultimately about who you know, and the more frequently you show up to auditions the more familiar with your work the stakeholders will be

Nowadays, we live in a world of social networks. This tool should be a parallel alternative for your business. Social networks should reinforce your strategies, it should not only be your only strategy.

So the main thing is Self Education. Do not stop studying your craft or being aware of what is new. If you are a mature creative or performer,reach to the younger ones....they are so innovative and fresh. This also works vice versa, mature creatives etc can show you all pitfalls. The key is...listen

Education will afford you opportunities that you may not find elsewhere. There's the old adage about only two types of casting: type and bad. We all want to show our range but practically, few of us will have that chance outside of classes. Such opportunities also serve the need for networking.

My great uncle used to tell me to never stop learning. His logic on it was this - the moment that you stop your desire to learn is the moment that you say "I already know all I need to know." The thing is, you never do. There are always others to learn from, new ideas to explore, concepts that you never conceived, and so forth. High school to college to job training to classes online and more - passion about learning leads to passion in all you do. Read a book, take a class, sit down and listen to the masters tell you about their experience... Taking Steve Martin's MasterClass (among others) wasn't just about being a fan of his - it was about hearing him tell about the journey he has been on, and all he learned along the way. Learn.

Finding myself in my early sixties as a professional actor, I knew that what I really wanted was to stretch myself artistically; learn a new ‘language’, if you will, for communicating with an audience. I reached out to a talent agent and got an interview and an audition. She gave me a shot, and I took the next step. My acting skills were honed enough to get me a call back on the first “go see” I received, which put me in front of a camera and showed me where my strengths really lay. It turns out, I had an affinity with film, and it with me. I had found a new home! The calm intensity of acting for the camera, and the naturalness it called for was in my wheelhouse. My career expanded, my horizon broadened. One pivot …and Voilà!

Sometimes these worlds blend and who knows where the industries will verge and diverge. Expanding you skills to understand that variables between stage and screen acting can make you more valuable and employable. I had an audition once with a stage actor. We presented the scene and the director said to the other actor. "Okay, the camera is right here; back that off about 400%." During rehearsal for a scene in a Sydney Pollack film, he began by saying, I don't want to see any acting here. You have to know how to act without communicating that it's an act. Break a leg.

I completely agree with Ken, but also remember there are all sorts of circumstances that may lead to rejection that are NOT in your control. As the wonderful Sheryl Lee Ralph said, sometimes you might remind the Director of his ex-wife and he won’t want to deal with that. Stay secure in what you do, do the work, and continue on. Rejection is a part of the business but if you do the work, and do it well, jobs will come.

For many years I took every rejection as a judgment of my personhood and talent. No matter how many callbacks I got or the good feedback I received, to me, I was failing. When life threw a curveball that caused me to have to step away, it was then that I took a journey for myself. Now I am returning older, with many more wrinkles, and an outdated resume, and yet I feel like the life I am bringing will carry that something I never felt I had before. At a minimum, I know what I have and the heartache won't beat me down like it did before. I can wish I had it before but then I wouldn't be who I am now and it has been a heck of a ride. So here's to taking the ride, learning the lessons, and sharing them.

Rejection is the middle name of Show Business, so keep your head up and focus on your next audition. As the great Jon Jory once said, "You can spend three hours working on your monologue and you will invariably lose out to an equally talented person who spent six hours on theirs." Bottom-line: You want the work, then do the work.

Being a working professional, creating Art, and continuing to grow as an artist are achievable. They have given me, and continue to give me, great joy in my life. Being a Star and having Dreams of Stardom may not be achievable without luck and perhaps not-so-pretty transactions.