You might’ve heard about some actors not wanting to “sell out” and avoiding certain types of acting. Like if someone is set on film acting, sometimes they zero in on that one field and scoff at the idea of booking commercials or doing voice acting. If you have on goal in mind and want to do everything in your power to work towards it, that’s one thing. But if you get the idea that it’s beneath you to venture out and try different arenas within your craft, it may be more stifling to your career. To us, that kind of close-minded approach only does one thing: it limits you. It limits your opportunity for networking, for financial success, for consistent work, for broadening your horizons (and your resume!).

Our advice? If you’re in it to make it, to make a living, or to make your resume more well-rounded – have a serious talk with your representation and recalibrate. Go out for roles in commercials, TV, theatre, web series – anything appropriate – to give you a dynamic range on your resume, your reel, and give you chops in several different aspects of the industry. You may find that commercials are what you really want to do/where you book the most work, you may tap into your inner creative genius with web-series and TV (more creative freedom within role depiction) – the possibilities are really endless. It’s about showing how dynamic of an actor your are. It’s about your resume showing your range, and just allowing yourself room to grow.

We absolutely LOVED this quote from Backstage regarding the silly myth that “real artists” don’t do commercials:

I remember having lunch with a friend of mine from grad school who told me he didn’t think he could bring himself to do what I had done. My sin? Taking money for doing commercials. The funny thing is, I actually felt kind of bad about it in that moment. “Why had I sold out like that?” I agonized. Later, I made peace with the fact that actors act. Sometimes that means playing Viola in “Twelfth Night” and sometimes that means playing the “casual mom” cleaning her house with a “high-performance cleaning cloth.” Happily, the second one can pay off the student loans you took out to learn how to do the first—and buy your sanctimonious grad-school buddy lunch.