An Open Letter to Family Members of "An Actor"

Dear (Concerned) Parent/Brother/Sister/Lover of an Actor/Actress/Artist:

So your son/daughter/sibling/lover has decided that they want to be an actor, or otherwise pursue a career in “the arts.” I imagine you have either gone through, or will soon, a number of varying emotions. At some point or another you will likely experience grief, excitement, jealousy, devastation, concern, etc at the choice of said to actor to go down a career path where only a minute percentage of working professionals in the field make a living wage.

And to your credit, you’re right. The choice to pursue a career in the arts is not altogether logical. As an artist, unless your family is in this Industry doing well or you have a god father (which ideally no more exist in today's era), success is anything but certain. But really, is that any different than any other industry?

If you have a someone in the family who wants to be a Doctor. you wouldn’t tell them not to try because it was going to be hard. And you wouldn’t ask them on their first day of college if they’re a doctor yet. You would, however, try to be encouraging and find ways to understand and connect with this person.

The goal here is to learn about how long it takes for actors for Film and Television

The easiest way to do this is through the website IMDb, go to IMDb, type in your favourite actor’s name and then look at the year of their first credit. Next, look at the year of the first credit you actually recognise. The time between those two dates will start to tell you how long it takes to build a career.

"You also need to take into consideration that any given actor was probably struggling in our Industry for a few years before they got their first credit."

Now please talk about this to with your family member who is in Mumbai – you will hopefully begin to get a firmer grasp on the industry. Your foundation of knowledge will increase, and if you’re like me you will start to notice celebrities doing itty bitty roles in Movies/TV Shows that were made decades before they were walking the red carpet.

Now, It turns out that asking someone in the first few months of their acting career many of the questions people often ask actors, in general, will automatically put them on the defensive mode. (see few questions below)

* Did you get any shoot? (Kuch kaam mila?)

* How many auditions you gave today? (Kitne auditions diye?)

* What do you do all day in Mumbai? (Pura din kya karte ho?)

* Why don't you come back home if nothing is happening? (Ghar aaja wapas)

* (I am sure thr are many more questions)

Instead of asking above questions why don't you ask them these questions and see it will lead to a more fruitful conversation.

* Did you get the money we sent? (Beta paise mile?)

* Are you working on any new craft? (Kuch naya sikh rahe ho acting ko leke?)

* Did you meet any work related interesting people (Kuch naye logo se mile kaam ko leke?)

* Did you see any plays or join theatre workshops? (Koi naya play dekha ya koi theatre workshop join kiya?)

* Any new hobbies? (Koi nayi hobbies banayi?)

* Made new friends? (Naye dost banaye?)

* Are you having fun? are you ok in Mumbai? (Tu theek hai na?)

* Did you read Glamour Calling's New post on the group? (Glamour Calling badiya post dalte hai, pado kabhi maza aayega)

* (I am sure now you can think of many more questions which may help them to not go into defensive mode)

Armed with this knowledge, you are already better prepared to understand the life of an actor.

Thanks for making it all the way to the end of this here “letter,” I really appreciate it. You clearly care about your people if you’ve gotten this far, and hopefully the above will help you better understand and connect with them. As always, would love to hear your thoughts and comments in the comments section.

Don't forget to tag your Parent/Brother/Sister/Lover and let them read this.