Finding the Balance: Building a Life and a Career in Acting

Being a professional actor asks a lot of you, right?! It demands flexibility, passion, sacrifice, and resilience. It’s not a typical job - it’s unpredictable and personal. That’s why it’s so important to find the balance between staying ready for your career and also making space to live your life. 

This industry moves fast. Auditions can pop up with barely any notice. Being available is important. The more often you show up, the more chances you give yourself to grow, work, and be seen. But you can’t guarantee that getting the job is going to make you happier.

When your entire identity and level of self acceptance revolve around being an employed actor, it’s easy to lose perspective. You start saying no to relationships, hobbies, travel, rest so that you’re available. I, myself, have travelled SO much more of the US than Europe (where I lived much longer) because in my early career I was too afraid to travel in case I missed an audition! If life becomes a game of simply waiting for the next job or opportunity, everything feels high-stakes and all your acting is then results oriented. You NEED to be good.

That’s where class comes in. Training regularly keeps you grounded. It gives you space to grow without the pressure of booking a job. It’s where you can take risks, reconnect with the joy of the craft, and remind yourself why you started. You’re not just preparing for work - you’re staying in the work. Class can help you reclaim ownership over being an actor because you’re doing it for yourself as much as for the industry and future jobs .

Be in ‘preparation mode’, even if you don’t know exactly what for. Keep the faith that you will work again (because you WILL!) Class keeps you prepared. ALSO, a full life keeps you prepared and fuels your acting. Experiences, relationships, even time away from the industry - should you desire that - can give you more to bring to your roles and to a room or a set.

Balance is difficult but too much imbalance is unhealthy. Sometimes, you’ll choose to attend the trip or the wedding and trust that another opportunity will come. Other times yes, you’ll cancel plans for an audition. Neither choice is wrong. What matters is that you are making the call - not fear, not guilt, and not scarcity - And, most importantly you….don’t only consider yourself an actor when you're being paid to do it. 

Stay ready. Keep showing up. And also protect the things that keep you well. You deserve to build a career and a life that lasts.

Keep up the great work!

Mark :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love Within Brutality.

  Love Within Brutality. As most of you who are members of Mark Evans Studio are aware, on September 3rd I started rehearsal for the brand new Broadway musical Tammy Faye.  After six weeks of studio and technical rehearsals we began preview performances on October 19th. We officially opened the show on November 14th. Then, on November 19th, just five days later we each got a call from management saying that our show would be closing in three weeks, on December 8th.  More than a hundred actors, stage managers, musicians, crew members and many more staff who were contracted for twelve months, will lose their jobs nine months too early.  Many people reached out to me personally, asking how I was feeling when the news broke publicly and my main response was, “I feel absolutely exhausted”.  Not just in the throw away “I’m really tired today” way but really EXHAUSTED. Exhausted and depleted of my energy, my determination, my focus, my hope, my resilience, my ...
Read more

The Courage to Feel: Acting and the Art of Embracing Discomfort

Courage is often associated with grand gestures - running into danger, speaking truth to power, standing up for what’s right. But for us actors, courage takes a quieter, more intimate form. To be fully present in the uncomfortable, messy, and often painful parts of being human - the very parts most people spend their lives avoiding. In everyday life, most of us were unconsciously conditioned to manage or suppress difficult emotions. We distract ourselves from grief, deflect vulnerability, and avoid conflict to stay safe and comfortable, which makes sense, right? But acting demands the opposite. To bring a character to life with honesty and depth, an actor must dive straight into the emotional terrain most people tiptoe around. That’s not just a skill - it’s a deeply courageous act. The hardest part? When the character you’re playing behaves and lives in a way that is vastly different from how you live. Maybe they make choices you’d never make, hold beliefs that feel foreign, or expres...
Read more