Author: Karen Johal
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An Actors’ Survival Guide to Side Jobs
Potential side jobs for actors that can help you make a living while acting. When you choose to pursue acting as a career, there are many uncertainties in your path ahead. Financial instability is perhaps the biggest concern for many aspiring actors and it’s common for creatives to have a hand in many different fields…
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Book Recommendations for Actors in Training
14 books for actors to read during drama school training to help inspire and improve their acting skills. The most imperative time in a working actor’s career is arguably the years spent at drama school. Within the safe perimeters of training and studying the craft of acting, drama students will learn to use tools and…
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Advocating for Yourself in the Workplace
How to recognise an unhealthy working environment and stand up for yourself when working as an actor. Unhealthy working environments can exist in any profession and unfortunately, acting is no exception. Whether it’s on set, during the casting process, or while you’re touring a production, you could find yourself in situations where someone or something…
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How to Have a New Year Mindset All Year
How to plan and achieve your goals, no matter what time of the year you’re setting them. As the New Year comes in, many of us will be adopting the age old ‘New Year, New Me’ mindset. For actors, this means overhauling career prospects and aspirations, and levelling up with work by getting organised. January…
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Top Tips for Creating a Professional Acting Website
An actor website can be a useful tool to help you to showcase the parts you’ve played and the performer skills you have. We share advice about how to set your website up and what you should include on it. When I was in my last year at drama school in New York, I took…
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What You Need to Know About Recalls and Casting Callbacks
What to expect at a recall audition and how to prepare for it Any working actor will tell you auditioning is a job. Any time you get invited to audition, you are being invited to work, to sink your teeth into a character and dissect a script. The audition process can be daunting, draining and…
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What to Expect on Your First Day of Theatre Rehearsal
Tips for preparing for your first day of rehearsal, what to bring, and how to overcome nerves. The first day on a new job can be daunting. As actors, we spend most of our time feeling anxious, scared and overwhelmed when we haven’t booked any work for a long period of time. And when the…
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Performing on Stage in Germany
Work permits, contracts and travel advice for performers preparing to work on stage in Hamburg, Germany. As a British stage and screen actor, my work has taken me to many exciting places around the world. Earlier this year I was given the opportunity to travel to Germany for the first time to perform as the…
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Transitioning from Theatre to TV
Making the change from performing at the theatre to on-camera is not always an easy transition. Actress Karen Johal writes about the differences and difficulties when making the move from stage to the small screen. I’ve worked on several shows over the years both off-broadway in New York and at The Birmingham Repertory Theatre – my…