An Actor's Guide To Making It In Los Angeles - Bill Oberst Jr. [ACTING MASTERCLASS]

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Channel: Film Courage

Views: 82,804

Rating: 4.9542336 out of 5

Keywords: Bill Oberst Jr. (Theater Actor), Actor (Profession), Los Angeles (City/Town/Village), bill oberst jr, bill oberst jr., actor, horror, scary, daytime emmy, take this lollipop, abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln vs. zombies, the retrieval, aef talent agency, sxsw, acting, business of acting, film courage, filmcourage, Hollywood, actor's guide, acting in los angeles

Id: aaegnd3xaVI

Length: 67min 57sec (4077 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 02 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/Toxicscrew]

His sentiments echo Jenna Fischer’s in her book “The Actor’s Life - A Survival Guide”.
She was there 7-8 years without any break until the office. Same with Jon Hamm, 8 years of not much.

[u/nonchalantpony]

Wow those soft no's are hard core. Classic Hollywood stereotype of fake. I believe him but I'd much rather get a hard no and move on quickly than swim through the miasma of the lies.

[u/[deleted]]

I have chosen not to come to Hollywood for some of the reasons he gave. I can’t relent a normal day job, so people in my family can live. In the meantime, I work as hard as I can to seek out roles, and take classes, which means a lot of 80 plus hour work weeks. 40 hours for my day job, and 40 plus hours as an actor. And I love it. When the day job goes away, and it will, due to business changes or layoffs of cutbacks for whatever, I continue to persist as an actor, and ya actually gotten me through some tough personal times.

I’ll stay in southeast, where a lot of work is going on, provided we can stop controlling women’s bodies.:/

[u/[deleted]]

Actually made up my mind about moving to L.A to pursue acting (I already sort of am doing that where I live) Some things though:

​

1. I am a bit luckier than most, I have a steady disability paycheck and a lot of untouched military benefits to use.
2. I won't be abandoning everything completely. I'll still be going to school full time in order to have extra income using the GI bill (although should do most my classes online unless it's acting)
3. If needs be I'll use my surgical tech license to find a job
4. I know it isn't glamorous. It will be probably be a decade or MORE before I see any decent success, if at all. It's not like the movies. It's reality but probably worse. There will be 99.99% rejections. There will be days I want to quit, people who cal me crazy, delusional, people and rejections who will break me.
5. I still find myself drawn to doing this, despite all that. That must say something.

[u/FerinHeart]

He says in the interview that he doesn't have steaks in the freezer and isn't rich, yet he has got 188 credits on IMDb just for acting. Several projects every year. He won a Daytime Emmy among all the rest. How can he be struggling at that level? That's scary.

[u/holden_caulfield1]

I love how honest he is. I could immediately relate. Things here at Bollywood are pretty much the same!

[u/[deleted]]

This guy just has an analytical-type personality. Not everybody operates on that platform, so if you're considering the move, don't get too discouraged. He gives great business advice in this video that I think needs to be more common knowledge. I got the impression he approaches his relationships from a business mindset, and that doesn't work for me. I hope those who come here looking to make this a career watch this entire video. A lot of it is based on his own experience but a lot of it is general realistic facts. Good share!

[u/[deleted]]

I met Mr. Oberst recently when he was performing Ray Bradbury Live, it’s neat seeing him pop up here.

[u/louisasnotes]

Very good find - thanks. It's good to hear somewhat modern anecdotes from a somewhat middle-aged guy. I find the questions interesting, though. All about 'making it'. What's everyone else's idea of 'making it'? Mine is making a living playing a lot of characters well.