• Be bold and daring, do not be afraid to face the camera.

• If you are a newcomer, read the script again and again to make sure you remember your lines well. Forgeting your lines and delaying production time is really bad for a beginner.

• Imagine that you are the person. Once the director says 'Act', you must forget your whole self and merge with the surroundings. Your identity has changed. Cut yourself off the distractions on the set.

• Listen to veterans' advice. Show a lot of respect for them. They have years of experience ahead of you.

• Listen to the director's commands too. Trying to disobey the director means courting trouble. It will show that you are not professional, and you will have a bad reputation.

• Be helpful. Help around with the props when you are free. Don't just sit there and vegetate.

• Read a lot of novels. Having an good literature backgrounds and understanding complex plots can help you a lot in your acting.

• If you are doing theatre work, make sure your actions are exhuberant, because it will be a LIVE audience and those poor souls sitting at the back may not be able to see you clearly.

• If you are doing a movie or a television series, then emphasize on your facial expression. Exhuberant actions will seem to viewers that you are over-acting. In contrast, facial expressions can be caught by the camera easily, and is a way of showing your acting powess.

• Practise at home. Every morning do several different expressions in front of the mirror, so as to train your face muscles.

• Be attentive to your surroundings, look at other expressions of passerbys.

• Watch a lot of good movies, and go for acting workshops. You can never be too good to learn something from these.

• Little gestures can depict a person's character too. For example, acting as a bad guy can have a evil twitch of the eye every few seconds.

• Be familiar with who the top agents are, of which agents might be right for you.  Research as much as you can at home. Think about what to do once you get there. There are really good acting books in the library which may help you prepare.

• Go to Hollywood with a lot of experience, at least two or three years,  attained from hometown theatres. Be involved in the community theatre, radio, go into a acting college, go on tour with companies. Big bosses do not want to waste time on newcomers.

• Try to finish at least high school before going to Hollywood. Without much education background, directors think that you do not have the life experience or the understanding to carry out certain technically demanding roles. That means your roles are limited. Moreoever, a good certificate is always impressive. Look at Mira Sorvino.

• Learn all the trickss of the trade, and jobs of producers, directors,  meanings of terms like 'feature film', 'SAG card', etc. Be sure you sound like a professional when asked. Also, with these information at your fingertips, you would feel confident, and hence be able to carry yourself better.

• Be humble, and be prepared to learn. Never boast around in the set, and volunteer help. Good relations are important.

• Be prepared that you may have to sleep on cardboards and eat bad food for a long long time. Most accomplished actors all started off really bad. Preserverance pays usually though.

• Casting directors have very good memories. Try not to foul up any interviews, even if you know you will not get in. They willremember you, and who knows, you may be offered another role in another film just because you left an impression on them.

• Make sure you have your SAG card, or you are going to look like an amateur and no big directors would want to give you a second look.

 
• Critisism are not nice to hear, but they are usually true. People can see your flaws better than you can. Listen, learn, adapt.

• Movie making, like most jobs, is tough. Moving to different locations are not short holidays. Be prepared to sacrifice time with your family and friends.

• Even if you get a break, do not be bloated. A cameo appearance on 'Seinfeld' does not mean you will be the next Leonardo Dicaprio. You should seize the golden opportunity to work with top-notch producers and directors and learn from them.

• Real professionals turn up on time. Especially if you are just an extra. Being late is just like telling the world that 'hey, I am a big shot, the whole crew has to wait for me'.  Prima donnas are not very welcomed.

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