Today is National Actors Day! A day to celebrate and acknowledge all the wonderful people who play some of our favorite TV and stage characters. It’s a day to acknowledge how they help us appreciate the art form as a whole. As an actress, I think that it’s important to note the hard work that actors put in so that we can enjoy our shows and movies. Even the characters we despise are played by real people which I think is an easy thing to forget. It’s crazy that actors can get death threats just because someone doesn’t like the character they play in a fictional reality.
Being an actor in this day and age isn’t as easy as one might think. Especially with everything going on with the strikes of both writers and actors, it has made this industry a hard one to enter. Walkouts by actors and screenwriters have meant less work in the fields catering to TV and film. The Hollywood writers have been on strike since May 2nd with no end in sight. The 2023 strike could go on a lot longer than the 2008 labor action if executives continue to have it their way.
Whether you work in TV, film or Broadway, as an actor or actress you could have 2-hour to 10-hour days, it just depends on the project you’re working on. Recognizing the talents of many in the industry not only makes actors feel appreciated, but also the people who work alongside them to get their projects onto the stage or screen. It’s also inspiring to someone like me who is planning on pursuing theater as a full-time career. Recognizing these artists can make more of a difference than we realize.
Acting has been around for so long, it has just changed immensely as the years have gone on. Famous actors from everywhere, all over the world, play characters in scripts, plays and books, then convey the characters throughout the Broadway shows they put on and the films they take part in.
This day is about appreciating the perseverance and dedication that it takes to attend multiple auditions and handle rejections. It’s appreciating those who may have made it big as well as those who are still trying with all their enthusiasm and hope to land a role they love. Actors can be or cannot be whatever and whoever they want, which is why we celebrate them. Those who we look up to not only entertain us, but they can also teach us about a few things we don’t know, such as Bill Nye the Science Guy or Steve Irwin.
These actors take us to new places and invent new experiences for us to enjoy. They make the fascinating characters that we watch seem unforgettable. The best performances are natural. They are relatable and they make us feel like we, as an audience, are alongside them. The power of acting has been so strong in my life, not only when I’m on stage forgetting who I am and fully emerging in the character I play, but also watching my comfort shows. Shows like Teen Wolf, The Vampire Diaries, and Gilmore Girls have gotten me through more bad days than I can recall.
Even small background characters in one show can catch our eye when we’ve seen them in something else. Everyone starts somewhere and it’s days like this where we can truly see the difference that our favorite actors have made in our life. Whether you realize it or not, everyone has that one show, movie or clip that makes them feel something. Without these hardworking people, creative outlets like that wouldn’t be possible. Take a second to think about your favorite actors and the impact they’ve made.
