The Actor's Road to Hollywood

By John Lizzi

The Actor's Road to Hollywood is for actors who are considering a professional career in film and television. This book is a guide to my journey working as a professional actor in Los Angeles and other markets viewed from my personal experiences and anecdotes of working in Hollywood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Lizzi
• Release date: Jun 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301951703

John Lizzi

John Lizzi is an American actor in film, television, stage and commercials. BACKGROUND Lizzi grew up in New York. In his high school senior year, while sitting in the library, wondering what the hell he was going to do with his life, a couple of theatre students asked him if he would like to be in the senior play. He said sure, why not. The play was Lil Abner and he had 4 lines. Opening night, when it was his cue, he said his 4 lines and the audience broke out in laughter which, mercifully, they were supposed to. At that moment, Lizzi knew that this is what he wanted to do with his life. He then attended Onondaga Community College where he received his Associates Degree in Drama. He began acting in local theaters before receiving a letter from Uncle Sam requesting his presence in the United States Army. After completing his military service, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Lizzi went back to school and earned his bachelor's degree in Theatre from California State University at Northridge. He had three goals as a professional actor. They were to earn a living as an actor (which was a successful endeavor), to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (he had 14 appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno) and to win an Academy Award (he co-starred in a film short that won an Oscar). CAREER HIGHLIGHTS In the film Trevor, directed by Peggy Rajski, Lizzi co-starred as Trevor's Dad. This was the first film to address the issues and concerns of LGBTQ youth. Trevor won an Academy Award® for Best Short film. On Seinfeld (NBC) Lizzi guest starred as the Other Guy in the episode The Doll. He played the famous third tenor whose name Jerry and Elaine could never remember, yet Elaine wanted an autograph poster from him for her boyfriend, the "Maestro". On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) he guest starred as the Robert Shapiro character in all the O.J. Simpson trial comedy skits. Early in his career, Lizzi worked as a stand-in/photo double for Robert Blake in the NBC TV series Joe Dancer and for Charles Bronson in Death Wish II and was a leg double for Robert DeNiro in The Fan. His many stage credits include "Steambath" with Jamie Lee Curtis, "Rumors" and "South Pacific". Some of Lizzi's commercials include I Love NY, The Big East, Time Warner, Heluva Good Cheese and Kinney Drugs. SERVICE, ACHIEVEMENTS & AWARDS Lizzi's achievements and awards include a Certificate of Appreci...

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THE ARTISAN

The artisan is defined as a skilled worker or craftsperson. You’re never too young or too old to learn and the classroom is the best place to hone your talents and abilities. The classroom is where you can experiment and expand your boundaries so that you can act confidently within your boundaries when working. For the professional actor; work is where you bring the finished product. The more you learn, the more marketable your finished product will be.

The successful working actor must possess three elements of their craft to maintain success;

Talent is a given. If you made it to Los Angeles, they assume you already have some talent. Please remember, this is a money making industry so talent is also measured by what the audience will pay to see.

Discipline is the continual learning and fine tuning of your craft and skills and the development of good work habits.

Professionalism is doing your job in an acceptable industry manner.

An aspiring young actor once told an experienced director, I’m a very talented actor! You should hire me. The experienced director replied, You are talented! Now go learn your craft, then come back and see me.

LEARN YOUR CRAFT

Make sure you have strong training in your craft before attempting to compete as a professional actor. This is a very competitive business and if you’re basing your success solely on a good look or cuteness, when you get to Hollywood you’ll find there are another hundred or so actors with the same good look or cuteness but also have good training and good on-camera experience...

SO BE PREPARED...

...to compete for success.

Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it.

COLLEGES and UNIVERSITIES offer a twofold advantage. If you’re in a good theatre, film or television department, you will learn creative, technical and historical aspects of your craft and will be working toward a degree which may be beneficial if you decide to change careers. Also, when you spend two or four years in a community college or university with the same classmates, you have the opportunity to establish strong contacts which may allow you to help each other in the work world. Not everyone becomes an actor after graduation. Some students may decide to go on to become directors, casting directors, talent agents, production staff and so forth. Check libraries and talk to school counselors to get more information about colleges and universities.

ACTING WORKSHOPS are good when you want to improve specific acting skills. The trade papers are full of acting workshops for auditions, commercials, cold reading, camera techniques, acting for soap operas and sit-coms, dialects, voice and just about anything that deals with honing the actor’s skills. Some acting workshops are taught by casting directors in Los Angeles, but this does not mean they will cast you in their shows. And remember, not all workshops are equal so be careful about getting involved with a class that’s acting for your money. Also be cautious of agents and managers who insist that you must enroll in their acting schools or workshops as a condition for them to represent you as an actor. They may be trying to collect commissions before they get you a job. It’s okay if they suggest training and give you a list of reputable workshops, but it should be your decision as to whether you want to enroll and not a condition of talent representation. Most workshops will allow you to audit one or more classes before joining. Acting workshops can be expensive so shop around and get referrals from fellow actors who have been around for a while. Actors are creatures who are not hesitant about giving advice and