YOU CAN DO IT, But you HAVE to do the work!

I took a moment to share some thought about the new folks on TikTok giving advice to actors. Most of these folks are NOT working actors. Most advice is BS. I learned the 90/10 rules 40 years ago. 90% of all advice is a waste of your time. Two problems, each of us needs a different 10%. AND you never know which 10% will benefit you in 20 years. So LISTEN to it all, be open minded, but the sift through the noise and figure out what works for you. 

 I first got paid a salary to do acting in a 20 week run of Pirates of Penzance in 1995. I have 30+ years of acting, singing, dancing and comedy. Now day job free since 2005, I love mentoring the next Gen. 

See the full transcript of this video at

https://waltfrasier.net/2026/04/09/you-can-do-it-but-you-have-to-do-the-work/

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Transcript

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See what's kind of funny. Back in my day, pretty much, if you said you wanted to be an actor, your parents, your teachers, your guy and his counselors, the whole world said it can't be done. Don't waste your time. It's a dream. It's this, it's that. And I spent my entire life proving they were wrong. And now most of the people that are screaming it can't be done are the wannabe actors. So here's the thing it's not that it can be done or can't be done. There's a way to do it. The problem is, though, that we go to college, and I love all my professors, but most of the people teaching at college didn't know how to get work in the theater. I benefited, I got lucky, because I was at a community college in DC, and a lot of our part-timers were working professionals, directing, acting, singing, dancing, working in the Shakespeare theaters of DC, the Roundhouse, Arena Stage, musicians I worked with working in the National Symphony Orchestra. My trumpet player was a former National Symphony guy, right? These were working professionals that are now teaching because they got kids, they got families. A lot of those people they come to the colleges because they're getting older. Now they have kids and families, they want benefits. So they turn to the colleges, they put in six to nine to twelve credits of teaching, get their benefits, get a stable income, and they can still continue to work as actors, directors, singers, musicians, dancers. But in 2026, most of the people saying you can't do it are wannabe actors on TikTok. And I see 22 to 24 to 25 year olds giving advice on how to get work as an actor, as an entertainer, as a comic. Or or or I see them complaining that you can't get work, right? Or they're trying to give you bad advice. Here's the thing I've been saying for 20 years: stop listening to people at the restaurants, the other bitter actors that can't figure it out because they're all complaining, oh, it's this, it's that, this is how you get work. They haven't figured it out because they're still working in restaurants. So you have thousands of young folk getting off the bus, the plane, the train, showing up in New York City, LA, Chicago, Atlanta, other places, maybe London, every year with their degrees in theater, with a whole bunch of information that is 20 years obsolete. Right? And even I will go as far as not even the advice on getting career, you know, not even not just the career advice, not just advice on getting work, but the advice on how to do your job as an actor is sometimes 20 years obsolete. I have some of the most amazing teachers, but I did mostly musical theater in Broadway. I came to New York City, and if you're not starring on Broadway, that musical training, that opera training, you know, there's a lot of great lessons to be learned, but I had to relearn everything to make myself TV friendly, right? So now I'm working in TV, I've gotten jobs, I've been a co-star in TV shows, Blue Bloods, Blacklist, I've been on Netflix, Nickelodeon, HBO, CBS, MBC, USA, MTV, I've done sketch comedy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I figured that out over time. And here's the thing as an actor, as an entertainer, as a comic, we go to college, we learn our skills, and then we have to come out in the real world and in many ways relearn everything. Now, the problem is there's an army of people saying, give me money and I'll get you there. And a lot of people give them money and never get there. Some people give them money and get there. It doesn't mean they're bad or they're some of them are scams, but many of like, you know, taking lessons doesn't guarantee you a career in this business. Other people start complaining and they're like, oh, you know what? We're we're entertainers, we're actors. They should just pay us a living wage because we call ourselves actors. And right, there's this whole thing in our business. I'm I'm kind of all over the place right now. The point being, there's no one way for you as a wannabe actor, singer, dancer, artist, musician, there's no one way to get work in this business. You have to figure out what works for you. You have to figure out what makes you marketable to certain people, and you're not going to be all things to all people. You have to find your niche in the business, and I guarantee you, you won't find that niche by complaining. You won't find that niche by listening to complainers. You figure out that niche by going to auditions. And every time you go to audition, you analyze the work. Every time you do a show, analyze the work. Every time you do a rehearsal, analyze the work and treat it like a business. You are a product, you are a company. Normal companies, they have this thing called research and development. You went to college, you took classes, you started doing auditions, and you literally have to every day say, this is working, this isn't working. Without emotion, without ego, without insecurity. All this other stuff, 90% of the stuff I see on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube about how to become a working actor is complete BS. Complete BS, right? Or it's people just complaining about other people being BS. I'm telling you, there's no one way to do it, and anybody who tells you otherwise is wrong. Is just trying to get views, is just looking for a way. Now, nothing against them because here, as an actor, if that's making you money, I'm actually at the Broadway Comedy Club right now where I've been doing shows on and off since 2004, right? Getting paid to do improv comedy, uh, producing shows. Right now, I have a hundred kids from a New York City high school downstairs watching a show. I found a way to make money with my talents doing improv comedy, working in the schools, doing corporate events, which allowed me to wait for the TV shows to call. I used to do regional theater, off-Broadway theater, uh, touring theater. Sadly, what you realize, and I'll tell you right now, if you're a musical theater person, if you're not on Broadway, you're not going to make a living doing theater. Unless you learn how to get clients as students, learn how to use your talents to teach corporate people how to be better presenters, right? Learn how to use your talents to train the next generation, right? And there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm telling you, if you're not on Broadway, the shows don't pay the bills. If you're not a star on Hollywood, TV film rarely pays the bills. You can put pieces together, but you got to think like an entrepreneur. You can make money doing TV and film and theater, but you got to treat it like a business. You got to treat it like the gig economy is, right? There isn't gonna be a salary that says, hey, when you're available, we'll use you once in a while, we're just gonna give you money because you called yourself an actor. The problem with that idea, there's a lot of people, they're like, hey, we should just get paid. Artists should just get paid. They used to have those kinds of things, right? And they do have those kinds of things. Artist residencies. The problem is a lot of people that complain that they're not just getting a salary to do what we do. I don't know that they would be on the top of the list to get those jobs. The good thing about this capitalism thing about we do, and I'm gonna be very hated by a lot of people in my business for saying this, it creates more opportunity than the alternative. It really does. Because you don't have to wait in line. You have to go to auditions when you're 20, 22, 24, 25. You got to do the self-tapes, but at some point you realize, oh, these social media platforms they can help me get work. I can create opportunity for myself. I don't have to wait. You don't have to wait. Go to auditions, do self-tapes, submit your stuff. Don't waste a fortune on headshots. Don't waste a fortune. Don't pay somebody to make your website. Don't pay somebody to do your social media. Do the hustle. A lot of you hate the hustle, but you know what? If you're not willing to do the hustle, I don't think you're ready for this business. If you're 17, 18, and you have no desire to do the hustle, I would not go to college for theater, right? Because the chances are you it's not that there isn't enough work. It's just the people are not willing to do what it takes to get the work. And a lot of times, you know, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, that meant something different, right? Doing what it takes to get to work was something insidious, right? For far too many people. I'm talking about doing the work on social media, having a website, creating content like this, just letting people know that you exist, just letting people know you exist. People aren't even doing that. They spend a thousand dollars on headshots, they mail them out and expect results. You know what? In this world, you have to create opportunity for yourself. And I'm telling you, it can be done. I can do it. Look at me. Do I look like a model? I did it, you could do it. Just stop complaining about Neppel babies and go create something.