In this YouTube video, Aaron Marcus shares motivational advice for actors facing disappointment and discouragement in the industry. He opens with a promise of a bonus video on reducing acting stress, then recounts several personal setbacks—missing five auditions due to a family commitment, a failed commercial modeling job where he was cast only for the back of his head, and a wasted trip to New York after a date change. Despite these setbacks, he highlights a positive networking encounter that resulted from the same trip. Marcus frames disappointment as a normal, inevitable part of acting, likening the profession to sales: you knock on doors, some say no, and you move on. He offers concrete coping strategies: treat yourself after a loss, avoid taking rejections personally, view each effort as a completed action, and adopt a problem‑solving mindset to identify and fix barriers. He encourages viewers to share their own discouraging experiences in the comments, subscribes them to the channel, and points them to the promised bonus video about lowering stress while acting. The overall message is that actors can stay motivated by accepting setbacks, practicing self‑care, and continuously improving their approach.
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In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you how it's okay to be disappointed but not defeated, how to stay strong in the acting world. Watch this to the end, and I have a great bonus video for you. It's all about how to lower your stress while acting. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. Look, the acting industry, it's hard. There are ups and downs. It's, it's like the stock market. You know, you make good investments, sometimes things jump, sometimes things fall way, way down, and it's easy to feel disappointment. As a matter of fact, I, as you know, I always like to share real specific Details with you. This is a couple of years ago, and, and I'm not exaggerating here. There was a time period I had— in one week I had 5 auditions and one potential job that was where I didn't have to audition. They all fell on the same day, and I already committed to my family we were going to do something together. I was not going to break that one. And so I lost out on 5. Another time when I was taking many, many trips up to New York for go-sees, audition for commercial modeling jobs— I haven't done that since the pandemic— but travel all the way up there, the agent said it was a good booking, and I'm sure the agent just didn't have All of the details and go up there looking for a doctor. And I'm thinking, great, I look like a doctor. And walked in, and when they were taking, you know, taking shots, it was the back of the doctor's head as the doctor was putting on a mask. So they were looking for the back of my head. And, uh, you know, maybe I should have asked more about So, you know, what kind of, what kind of expression, what kind of emotion are you looking for in the back of the head? Whatever it was, apparently I didn't have the look for the back of the head. And there was another audition, went up to New York, they changed the dates, and as it turns out, I was already booked out. So it was a complete waste of a day, of an entire day. However, I did run into an actor who I hadn't seen for a number of years who had moved to New York. We had a great conversation, we shared some contacts with each other. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience. So here's the thing, there are always— at least for me, maybe, maybe this has never happened to you— there, there are plenty of disappointments that I've had and will continue to have in the industry, and that's okay. Here's where it gets problematic. When you just feel discouraged, and look, that can happen, I understand. But I think when you look at the bigger picture, and if there's something that you feel discouraged about, figure out what can you do to make it better. Now, as far as the disappointment goes, You know, you go to meet an agent, you don't get it. You, you know, submit a headshot and resume, you don't get the audition. Yeah, those are all disappointments. And here's what I would say to those: treat yourself to something nice. You did it, you did everything you could, then it's out of your hands. You auditioned for a job you really wanted, you didn't book it. Those are disappointments, and that's okay. Look, we are salespeople. You know, we're knocking on people's doors and we're saying, hey, I want to sell you a Mac computer. And they might say, you know what, I need a computer, but I really only like PCs. Okay, so you move on to the next person and knock on their door. It's okay to be disappointment— to be disappointment— to be disappointed. And that's why it is really important. You don't take it personally. You, you know, you did everything that you could. It didn't work out. Feel good about the fact that you did everything, and then you move on. And as far as just feeling discouraged, just understand this happens to everybody. Famous people, uh, don't get bookings sometimes, and that's okay. But really, the trick is to just understand This is a hard business. We are self-employed. And if something is preventing you from getting what you want, figure out how to fix it. So I want to ask you, if there is something that, that you felt really discouraged about, let us know and, and tell us, did you do something? Did it help? Please share your experiences with us the channel so we can learn from you. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video has been uploaded, and please share the link with your fellow actors. I did promise a really great bonus video, and you'll see it right up there. I had to take some of the stress out while acting. And, uh, I hope this is really helpful to you. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
