In this video Aaron Marcus argues that success in acting and modeling is not a matter of luck but of proactive behavior, preparation, and strategic positioning. He shares a detailed personal story about traveling to New York, meeting a model on a train, and using that encounter to secure a meeting with a top agency. Despite being initially rejected because he lived outside New York, Aaron persisted, offered to relocate, and ultimately built a long‑term relationship with the agency, leading to numerous commercial modeling jobs and national TV spots. From this experience he extracts two main lessons: (1) put yourself in the right situations and actively seek connections rather than waiting for luck, and (2) be prepared with a strong portfolio and the willingness to act when opportunities arise. He closes by inviting viewers to share their own “unexpected” experiences, reminding them to subscribe, and directing them to a bonus video with four audition tips.
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You know, some people will say, uh, that actor was just lucky and that's how he got the part. Let me just tell you, I don't believe in luck. And in this video, I'm going to share with you why I don't believe in luck. And also, I'm going to give you a story of a person who changed my life, and it's all connected with luck. Also, watch this video to the end, and I'm going to give you a bonus video It's 4 audition tips that will make your audition stronger. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Actor and Model Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. Don't, don't forget, if you haven't done this yet, click the subscribe button, the notification bell, and if you like the video, give it a thumbs up. That's actually very helpful. So here's why I don't believe in luck. I had a contact, somebody I knew who was friends with an agent at a huge agency in New York. I'm going back a million years. And sent the person my headshot and resume. Person liked it, said let's have a meeting. And I'm thinking, great. So I had never traveled to New York for anything connected with acting or modeling. And this was my first time, very excited, nervous. And I was on the train and I'm heading up to New York, and all of a sudden a guy walks by me and the guy looked familiar. And then all of a sudden it hit me and I remembered this guy was a model in a job that I did. And I remember I was talking to him. They were shooting this in Washington, D.C. This guy lived in Wilmington, Delaware. And I just thought that was incredible. Here's a guy, he lives in Delaware, and he's traveling to DC for a job. Once again, this is a very long time ago. And I started thinking, should I, should I follow? Should I sit with him? Should I talk to him? Should I reintroduce myself? Well, I don't know. And I thought, yeah, I'm gonna do it. So I'm going from car to car to car on the train. And finally I find the guy, and I walked over to him and I said, hey, you're a model, right? And he goes, yeah. I said, you know, I did a job with you in DC, and I explained, you know, what the job was. He goes, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember. And so he said, you know, where are you going? I said, well, I'm heading to New York and I've got a meeting. And I sat down with him and he said, you know, let me see your work. So I showed him my portfolio and He said, look, if for any reason you want to, here's the information for my agent. She's great, and here's her name and phone number. I said, well, thank you very much. It was so nice of him. So get to New York, go to this agent. This is a worldwide agency. And sit down with her and gave her a headshot and resume again, and she's looking at it and she goes— I see a 410 area code. Where's that from? And I said, well, I live in Maryland. She said, you live in Maryland? I said, oh yeah. Now meanwhile, I had already sent her headshot and resume. It had all the information there. And she said, she said, Aaron, like, I'm really sorry, but we are only working with people who live in New York. If you move here, get back in touch with me. And I walked out of the meeting, and I just felt horrible. I just oh boy! You know, I was so excited, spent a bunch of money going up there, and essentially, you know, just getting booted out of there. And then I thought, look, while I'm here, maybe I'll call the you know the agent of. this model who I met. So once again, at that time period, found a phone booth, you know, put in some coins, called her up, and she said, oh yeah, Tony said that you might be calling. This guy actually called her ahead of time just to talk about the experience with me. So I went over, met with her, and she said to me, she said, look, we really only work with people who live in the city just because We find that we'll sign people, they'll come up for one go-see, which is the audition for modeling. This was a— actually, I thought it was the best commercial modeling agency in New York City. She said they'll go to one go-see, maybe 2, they're not going to book it, and then they just stop coming. So we really typically don't like working with people who live far away from New York. And I said— I looked her straight in the eye, said, Eileen, let me just tell you Anytime that you call me, if I'm not already booked out, I will come here. And she said, all right, well, let's give it a try. Now meanwhile, she did look at my portfolio and she liked it. She said, all right, let's give it a try. That turned into an amazing experience. I worked with them for years and years and years up until the time they closed. The owner passed away and then The agency eventually just folded. But I mean, I did all kinds of commercial modeling jobs in New York. I even booked some national TV commercials because of commercial modeling jobs. I was flown to Hawaii for a shoot. I mean, it was amazing. And the 2 takeaways that I got from that is, getting back to the luck, it wasn't luck. You know, some people might say, yeah, you were just lucky. Look, I put myself to be in the right situation for things to happen. When I saw this model, I could have just thought, all right, well, there he is, I remember him. But no, I followed him, I worked, I was proactive, I purposefully wanted to make a connection with him. I didn't have any thoughts of him connecting me with his agent, but I just don't believe that it's just luck. And the fact of the matter is you also have to be prepared. Because people aren't going to hire you for projects just because they think you're a nice person. Of course, once again, yeah, there are directors that hire friends to say 2 words so they can get a day player rate and get residuals. Of course those things happen, but we're talking about real, real work. Nobody's going to hire somebody as a favor. If you don't have the talent. So you have to be ready, you have to put yourself in the position for things to happen. And so I just— I don't look at that and say, boy, that was like— no, it wasn't luck. I made sure that I connected with the guy, I made sure that I reached out to that agent, and I was also prepared to do the work. So anyhow, I just wanted to share that with you. If you have any experiences at all with things just happening that you didn't expect, please share it with us. That's the whole reason for the channel. Very last thing, if you haven't done this yet, just as a quick reminder, hit the subscribe button, notification bell. If you like it, give it a thumbs up. Feel free to share this link with other friends. And I did promise a video. If you look up here, you will see the link. For 4 audition tips that will make your auditions stronger. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. See ya.
