The Official Parry Shen Website

I suppose this comes from my business background in college but “Treat it like a business”. You are the company. You are the product. What are you going to do to be the best product out there? Once you begin thinking like that, things will logically fall into place. That means (only a partial list):

-Being on top of your game with acting lessons (which I still take). Finding a technique or combine a few that work for you.
-Reading the trade magazines. Know the heads of studios and keep abreast of what projects they are doing.
-Know which casting directors cast which shows/films.
-Watch each TV show at least once so you know the tone and style of the show when you audition (“Modern Family” is a very different show than “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” or “NCIS: Los Angeles”).
-Writing your own material. Gets you into thinking visually when breaking down a script plus no one is going to write a better part for you, than you.
-Marketing yourself with creative mailers to casting people and agents whenever you are in something.
-Taking movement classes, voice, stage combat, and commercial classes.
-Keeping a journal of your auditions and take notes on how you did. That way you’ll not repeat mistakes or recall what you needed to work on for the callback.

Do one thing a day towards your career. Whether it is working out, reading a play, studying a film, auditioning…it all adds up. After a year, you’ll have done 365 more things towards your career. Each day that you don’t, that all adds up as well.

~You prove who you are by how you behave
when nothing is happening for you~

“Winging it” will sometimes get you there but you will never know how it happened and therefore can’t repeat it. Everybody gets their shot--it’s if they’re ready to nail it down when the time comes around again, and again and again.

A career in this business is 90% work and 10% sheer luck (being at the right place in the right time). I can’t guarantee you being a star. But I can guarantee you the 90%, being a true professional in the craft and helping you stay driven in a film and television career, or any career for that matter, for the long haul. You have to fall down before you can crawl, then walk and then fly.

~Being a good actor is very attainable. You can act anywhere: through your own productions, theatre company with your friends, etc~

It took me 6 years doing all of the above before I got my shot with The New Guy and Better Luck Tomorrow. I honestly feel that the 100’s of auditions I went to and marketing fliers I sent out, learning from past auditions, got me to a place internally that when those opportunities came along, I was ready to grab it. This work ethic applies to anything that you do, not just acting. That’s why you have to really love whatever you are doing and get into it for the right reasons, otherwise it’s almost impossible to take the crap that you have to go through. Even though I work hard on my career, it never has seemed like work to me. Find something you love to do and then get someone to pay you to do it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint so enjoy the journey.

~Acting is an obsession, not a profession. If you can think of something else to do, then do that. Otherwise, it is really tough to go through all the countless years of rejections even though you’re working so hard--your obsession will be the only thing that carries you through it all~