Why you don’t need to move to London

London is a magnet for actors, it has this lure about it that can be difficult to resist; If you up sticks and move there to pursue your acting dreams all of your problems will disappear, you’ll land an amazing agent, be at auditions every day of the week, be working with the best actors in the industry – London is where you’ll find your fame and fortune isn’t it? Wrong! I love London, don’t get me wrong and there are lots of opportunities, however there are lots of things to think about. My advice to you would be to take everything into consideration. Here I’ll share why you don’t need to move to London and why it isn’t as necessary as you might think.

Why you don’t need to move to London

There’s more competition – As I mentioned, it is a magnet for actors meaning there are more of you there. Think about how over crowded the industry is and whether you want to be right in the thick of the competition. Moving to London doesn’t guarantee you’ll move forward quicker with your career.

The cost of living is much higher – Your first priority is what I call your survival costs – rent, council tax, water, gas, electric, food shopping, travel – all of these are much more expensive in London so having a job that can cover your survival costs is vital. You’ll also need a job that will give you freedom and flexibility for auditions and financial freedom for getting to and from auditions, new marketing materials such as head shots, show reel and a social life too.

Lots of productions are being filmed in the North – whilst I agree that a large majority of castings still take place in London, there are many more productions being filmed in the North of England simply because it is cheaper. Brief Encounters is currently being filmed in Sheffield and we also have a production with Nicole Kidman being filmed here too, they are just two of many productions and there are countless others being filmed in Yorkshire and beyond. Realistically how many auditions per month are you getting now? Is it likely that that number is going to instantaneously shoot up because you’ve moved to London? My answer is no.

London is easily accessible from most places in the country – We have great transport links in England. Whether by train, coach or car there is always a way to get to London. I personally use the Megabus. yes it takes 3.5 hours from Sheffield, but I use that time to prepare myself for the audition. I’ve even bagged myself a seat for £1 on a number of occasions. It would cost you more than that to get into central London if living in London.

Move because you want to, not because of acting – I firmly believe that acting shouldn’t be the main reason you move to London. Depending on how committed you are to making your career work it may or may not pan out as you’d like. Is there another reason to move to London alongside your acting career? The buzz of living there soon wears away when you realise you have just as much, if not more work to do to build your profile and earn your place in the industry.

It can be lonely – I have lots of friends who live there, many being actors. Some have mentioned to me that if you’re not out and about making friends and keeping yourself busy it can feel really lonely. Add to that the rejection and slog of acting, which can get you down, you then don’t want to be contending with loneliness. Your aim is to make life there as smooth as possible.

The struggles you face in the North are no different to the struggles you’ll face in the South – the place won’t change your career, YOU do that. It doesn’t matter if you live in Outer Mongolia or London. If you’re not 100% committed your career will never take off.

 

I’m not against moving to London, but I strongly feel it is something that you shouldn’t jump straight into. If you are going to move to the big smoke, move with a plan and stick to it. As John Assaraf says “a vision without a plan is only a dream.” How is your dream going to be any different to the other actors when you get there?

I’d love to connect with you. Let me know in the comments below your experiences of moving to London, or whether you found this blog useful. If you have an actor friend who is debating the big move, share this blog with them, it could be just the thing they need.

To your success!

 

 

 

 

 

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