Recognise that there are two kinds of luck

Now for some Words of Wisdom. Recognise that there are two kinds of luck. The acting profession is one where the statistical odds are stacked against you. Therefore, when auditioning or reading for a part, you are always likely to be disappointed. Sometimes the reasons will be quite arbitrary - too tall, too short, wrong age, wrong accent, the other one has ridden horses more, worked with a big name director, was in the play we did last year. The point is that none of these reasons are the actor's fault. Maybe they saw six people who might have been possible for the part, but the director just had a gut feeling, so the other five have to be disappointed. You will probably never find out the reason why you didn't get the part but it's no use getting angry with yourself or anyone else. You just have to put it down to bad luck. The fates just didn't smile on you that day. Go on doing your best.

But there is also another kind of luck - good luck. This is when an opportunity falls into your lap and you get exactly what you've been working towards. The important thing is to recognise good luck when it arrives. Sometimes it wears a disguise or comes from an unexpected direction. Now that you have a lucky break for goodness sake don't mess things up. Don't turn up late. Don't be too desperate or too nonchalant. Don't fail to learn the lines. Check out the route to wherever you're going. Just be professional in every way, recognise you've had a stroke of good luck and capitalise on it. Recognise that there are two kinds of luck.

And that doesn't just apply to acting. It applies to everything.