Photoplayer Hater

As if it were not enough that actors that come to Hollywood face rejection on a frequent basis, the city itself often conspires to thwart acting success. You might think making your rent payment on time and feeding yourself is the extent of the trials you need master along with auditioning, but there is so much more in the Los Angeles area you must deal with.

Partying

There are a lot of bars and restaurants in LA and on every night there is something happening somewhere that some of your friends will consider requisite to attend. You will have friends who wait tables or tend bar and they will expect you to patronize their establishments. This can get expensive fast, make you a wreck in the morning, and maybe even turn into a nasty habit. Be careful to balance networking opportunities at these social functions with the ability to actually pursue your goals once the bar closes.

The Beach

It turns out there are people in the world that once introduced to the Pacific Ocean will never go far from it ever again. The way of life on the beach is laid back and chill and hours can go by fast. It is fun. There are colorful characters there, beautiful scantily-clad people, and swimming is great exercise. You might find out you are actually a surfer and not much of an actor, nothing to get mad about. Just be careful not to get swept up in the romance of the situation to the point where you neglect your true aims.

Drugs

Drugs are not only a problem for people that already have a bad habit, the availability of any and every illegal substance in LA might make for developing a drug problem. Not only is LA close to Mexico, you do not have to cross an international border to get to the meth capital of California: The Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties). To make matters worse marijuana is basically legal for all practical purposes. Even before Proposition 215 made medical marijuana legal, cops would only give you a ticket if you had a small quantity (no jail time). With all these distractions you will need to learn how to either say no a lot, or be able to use only recreationally and not have it affect the rest of your life.

Love

The beautiful people of the world move to LA to meet the rest of the beautiful people and to make beautiful babies. But sometimes they slip up and get involved with you. That kind of physical perfection is hard to say no to and it can play havoc on any plans you had beforehand. If this is your first relationship it is likely going to be a mess, this is no place for people that have little experience in romance. Men can quickly get slapped with child support payments and women suddenly get pregnant. Be careful the people you get close to because they may not have your best interests at heart.

Materialism

If you do not have a penchant for designer goods, this is a good thing. If you already have no problem dropping $300 for a pair of pants there are many place out in LA that will gladly take every dime you will ever make. The hierarchy out here to a large extent is based on celebrity and they are usually are wearing the newest and trendiest. If you are not careful with what company you keep you might find yourself on the fashion whore treadmill and not know how to get off, but at least you will look fabulous in the process.

Work

While trying to make it in acting you will have to pay your way. Many of us will take expendable jobs at eateries and watering holes, but some of us will find a sympathetic soul in corporate America. Maybe they love your personality or maybe they once wanted to pursue acting, but they let you go to auditions whenever you want and take time off when you actually land a role. As an enterprising individual you take your job seriously and pitch in to help where needed. As your responsibilities increase so will your salary and then so will your expenditures. Once you have a car payment and a mortgage you will find you are a lot less eager to risk it all with asking for more time off or even contemplating quitting altogether. Careful how you make a living because it may end up sucking the life out of you.

Porno

Right next door to Hollywood is the San Fernando Valley. It is hot there and not as much action as in Hollywood. The one thing that it does offer is paying gigs for any pretty girls - you just have to be willing to take your clothes off. If you take your clothes and perform some actions, you get paid more. The freakier the stuff you are willing to do on camera the more you get paid. Often they do not even audition you, they look at your pics and book your time. For men this is not much of an option as they get paid a pittance but for women this can be a serious temptation that can impede progress in the “legit” entertainment business.

Hustlers

If you are coming from a big city then you no doubt have learned that people do indeed lie to other people with a straight face. You already know that people who offer you free stuff are usually up to no good. But even if you come from a small town where you know everybody and nobody utters a discouraging word, you have not seen true chicanery until you come here. People are peddling movie projects they never intended to produce, an acting gig can quickly turn to prostitution, and your potential roommate might end up robbing you after “checking out your place”. If it sounds too good too be true, beware.

This is not meant to discourage you from moving to LA to pursue your dreams, this is just a head check. You need to at least consider the possibility that these things will derail your plans and come up with a way to circumvent that. Careful what you do, careful who you hang out with, and careful who you trust.