Being an Actor: Patience: 'Many a time it has been pointed out to me that the good guy doesn’t win... but on the other hand, throwing a hissy fit does not seem to be the most productive course of action either.'

Patience is the actor’s must-have accessory. You can be certain that it goes with every outfit, and one would dread to think where we would be without it, but how much is too much? And at what point does the agitated artist cry out from the battlements – Somebody give me a break.

Admittedly, it’s very useful in short-term situations, such as on a film set when you’re six and a half hours behind and have been wearing an excruciatingly obscene outfit/wig/amount of make-up in a very tiny green room with no windows. In this case it’s more a question of maintaining focus than anything else, and fighting that newly wrung sense of claustrophobia you haven’t quite encountered before. At least here you know that the cogs are grinding and eventually you will be asked to go and do your scene.

However, patience in long-term situations, I would argue, is not as fruitful as one might think. How acceptable is it to sit on your artistic bottom for months on end awaiting that life-changing opportunity? And how long do you give your agent before you drop them a line to find out what the devil is actually going on out there. It’s all so unquantifiable, and worse, it’s all so out of your own hands. Talking to actors who are part of co-operative agencies (where the agents are the actors themselves, putting others and themselves forward for the castings available), one gets the impression that they at least have some knowledge of what is going on in the casting ether, and may feel a tinge of control even. However, lone rangers such as little ole me are at the mercy of the agent for big opportunities. (Small ones can be garnered on actor-friendly casting websites). Many a time it has been pointed out to me that the good guy doesn’t win... but on the other hand, throwing a hissy fit does not seem to be the most productive course of action either.

So, the optimum patience to action ratio seems to be this: gently pester your agent continuously for the entire duration of your relationship. This way, they don’t forget about you, and also think of you as proactive and ready to be seen. Yes, you risk annoying them, but this is far more favourable than them forgetting that you have ever set foot in their office. The best advice that I have taken for neither stamping my foot nor disappearing into the wallpaper is surely to keep doing whatever you can do for yourself to get further in the industry. Network, write, create, send off complimentary emails to people whose projects you admire, or become a part of a creative project or community that will keep you buoyed up for the rainy days. You never know - your lack of patience and change of direction may land you in the sun sooner than a singular opportunity. Patience is important, but having a sense of the alternative kilter is more so; it’s far easier to be suitably patient with one project or person when you’re charging off into three or four other endeavours. And this is far too risky a game not to spread your bets.