Actors are heroes with heroic qualities.

What makes up a hero is not the power he or she has,

but the way the power is used to motivate, change, and enlighten. Actors and heroes are similar

because they’re determined, selfless, and brave. Although, success for an actor could mean many

different things.

​ Light is shed on many different issues in the world through documentaries, movies,

television series, etc. “When they see us” opens the world's eyes to wrongful conviction, “Inside

Out” brings mental health issues alive, “Cyberbully” shows online bullying, “Degrassi” shows

the bulk of what teenagers go through everyday in high school, etc. The roles in the movies and

series took bravery and selflessness. To be a successful actor you have to open yourself up to

new possibilities and emotions. Some of the roles are fun to play, but every role an actor plays

requires digging deep in order to understand why the character is so happy, sad, angry, etc.

Acting is not just memorizing lines, it is becoming these characters and learning who

they are and why they are the way they are. Some of these movies and tv shows happen to be

true stories, which is why it takes so much bravery and selflessness. In order to be great at this

craft you have to be emotionally invested, and sometimes you relate to the character that you are

playing which stirs up your emotions personally. There are other routes that could be taken to

play a role, but in my opinion this is the most authentic, and results in the best outcome.

Actors save the day the way heroes do because we play characters that people can see

themselves in. Also, we play real life people in docufilms. We become heroes to the people who

have been through what we pretend to play. People experience healing when they see themselves

being played. For example, Korey Wise played by Jharrel Jerome from “When they see Us.”

Jharrel Jerome explained how terrified he was reading the script in front of the real person. He
said, “So, all of that tied into that reading, but the second we finished, he was wiping tears off his

face." Jharrel Jerome became a hero. Moreover, according to Jharrel Jerome’s interviews, he

had to sit in an actual prison and actual solitary confinement. These types of things takes

bravery; he has since won a Grammy.

​ Actors spark change and sometimes do not even mean to. Sometimes the purpose of

portraying a character could be to have a positive impact, but other times it could be for fun. No

matter what purpose the actor has, there is always going to be someone who is going to take

something away from it, small or not. We, as actors, spark something in the brain that motivates

the person to make moves in the world or even personally. To be a successful actor you can

make even the smallest impact on your own or someone else's life, it all depends on what success

means to you. Success could mean rich and famous, happy and purposeful, impactful, etc. When

you are content with being an influence in someone's life, and that gives you satisfaction, your

success is how people react to even the smallest roles you play. Heroes usually focus on helping

the one, in order to begin to help many. Just like heroes, actors have to start somewhere, and if

successful doesn’t mean impactful to some actors, then they have to start off impacting one in

order to build to success they’re looking for.

Being successful means many different things to different people. To me a successful actor is

making one person or many people feel something no matter what it is. Acting is being willing to

open up and put others before yourself, just like heroes.