At Terry Knickerbocker Studio, we meet a lot of actors at all stages of their journey — some fresh out of school, some years into a career, some just starting to find their footing. And one theme comes up again and again: the tension between working and training.
It’s a choice we see all the time: a student gets cast in a reading, a short film, a day player role — and leaves class to take it. On the surface, that sounds like success. A line on the résumé. A paycheck. A small win in a competitive business. And yes — it’s exciting. It’s validating.
But the real question is: what is success?
Is it just booking the gig? Or is it knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that you can handle any role, any director, any challenge — because you’ve built the craft to back it up?
The Long Game
When Terry started out, he spent four years at NYU. Great teachers. Great classmates. And still, his work was inconsistent — sometimes strong, sometimes shaky. It wasn’t until he committed to another two years of Meisner training with William Esper — starting at the beginning despite his degree — that everything changed.
That’s six years of training. Six years before he could honestly say: I know what I’m doing.
Actors today often want to skip that step. They’ll say, I want to train, but do you have a weekend workshop? A month-long intensive? I can’t take myself out of the business. Those actors will book jobs. But the question is: what will their body of work look like in 20 years?
This is a long game. And the actors who last — the ones with range, depth, and resilience — are the ones who invest in their craft.
Redefining “Working Actor”
When we ask prospective students about their goals, 90% say: I want to be a working actor. It’s an understandable answer. It’s rooted in the desire to feel legitimate — to say, I pay my rent with acting money, instead of answering, Yes, I’m still acting to the inevitable doubters.
But here’s the truth: paying your bills from acting isn’t the highest measure of success. Doing great work is. And when you focus on being good — genuinely, consistently good — the career follows. People need good actors.
What Training Gives You
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Range. Without training, you’ll likely be cast in the “box” people see you in. Training helps you break out — giving you the ability to inhabit roles you’d never otherwise be considered for.
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Confidence. Auditions, callbacks, industry highs and lows — they’re easier to navigate when you know you have the tools. Confidence lets you weather rejection without losing momentum.
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A Safe Place to Fail. In class, you can try, miss, and try again without risking your career. Every failure is just another step toward mastery.
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A Craft. Training gives you a rock-solid foundation — a repeatable process that carries you through every role, every project, every phase of your career.
The bottom line: hustle is part of the business, but hustle without craft is short-lived. The actors who train — who take the time to invest in their talent — are the ones who can say, years down the road, I know what I’m doing. And that’s the kind of success worth building.
Ready to invest in your craft?
Explore our training programs to see how Terry Knickerbocker Studio can help you build the skills — and the career — you’ve been working toward.