RealityChuck: RealityChuck: I also should mention this, which might help: A friend of mine, an aspiring writer, had a sister who was trying to break into theater in New York. Her sister once told her that she could never be a writer because she couldn’t handle the rejection. My friend pointed out that actors get rejected all the time, but her sister said essentially, that the rejections are far less a comment on your ability. You may fail an audition because you have black hair and the producers want a blonde, or because you’re taller than they’d like or because they find your accent is not quite right – all factors that you have no control over. With acting, the rejection quite simply can be that, though you’re great at what you do, you weren’t the physical type the producers were looking for.

Or, more basically, in show biz, there are a LOT of talented people competing for a limited number of gigs.

ANY decent role in a play or movie is going to attract dozens or hundreds of talented people who are capable of playing the part well. If you’re not an established star, the odds will almost always be against you. NOT because you aren’t good, just because you’re not UNIQUELY good.

VERY rarely is a casting director going to tell an applicant, “Quit show biz, now. You suck. You have no future.” More likely, he’s going to say, “Not bad, but you’re not exactly what we need.” Or “That was fine, but we’ve seen someone we like a little better.” If you’re a performer, you’re likely to hear those words a LOT.

Being rejected, for ANY job in ANY career field, hurts. And rejection is bound to happen more often if you’re in a highly competitive field like show biz. If you know you’re talented, the only question is, how long are you willing to do menial jobs and live in relative poverty until you get your big break (which, of course, may NEVER come)?

So, while it might offer the OP’s friend some small comfort to point out that the Beatles’ audition tapes were rejected by several record companies, the main things the OP’s friend has to ask herself are: