Exploring The Relationship Between Acting And Sports

Football is in the air and baseball playoffs will be here before you know it. Sports and acting are actually connected in many ways beyond Michael Jordan being the least animated actor in "Space Jam".  Not sure what I mean? Take a look at the examples below!

• Sports happen when two or more players gather on the field.  An acting performance occurs when the various players (actors) play off one another in a scene.
• The director (coach) trains his team and teaches them the game plan for the scene.  Just like a sporting event, things change in the heat of the moment and the actors (players) have to react as a team to move forward and achieve their goal. 
• The odds of being chosen to work as a professional actor and become part of a production (team) are almost as large as being drafted by a professional sports team.
• Much like professional athletes, actors improve by learning new skills, practicing daily and studying their script (playbook) until they know it by heart,
• Acting and sports are both physical activities that require timing, the use of a variety of muscles throughout the body, mental sharpness and working in unison with your teammates.
• A big acting cast is much like a team sport. A sports team has to learn the moves of their fellow players and when to weave in and out of the action. Actors need to know more than their own lines. They have to work as a team and know the overall direction and playbook to succeed as a unit and reach the goal line.
• Sports teams wear uniforms when they hit the field. Actors wear costumes (uniforms) when they are ready to play their part.
• Both professions use the term "break a leg" even though it is only a good phrase in the acting world.

Being part of a team of actors can be a very rewarding experience. Are you ready to take a chance and join a team of actors? If so, get in the game!

This teen has been an actor and a youth football All-American.