Rejection Proof: What Actors Can Teach You About Career Resilience

Forbes

20-05-2025

Imagine walking into a room to give a presentation you've been working on for days. After you give it your best, you hear, "Thank you next," or even worse, you wait for weeks and never hear anything. Rejection is a common scenario in acting, and constantly hearing no or nothing can easily make you feel rejected and diminish your self-esteem.
"The auditioning process is basically a process of being rejected over and over and over again until you either give up or something breaks and you get an opportunity," Golden Globe winner Andrew Garfield explained in a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) interview. "It's having to have a strong enough sense of oneself to keep facing possible rejection and failure."
Here's how actors stay resilient against professional rejection and what business leaders can learn from them about building career resilience.
Actors are focused on their acting dreams and constantly work side jobs to pursue them. They are willing to take advantage of any opportunity that will help them learn new skills, build their resumes, and make connections.
A study published in 2013 by the Journal of Personality revealed that professionals with intrinsic motivation approach challenges differently. Actors know it's all a numbers game—they'll hear a certain number of "no's" before they hear a "yes." Keeping this in mind makes it easier to stay motivated as the number of rejections rises.
Mark Ruffalo had thoughts of giving up as he endured over 600 auditions, but his persistence paid off, and now he's an award-winning actor.
Watching the success of others might appear discouraging to some, but determined actors use it as proof that achievement is possible, believing, 'If others can do it, so can I.'
Staying encouraged is challenging to do alone. Consider what resources you have to find people who will support you as you keep trying. Just as actors rely on coaches to refine their craft, leaders benefit from having mentors and hiring executive coaches to reach higher career levels.
Every leader also has the opportunity to become an influential mentor. Sharing valuable lessons and insights helps the entire team learn and also increases mastery through teaching.
Beyond coaching, relationships are also crucial in acting. When auditioning, casting directors may not find the actor right for that particular role, but might remember them for something different later. Business connections work similarly—relationships built now can bring unexpected opportunities later and open doors when you least expect them.
Actors strategically network by introducing each other to different contacts, sharing audition opportunities, and creating mutual benefits.
Leaders can apply this wisdom by connecting team members to valuable people and experiences. As Zig Ziglar noted, "You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want." This reciprocal approach creates a ripple effect that expands opportunities for the entire team.
Start building your resilience today by embracing rejection as feedback rather than failure. Like the most successful actors, the most successful business leaders aren't those who face the fewest rejections—they're those who view rejection differently.
Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone shared in the Netflix documentary "Sly" (2023): "I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat."
Like an actor, wake up each day with the expectancy that today can be the day everything changes. You're only one "yes" away.