ARG Pro Member of The Month: Mike Dolphy
Happy Tuesday! Today we’re starting a new tradition at Acting Resource Guru. We’re shifting the spotlight onto YOU. Specifically, our ARG Pro Members. Even more specifically, a kick-ass Pro Member, Mike Dolphy.
ARG Pros are just that: Pros. We are a solid community of actors who act like the CEOs they are. ARG Pros work every day toward furthering their acting careers, they understand how the industry works and what steps need to be taken, and best of all – ARG Pros work!
Today we’re highlighting Mike Dolphy. Mike first went Pro a couple of years ago, and since then his career has TAKEN off. When we spoke for our interview he was actually on set in wardrobe! Mike is a prime example of the results you can get when you take ownership of your acting career.
Mike has a ton of tidbits to share about his career, his training, what it means to be a Pro and what you can do to help further your own career, including:
Check it all out below!
We cut together the highlights of my interview with Mike, you can watch that here:
Huge shoutout to @MikeDolphy, the ARG Pro Member of The Month! Learn how he took control of his career, how he booked his first job and the advice he got from @ViolaDavis and @DonCheadle in his interview with @ActResourceGuru @Ajarae! #SavvyActors #Share
If you’re interested in reading the full transcript of the interview, you can read that here:
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Ajarae: Tell us little bit about your background, Mike!
Mike: I have been acting now about 5 years and I got into commercials first. And I’m gonna be honest with you… somebody said you can make a lot of money in commercials and that’s really why I started with commercials. I went to an open call for the Daniel Hoff Agency and I guess I got lucky because I ended up getting signed. The owner, Daniel Hoff himself, said he wanted to work with me because I had a great personality and he thought I was was very creative. But he also said, and I quote, “….but Mike, I can tell you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.” He told me he wanted to introduce me to somebody named Killian McHugh. He wanted me to take his class. I took his class and got hooked, and decided to take every single one of his classes. Since then, I’ve taken every commercial class I could, and read every commercial book I could. Since then, I’ve started getting into TV and things like that. At one point, I was doing the background hustle, full time. I’m talking, back in the day, when it was the $72 rate. And I ended up booking a voice over gig without any experience. I went to Singapore for 2 years, then I came back and started acting.
Ajarae: One thing that jumps out to me about what you just said is that you had an interest in commercials, you got a little bit of encouragement, and then you started training and had lot of success in commercials. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Mike: Yes. The success I’ve had in commercials is 100% cause and effect. A lot of people are saying, “Mike, you’re on fire” or “Mike, you’re lucky”, but I honestly just think I know more than most people. And because I have this regular look like “Hey, he can work at Target” or “He can work at Champs”. But studying the business side of this is really what has helped me most.
Ajarae: So when you joined Acting Resource Guru, you already had success in commercials. So I’m wondering what did you join Acting Resource Guru hoping to address?
Mike: I joined Acting Resource Guru because I heard about you, Ajarae. And I thought I needed like a community because I was just doing this on my own. And it was fine, but I just wanted to get around some like-minded people because I wasn’t really around any. I wanted to be held accountable. I booked my first co-star role from using Acting Resource Guru. When I found out that you have a list that tells you where every casting director workshop in the city is every single day, and then I found out about you, I said “why not” because I just need to learn more. In the community, I’d listen to everybody else and what was going on and what they were doing. I ended up shooting a scene with somebody in the group, and that scene is actually used to submit me for things. I got called in using the scene with somebody I met who also needed a scene. So, it’s just a great community.
Ajarae: That’s awesome, Mike. Thank you. Tell us about something that you’re working on, or a recent win or success that you want to share.
Mike: My most recent win is a co-star role on ALL AMERICAN. And it made me realize the importance of relationships, which actually a lot of people overlook. As far as looking at this acting career as a business, meeting casting directors is considered customer acquisition. I used the [Acting Resource Guru] software to see the LA workshops and that’s how I’ve been able to make those relationships with people. And they called me in, and I booked it, and then it’s not just one booking. I just read yesterday, for the exact same casting director that booked me for ALL AMERICAN, and this casting director reminded me that ALL AMERICAN just picked up for Season 2 yesterday. So even though it was a co-star role, she said if we end up back in Crenshaw High (because I was a teacher there breaking up a fight), who knows, it can lead to more.
Ajarae: I was watching ALL AMERICAN the other day! I was baby-sitting one of my friend’s kids and he’s 11 and he was watching the show glued to the TV set. And then I saw yesterday the show was picked up again. That’s really cool.
Mike: I was told that yesterday in an audition!
Ajarae: And I just read it on Shadow and Act yesterday. The news just came out. Congratulations!
Mike: That also shows us the direction of the industry. When the show first aired, my mom texted me and maybe ONE other person. But now that it’s on Netflix, I’m getting all of these text messages, and I’m thinking, “but this aired in like February or March!” It’s funny how now that it’s on the streaming service, more people are watching it now than when it actually aired on the CW.
Ajarae: Yes, that is so interesting. So what is a dream role or project for you?
Mike: A dream role or project for me would be being on a hit sitcom and/or being in a big major motion picture that’s a comedy. Or maybe the comic relief in something that’s not a comedy, like a super hero movie with that one character that delivers the jokes. But a hit series or a hit sitcom would be like my dream role and not necessarily even the lead. I don’t know the age range of the people that are going to watch this. But let’s say the Fresh Price of Bel Air. Yes, I’m taking it way back. I could be the character of Jazz… just coming and getting thrown out… just hi and bye… I don’t need to be the lead.
But that would be perfect for me because I’ve done background. When I was doing background, I realized it was awesome how fast they shoot, and then they have weekends off. But comedy, I think it comes naturally, so that’s why I focus along those lines.
Ajarae: Well, do what you’re good at. And then once you become known with that, you can branch out to things that stretch you more. But why not just embody who you are! I am sitting here dying right during this interview… you’re hilarious. I think it’s a good idea for all of us as actors to get clear on what we do really well and how people see us, which it seems like you’ve done really well, in order to just make it easier for us to become known in the industry. I wanna be type cast! And then you’re working a lot, and then you branch out if that’s what you want to do.
Mike: I should have talked about my film.
Ajarae: That’s actually I was gonna ask you about that next.
You’re an actor, you’re a producer, you’re an entrepreneur. There are so many things, you’re a multi-hyphenate, which a lot of us actors are now. Can you talk a little bit about the other interests that you have besides acting?
Mike: I can’t lie, I looked at Will Smith’s IMDb and I said “Wow! He’s got a lot of things on here that he’s not even acting in!” So, ironically, somebody brought a script to and I said, “Wow! That’s actually an amazing script”. They just needed some help funding, so I said rather than do stupid stuff with my commercial money (like I did the first time I got some money), let me at least do something! And I put some money into that film. The guy who filmed my scene with the other actor from ARG is the one who had the movie idea. And he shot the film and I was supposed to be a producer and not act in the film. And then he said, “Mike, we want you to be a voice over on the phone”, and then it turned into, “Mike, actually we changed the script again. Can you just have a small part in the movie?” So we did that and we got it into a theatre in Greendale. It was in an actual movie theatre and screened for four weeks. And now it’s available online. If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch it for free.
Ajarae: What’s the name of the film?
Mike: It’s called Split Lip. And it’s an action-thriller. Now were about to submit to the Cannes Film Festival and we had a shot with Mario Lopez on Entertainment Tonight for the independent feature film.
Ajarae: You’re going to Cannes this year?
Mike: We’re about to submit it, we’re just trying. We’re making some edits to it to make it shorter. The film got great feedback on Amazon and is actually doing really well in the Spanish Market. So we have to do the Spanish subtitles for that. It was great being a producer on something; that was cool.
Ajarae: Tell me about your business.
Mike: Well, I’m doing book publishing. I released a free e-book about agents. And not to step on your toes, yours is better. You actually have checklists and stuff. I do not have checklists. So yours is a little more like, “wow you can really just go step by step.” Okay, got that. Mine is kinda like “here you go.”
Ajarae: (Laughs)
Mike: I actually am working on another book that’s going to be on Amazon and be sold in Barnes and Noble, but it’s just about little secrets that I used to book commercials. And I also started a program that helps people get agents. We just helped the 30th person get signed with commercial representation to Pantheon for commercial print and fashion. She never had an agent before, and now is with a big agency. But she’s ready though, she nailed it.
Ajarae: How can actors find out about working with you in this program?
Mike: Actors can find out about working with me through Instagram @mikedolphy or you can go to mikedolphy.com. And the program that helps actors get an agent is called undergroundbookers.com.
Ajarae: Okay, one final question. This is a big one. So, imagine that you’re talking to one of your really close friends whose an actor. And here she is feeling really discouraged and kind of unsure of what to do next to move their career forward and they’re just like “nothing’s going right.” They’re thinking about quitting maybe. So drawing from your experience with ARG or with any of the training that you’ve done, what sort of advice and encouragement would you offer him or her?
Mike: The advice I would give is go back to why you started in the first place. What made you want to be in this industry. And get specific because I realize why a lot of people are just floating around… there’s no specificity. See how you asked me about what my dream career or dream role would be? Now I kinda know what my thing is. So I know what to say “no” to, because it’s not lined up. Because if you don’t have any specifics, if your goal is something like “I can’t wait ‘til I make it” and then somebody ask you what exactly does “make it” mean to you and you can’t answer that, it’s a problem. Do you wanna do TV? Do you wanna do comedy? Do you wanna do film? If you get more specific with what you wanna do, now you actually can hit some targets. Because now if I wanna do comedy, let me go train with these people and make these connections. Getting more specific will also help you with what casting director to the target . Because I found a lot of people just take workshops blindly. Now you can focus your money, your time and things like that. Also, just doing your own things is important. I have these other things going on. They don’t seem like they’re related, but they opened up doors for acting. A few agents have wanted to sign me of interests that don’t actually seem related. It’s kinda like “Wow! You’ve got things going on.” And Viola Davis specifically told me on Scandal, (yes, I had my one line)… she specifically told me “Just don’t stop”. She said that if she had left six years ago, she wouldn’t be on How To Get Away With Murder, and it’s just as simple as that. But that time that you’re here, you can’t just think “well, if I just live in LA, it will happen.” You have to do something. So that would be my advice.
Ajarae: It’s so helpful. Thank you so much, Mike. I am so proud to have you as a member of our community and just so happy for all the things you have going on. Thank you for sharing that for all of us. And break a leg and best of luck as you move forward in your career.
Mike: Alright. Well thank you very much and thanks for the interview.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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