Good acting is all in the writing. If it isn't on the page, then it really won't make any difference. You cannot act on force of personality alone.
Work hard. And have patience. Because no matter who you are, you're going to get hurt in your career and you have to be patient to get through the injuries.
Throughout the human experience people have read history because they felt that it was a pleasure and that it was in some way instructive. The profession of professor of history has taken it in a very different direction.