Taking the tiny role in the play still gets you on stage. Big roles go to people who took small ones seriously.

Casting is partly about talent and heavily about evidence. Nobody can see how you handle a lead until they have watched you handle three lines, and the way you treat three lines is the whole audition. Small parts are not consolation prizes; they are the visible part of your reputation.

Take the minor role and do it as if it mattered, because to somebody watching it does. Learn everyone’s name, be early, know the whole piece rather than only your section. Those habits get remembered long after the size of the part is forgotten.