Keeping your days open so you can go out on auditions is one of the toughest situations a new actor has to face. On the one hand you have to pay your bills and keep your lights on, on the other, you need to be free during the day to go out on auditions. Your [...]
One thing that will turn an agent off with the quickness is you being clueless to what’s hot on TV. It’s your duty as an actor to watch as much television as you can. Believe it or not, there are many different acting styles being performed on various television programs. For instance, soap opera actors [...]
You’ll hear the term “call time” a lot as you become a working professional actor. A call time is the time at which an actor must be on the set and ready to work. You’ll usually get a phone call from the first assistant director or stage manager (depending on the project you’re working on) a day or [...]
First you have the initial audition. This is the first call you get from your agent. You go out, do your best on the audition and if they like you, they’ll (the casting agent) want you to come back a second time–usually for the producers and/or director. You’ve got a “callback”. Congrats! A callback is [...]
You wanna be a successful actor? Be early for everything.
One of the greatest things about being a professional actor is the residuals. You’ll love it when you get your first one. Of course, actors get paid–you know that. Well, residuals are royalty payments that are owed to you every time the project you were on re-runs on television (pay per view, premium and basic cable [...]
Shun: to keep away from (a place, person, object, etc.), from motives of dislike, caution, etc.; take pains to avoid. You have aspirations of becoming a professional actor only not everyone is “for” you. You’re just gonna have to shun the haters. Most people probably don’t think outside the box like you. Just think, how [...]
Do you get nervous on an audition? It’s normal. Especially if you’re in the running for something major like a TV series or a big film. Don’t sweat it. The key to going on a successful audition is to never let them see you sweat. Whose “them”? Casting directors. Producers. The Director. Actors whom you’re [...]
Rejection is the one thing you will ALWAYS have to deal with as an actor so you might as well mentally prepare yourself for it now. You’ll go out on many auditions but realize that you will not get all the roles. In fact, you’re not gonna book a lot of the auditions you go out [...]
You’re probably serious about this acting thing and really want to book your first professional acting job, right? We thought so. But guess what? Without an audition, you have zero chance of booking your first acting job. Whether you have a talent manager or not, there are two very important things you need in order to get an audition. Number [...]
When you’re just starting out as an actor (and especially if you don’t have an agent or manager) you will most likely have to go out on many “cattle calls”. So what’s a cattle call? A cattle call is term associated with the audition process. There will be many times when you will go out [...]
A talent manager is someone who manages talent. They’re quite different from a talent agent. First, let’s break up the two words and define them to give you a better understanding of what a talent manager actually does. According to Dictionary.com, the word “talent” can be defined as a special or natural ability. It also [...]
Jackie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor during the silent film era. He started his career in Vaudeville as an infant. Eventually he was discovered by the famous Charlie Chaplin after Chaplin noticed him doing the Shimmy, a popular dance [...]
Wanting to be an actor is a good thing. It shows you’re different and if you’re reading this article; it also shows you’re serious. Serious about being an actor that is. While everyone has dreams of one day achieving at least five minutes of fame–we know you’re not gonna settle for just five minutes. Hopefully you’re [...]
Let’s say you’re having trouble making a decision as to where to start your professional acting career. You know you need to be in a major city. It’s down to just two choices: Los Angeles or New York.
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) is the largest online database of information related to movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. IMDB allows you to upload your photos and resume free of charge and gives you maximum exposure to IMDb’s 57 million visitors, including key industry decision-makers. Once you get up and running at IMDB [...]
If you’re young, between the ages of 8-19 you’re in a great position to becoming an actor on The Disney Channel.
Heard of Stanislavski? Are you into “The Method”? Some actors are, some actors aren’t. Well, in case you ARE into “The Method”, The Stanislavski System is probably one of the most popular method acting techniques. Constantin Stanislavski lived from 1863-1938 and was a Russian actor and theater director. His method was innovative and introduced a [...]
You still have the acting bug, eh? Are you an older actor trying to jump start your career again? Or maybe you’re a senior who always had dreams of becoming an actor? Well, guess what? We’re here to tell ya that it’s never too late to become an actor. That’s right, it’s not too late. You [...]
Whenever you’re in Los Angeles, make sure you check out Samuel French Bookstore on Ventura Blvd. Samuel French is a popular bookstore where actors go to purchase books on acting. The store carries a plethora of playbooks, trade papers, how-tos, memoirs and many other helpful resources for the actor. Samuel French Bookstore 11963 Ventura Blvd. [...]
Actor’s Access is a premiere subscription service website where actors can upload and manage their photos and resumes by creating their own profiles. The ability to submit their photos and resumes to casting agents and prodution companies is what makes this site a powerful resource for actors. Actors can review “the breakdowns”, another name for [...]
The Meisner Technique is a “method” acting technique created by and named after Sanford Meisner. Sanford Meisner was an American actor and acting acting coach who developed the technique after working with the Group Theatre at New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse and continued its refinement for fifty years. Today the technique is part of a [...]
Going to School for Acting Been thinking about going to school for acting? Learning more about the craft of acting is important to a successfull acting career. One thing you need to realize though and it’s a tough fact to state–going to school for acting will not guarantee you stardom or a great acting career. [...]
First off, we want to encourage you that you can make it as an actor. Do you want to become a professional actor? You can do it. The first thing you need to do is start saying that you ARE an actor. You’re not trying to BECOME an actor, you ARE an actor. The key [...]
Excellent question. Let’s just first say that the average actor doesn’t get paid the gazillions your typical Hollywood movie star makes but you know this. Even most “character actors” you may be familiar with are not getting the megabucks. In fact, very few actors get paid a lot of money. If you manage to become [...]
Founded in 1937, AFTRA, also known as The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is the second largest performers’ union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty artists and background singers), promo and [...]
Founded in 1933, The Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) is the largest actor’s union representing over 120,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide. All professional actors (i.e. top actors, stars, celebrities) are a part of this union so this is the one union you have to be in if you’re gonna be considered [...]
