What is the best way to break into acting?

Question

I mean I read so much online! Do I become an extra? I found this extras site called www.moviex.com that I could pay for to get extra work... or do I just send myself out to parts? Do I get an agent? I get really 'scared' sometimes and don't send myself out b/c I don't think I'll do good in the audition. I don't know what to do about that either, do I take an acting class to get over my shyness? Any tips from fellow actors and others who know would be really helpful!! Thank you all ; )

Wow! Thank you for your really great advice! I'm going to follow it so that I can 'begin' my career. Thankfully, I was born and raised it the beautiful county of Los Angeles where many a acting resource is readily available. I could use all the advice I can get! Thanks again! ; )

Answer 1

Hi there,

it is obvious that the most important thing that you could possibly do right now is get yourself into a good acting class and stay there. And while you're doing that, you need to start at the beginning by doing a lot of homework.

I'm going to throw in some advice I gave to someone else who asked a question about how to really get started acting.

How can you become an actor?

This is a question I get almost daily....how to get started in acting. In fact it is a question that I have seen young actors have over the last three years and it is one that inspired me a lot to try and help, while at the same time learning myself. Consequently, I’ve learned a lot over these past three years.

It's important to know what it really means to be a working actor. Maybe you already know. I don't have much information about you other than what you wrote.

Here are some of the issues that actors face before they even get close to working:

*New to show business and just seem to be wallowing around to find out what you should be doing to get started in the right way!

*Not being sent out on many auditions.

*Rarely getting called back.

*No agent and not sure how to get one.

*Not many industry contacts and can’t seem to meet that industry professional they would really like to meet.

*Difficult to balance work and the demands of an acting career.

*Able to book jobs, but not always able to keep them and don't know why.

*Sending out materials—audition tapes, headshots, and résumés—but not getting the types of responses they would like or none at all!

*Don’t have the money to take classes, so just taking a workshop every now and again instead of going to a school or regular classes. It’s been the situation for months. Maybe even years.

*Having difficulty getting off work for auditions, because the boss doesn’t support employees' acting careers!

*Difficult to prepare well for auditions, because of work. Either too tired or just not enough time in the day to work on their acting career!

*Have to work at a club or restaurant or in a job they don't like until the wee hours of the morning and end up going into auditions looking and feeling like a zombie.

*Having to work at a job that robs them of valuable time they could be using to spend on developing their acting career, auditioning or something else.

*Don't have the cash to make a show-reel or audition tape, get headshots.

*Not sure how to choose a headshot photographer!

*"Don't know how on earth it's possible to make a résumé, if I don’t have anything to put on it! How on earth can I start an acting career!"

There are certainly more issues that actors face. At any rate, this is the reality. I certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but I say all this to let you know, something that you already know which is that there will be a lot of things to do before you get there. You will need clarity about what it is you really want in your life and in your acting career, motivation, determination, thick skin, a method of planning, business skills and you will need to see how real, working actors put these things into practice.

After you've started to think more about the mission on which you are about to embark, you need to study, study, study acting. I would advise you to get information about the different acting techniques and methods that there are and then choose one. To help, look up books by:

Uta Hagen
Lee Strasberg
Sanford Meisner
Stella Adler

Here is some other information in the following link that can help you in choosing classes:
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acting_classes.html

Start studying the trade papers to get a feel for the industry, what's going on, what's hot, what's not, issues, casting directors who cast certain projects, agents and what they are looking for, etc.:

Backstage (or go to their website www.backstage.com)
Show Business (www.showbusiness.com)
Hollywood Reporter
Ross Reports
Theatrical Index
New York Agencies
Check out www.sag.org , www.aftra.com , www.actorsequity.com for information about the three major unions.

Lastly and maybe most importantly, you MUST realize that the person who will embark on this new mission of becoming an actor is YOU. Whether or not you are successful (and only you can define what success means to you) will depend a lot on how the industry treats you, but it also will depend largely on you. By that I mean, your attitude, your talent, your willingness to learn and be curious, your perseverance, determination and method, your clarity around what you want out of your career, your capacity to find creative solutions and creative ways to promote yourself and set yourself apart from the rest, your ability to first create a financial base so that you can concentrate fully on your craft, your ability to motivate yourself and to handle rejection, your capacity to be disciplined and plan for your success and it will also depend on your capacity to sell and market your acting ability.

I say this to say that you will need to develop and work on yourself. This is true for anyone. These aforementioned things are what many, many, many young actors overlook and thus find starting an acting career to be a difficult endeavor.

So what could your next steps be?. Find a good acting class and a good teacher. DEVELOPING YOUR SKILL AS AN ACTOR should be your number one priority while you do your homework on the industry! Without that skill, you probably won't go very far in this very competitive field.

Gather some information and talk to actors about what it really means to be a working actor, not the Brad Pitts and Julia Roberts', but the average Joe, out there pounding the pavement, getting jobs that last a few days at a time and who are piecing their work together by doing student films, commercials, looking for an agent, auditioning, getting rejected, doing mailings, preparing for auditions, going to class, saving up for months just to be able to get those new headshots, etc. Talk to actors who are working regularly and learn from what they’ve done. Also talk to actors who are struggling and learn from them what not to do! You'll be surprised at the number of people you talk to who are complaining about not getting work or that they don't have an agent, who after months or even years still don't have a plan! Compare your findings and put together your strategy. Have a look at this link in which you can see what a typical day looking for work could be like:
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/working_as_an_actor.html

One last thing. Be aware of all the other types of acting possibilities there are:
Film, television, theater are the obvious ones and even within them there are subdivisions. There is also hosting, industrials, on-camera commercials, commercial print, student films, independent films, spokesperson, stock photography.
Community Theater, student films, extra work, commercial print work and stock photography shoots could be some things you could do to get your feet wet while you are starting out.

I hope this gives you some insight and I hope to have made you think.

Best of luck!

Tony
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com

Answer 2

Hello! First of all, ask yourself if you can live *without* being an actor. If the answer is yes, then do something else with your life. I say this because becoming a working actor is extremly hard. Of the thousands and thousands of SAG (screen actors guild) actors, only about 500 actually make a decent living at it, and most of those do so by doing commercials. However, if acting is like breathing to you, you just can't live wthout it (like me) then the first step is to get into class. There are so many types of classes out there, so it's best to audit a few and find which on is right for you. I'd start with a begining acting class. Your coach can tell you what you need to work on etc. so that you can become more advanced. Also, take some audition classes. Auditioning is really what actors do. That's our job. Getting the part is the cake.
Once you are ready, talk to your coach about agents. But in the meantime, audition for anything and everything! The more you do it, the better you'll get. Hopefully you live somewhere where there are independent films being made, or even a lot of live theatre. Check out whatever college you are near and try out for student films.
Once you get an agent, don't stop doing the non-paying stuff - keep building up your resume!
I wouldn't reccomend doing extra work, except maybe once, just to get the feel of a film set. But the pay isn't great and you are treated like cattle. In LA, there are professional extras - but I don't think that's what your after.

Ahh, can't think anymore - if you have any more q's, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer you!

Lyric

Answer 3

If you'd like to be, and stay an Extra, than by all means, become a regular, working extra. If you'd just like experience on a set, try being an extra a few times, but don't put it on your resume, or else, the CD will just see you as an extra actor, and nothing else.

1. Never pay for an acting website. If they do require a fee, it's not legit. Always do a background check before signing up.

If you'd like extra work, check your local papers, look online, you will see calls, and that should be enough, just show up!

If you want to go far in the entertainment industry, then yes, by all means, get and agent.

"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." -Live by this!

If you find shyness a problem, you could try and acting class, or maybe just more social clubs and activities, so you can get more comfortable being in front of other people.

Good luck, and I hope everything works out!

Answer 4

I would agree with what the others are saying. Take acting classes...and read some books...ex: Ivana Chubbuck- The Power of the Actor, Sanford Meisner- On acting, Michael Chekhov-To the actor, and anything from Stanislavski. Those should really get you a head start. A lot people think acting is just saying lines and its not...its a lot harder than some people think. Acting lessons will help you break away from "acting" and get you to more be yourself when ur auditioning. Remember, let your character become you...not you becoming the character.

Answer 5

Have you been to a theatre school? If not go to one, they will teach you all the techniques you need to become a well rounded, talented actor and they will tell you how to audition, where to audition and what to do in an audition. If you have an agent it's much easier to know when/where auditions are but you have to be careful to get a good one that wont just take your money or not get you anything. You can make a decent living being an extra and it's a great way to get enough experience and screentime to become a part of the SAG. The last thing I can say is audition,audition, audition, rejection is part of the job, get used to it.

Answer 6

Are you familiar with the following: cross, downstage, upstage, exit, at rise, cue, hand props, stageLeft/Stage Right, Set, Set props subtext,walk-on, Supporting Roles and many other theater terms. If you want to act, find a good bookstore and buy a book about acting and acting terms.

Without experience, there is nothing an Agent can do for you. You will only embarass him or her, if you are sent on an audition.

If you do not have a network of actor friends, get some.
Actors in your city are the BEST resources for information on getting work in the city where you live.

You are NOT ready for a Talent Agent. Agents want actors that have performed in theater productions. They want actors that have a lot of roles already on their resume. They want actors that have performed in Regional Theater Productions, or, at the least, in Community Theater

They want to see that you studied acting in high school, as well as in college. They want to see that you are in the actor unions.

Extra work will not help you, but, the positive side is, you will meet other actors that can help you, as far as, telling you where to take acting classes, where to get headshots, which headshot photographer to use and where to take acting classes. Unless you have many years of acting experience an agent does not want to meet you. He or she cannot send an inexperienced actor on an audition.

They want actors that have been acting since middle-school, high school and/or college. They want to see lead roles on a resume. If you do not have a network of actor friends, get some. Actors in your city are the BEST resources for information on getting work in the city where you live.
Call the Community Theater in your city and ask if they teach acting, or, can recommend an acting school.

Answer 7

For Acting, I would recommend

http://www.hollywoodnorth.com

Answer 8

the best way is an agent. clear and simple. however take acting classes to clear all nerves and improve your skills first. :)

Answer 9

you cant become a actor or anything if you are shy