Seven Signs You Have A Professional Acting Career
June 28, 2023
I’ll never forget the eye-opening moment when I was asked by an agent whether or not I wanted to be an actor. I was crushed. After all, this was years into my ‘career’ (or what I thought was my career).
As difficult as it was to have that question asked, it changed my perspective. It made me realize that there is an industry standard and that – maybe – I wasn’t playing my cards right.
Now, I look at things differently. I learned to judge my work from the viewpoint of someone who would want to hire me.
Becoming a professional actor is all about a series of step-by-step accomplishments, much like in a college program. It will take hundreds or thousands of hours of studying, preparation, application and practice to get to a professional level. The actor hobbyist and the professional are vastly different.
Curious to know which category you fall under? Here, I’m going to provide some qualities that all professionals share to move forward and ultimately… make money.
1. Getting paid for your work
I would say that the first time you get booked for a paid project through an agent is a pretty good indication that you are on your way to being, or already are, a professional actor! Having said that, don’t skip out on your acting training just because you are booking work. Continuing your education feeds your momentum. If you’ve been working but haven’t taken a class in a while, consider taking something new to you or something that will strengthen a big weakness of yours.
2. You have a professional headshot
A portrait session with a reputable photographer (recommended by your agent or manager, most likely) that produces at least one theatrical headshot and one commercial headshot is essential. A simple black border with your name at the bottom (legibly- i.e. not in cursive!) will suffice. A selfie or Instagram photo will instantly make you less of a professional. And it could seriously damage your ability to book.
3. You have an Agent and/or ‘Team’
A top requirement to become a professional working actor, right after your training, is having a quality agent. Although the majority of your work should come through them, you may also find work yourself, and most actors are constantly looking. Try a range of agents until you meet one that jives with you and understands your goals.
Not all agents are created equal! One agent may not be enough, however, and you may require a manager, publicist, lawyer, PR agent or more to be adequately represented. You may also choose to have different agents representing you in different areas (one for voice, one for theatrical, one for commercial, one for print, one for stunts, etc). The more helping hands you have, the greater the chance for success.
4. You invest in yourself
Acting is an investment. Headshots, acting websites such as Casting Frontier, classes, etc. all take a significant chunk of change to maintain. However, those who take their careers seriously do not skimp on ways to further their careers. Of course, some things you can do on your own, such as social media updates, or maybe even writing and producing your own productions (Ben Affleck or Matt Damon often do this). Use your voice to create what you want to see in the industry.
5.You put acting first
This comes off as a simple one, however, it is far from it. Auditions happen fast, with little notice and often with high expectations. An actor who is constantly missing auditions, requesting a change of time slots or is available with limitations such as: only on weekends, only on nights or only during the day, may not be cut out for a position in the film industry. Give yourself the best shot possible, and that means putting acting first.
6. You’ve found your ‘sweet spot’
Many people struggle for years with good acting talent, or having a ‘look’ that is not in demand. You may find that your hair color or length is not catching the attention of professionals. For example, commercial spots love a good haircut shoulder length and above. If you’re not getting in the door, something may be off with your look or may not be on trend. Actors do not always get the perk of looking exactly how they want. Professionals learn to find their best ‘looks’ and stick to it.
7. You know how to fake it ’til you make it
That’s your golden ticket and your secret weapon. When you walk into the audition room, every casting director expects a professional regardless of experience level. A professional actor knows the rules of the casting room and is courteous. They keep their nerves in check, study the scene before arriving and are familiar with the script. If you’re a pro, you know how to slate well and have possibly seen the director’s previous work. These little things will make big impacts on the individuals you need to impress.
Whether you are a professional, aspiring, or acting as a hobby – remember to keep pushing forward, keep studying and keep showing up. Work on your positivity, support your industry peers, embrace your competition… and always, always be fearless!
Taylor Tunes (too-ness) is an actor located in Arlington, Texas.
Want to get your acting career started? Sign up or log in to Casting Frontier and start auditioning today!
You may also like:
- Tips for Performing Your Best Monologue
- What’s Your Vocal Range and Voice Type?
- The Top 3 Things a Hosting Agent Looks for in a Reel
Listening is Key: What Directors Look for From Actors in Auditions
June 9, 2023
I was speaking with a group of television and film directors and asked them what are the top 3 things they look for when watching actors audition. One of those items we agreed was essential: “listening and reactions.” Here, we’ll dive in and discuss why that is.
The reason was explained this way: Scenes are put together in post-production. Until that time, it’s not entirely clear when the director is going to need a reaction shot from an actor to liven up or help explain a scene. So in the audition, they’re looking closely to make sure that the actor doesn’t go flat – even for a moment – because that may be precisely the moment that your reaction is needed when a scene is being constructed.
They tell me that if an actor gives a solid reading, it’s obvious they know the requirements of the material and are skilled at bringing the words to life – even if it’s not exactly what they envisioned. On top of that, the actor has reactions that spark with honest, energetic life.
They’ll hire that actor over the actor who came closer to their vision in the reading but didn’t listen and react as well.
They figure that you can always direct a good actor to say a line differently, but it’s not as possible to direct them to be more compelling in their reactions.
As one of the directors said, “It’s like telling someone to be more interesting – and we don’t have time for that.”
They also agreed that in an audition, the focus and stillness that deep listening brings draws them into the reading and allows them to become fully involved with the actor’s emotional life through the intensity of their reactions. This makes them feel that they are already working with the actor.
This is in stark contrast to the actor who isn’t as focused on listening and reacting. This actor not only doesn’t draw them in, but they also appear to be reading at them, not speaking and listening with them.
Another positive benefit of deep, revealing listening appears when/if the audition is being taped. When directors are watching taped auditions it’s a two-dimensional experience. The actors who become contenders for the role are the ones who feel as if they are actually in the room with them.
These are the actors whose listening is so specific and powerful and whose reactions are so alive and original that they bridge the distance that the technology creates so that even if the director is watching them on an iPad in New York, they feel the actors’ specific energy and spark.
In order to have these jobs getting moments of reaction, you need a way of working that allows you to have the confidence to take the moments and to live in them. Most actors speed through the piece believing that it’s only their words that matter, and yet any director will tell you that it’s the reactions that are the actions of the scene.
Watching someone talk is not half as interesting as watching how those words are affecting another human being. It takes awareness, skill and guts to work this way – but it’s the only way to work if you want to book the job.
In closing, it’s good to remember that strong listening and reacting are not things that you can just pull out of thin air. The body goes to what it’s used to – and if the body isn’t used to the stillness and focus of listening in your daily life, it won’t go there in your work.
Paying attention to someone to the degree that you take in their words and feel them on multiple levels is actually pretty rare. Most people have mastered the art of “half listening:” listening just hard enough to plan their response. That’s not the type of listening that prompts the reactions that get jobs.
Practice in your daily life. Make a commitment to take people in as deeply as possible. See if you can turn your brain off and listen from the neck down. Feel your reactions in your body and let them pierce your heart.
As you continue to do this, you’ll find that your body will start to relax into a still, focused and open-hearted place that you can now access not only in your life but in your work.
And when this happens in your work, the people in the room will not just hear you but see you.
Remember, it’s the eyes that are the windows to the soul – not the mouth.
As we were wrapping up the discussion, we decided to see if we could create one sentence to sum up the importance of listening and reacting in the audition. Here’s what we came up with:
What you do with the words will get the director’s attention – but it’s what happens in your reactions that will get you the job.
Craig Wallace’s background in script development combined with his 20+ years of coaching actors enables him to find the job getting moments that others miss. His expertise in breaking down text and years of coaching experience has made him “L.A.’s go to private coach.” Sign up for his group or private classes at wallaceauditiontechnique.com
Want to land your next great acting role? Sign up or log in to Casting Frontier and start auditioning today!
You may also like:
- The Power of the Actor’s Giving Frame of Mind
- Should Actors Read Social Media Comments About Themselves?
- 4 Insights for New Talent from Acting Coach Larry Moss
Availability & The Working Actor
July 19, 2016
Are you available? Wait. Before you answer, you might want to read the entire blog.
Every actor I meet tells me they are 100% available to audition and to work. But then when some of them get the call, they are either not available at all or need a reschedule. Sometimes this is possible but most of the time the casting director needs you when he or she makes the request. A lot of parts are cast in one session. And why look at tape when I have a dozen amazing choices standing right in front of me in the flesh? We can adjust them. We can pair them up. We can even mix and match. Most importantly, we can chat a little and get to know you for thirty seconds. Thirty very important seconds.
You’re not available for my projects unless you live here. Here’s why.
I used to travel to Scottsdale, Arizona regularly to conduct classes and seminars. Each time I stood in front of the class they almost unanimously stated that they could be as easy to hire as actors from Los Angeles. That was a pretty unrealistic promise but since some of them worked for airlines I gave it a shot. Some of them actually showed up on time and were very professional. The trouble popped up when I needed them to come out two days later for the callback or two weeks later to read for another role in a different episode of my TV series. That first trip out was the charm but the L.A. actor shows up over and over without difficulty.
And then there is the issue of the holidays.
The problem of availability just came up on a feature I was producing last December. I needed to hire a couple of actors at the last minute. They wouldn’t need to audition. They just had to show up. Shouldn’t be a problem, right? But I was looking on December 18th for them to work on December 21st. I reached out to several actors and no one was available. They were either already out of town or would be by the work date. Of course I found my actors eventually, but I thought it was a shame that some actors missed out on a paying role in a union feature because they chose not to be available in December.
When producers or casting directors need you to show up on the set, the only response should be “where and when?” The actors I reach out to are the ones that have proven to be on call year-round. I’m not mad at the other actors, but I can’t hire them.
You are NOT available if you are in a play without understudies. I cannot hire you and guarantee a stop time. Why would I? I have thousands of actors who are available 24/7. Whether it’s a studio film, a network series or a tiny indie, you must be available or you are wasting our time coming in. This happens way too often and it damages relationships between actors and casting directors as well as those between casting directors and agents.
You are not available if you can’t be in my office in an hour. Many of you have jobs that aren’t as conducive to auditions as you want to believe. You have to rush to every audition. You are not at your best when you are there and you then rush back to work. If this is you, you need to find a new job asap or you made the trip out here for nothing.
You’re not available unless you bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. You cannot move home, move back to L.A., move back home and repeat the cycle over and over expecting this to work for an acting career. The majority of actors who leave L.A. do not return. The one thing they all have in common is that they are not working actors in film and television today. Move here. Stay here.
Don’t say you are available unless you are available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. As I learn every time I cast a project, there are actors out there who just don’t seem to know their own availability.
Mark Sikes began his casting career in 1992 for Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Corman. In the past 24 years, he has cast over 100 films as well as television series, commercials and web series. He has cast projects for top directors such as Tobe Hooper, Mark Jones and Luke Greenfield and many others. Domestically, he as cast films in Los Angeles as well as in Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia and multiple projects in Colorado.
Want to get your acting career started? Sign up or login to Casting Frontier and start auditioning today!
Related articles:
Audition Terms and Their Definitions
Actor Spotlight Parker Queenan: Booking a Role Requires Patience
Advice for Actors from Voice Casting Director Linda Lamontagne
5 Tools For Actors to Stay Sharp
April 28, 2023
As an actor, you are always training regardless of whether you are seasoned or just starting out. You want to say, “I have a craft.” You are always in the pursuit of sharpening your tools. You are looking to keep your instrument alive, responding, open to stimuli.
Actors depend on having an instrument that works. You need to exercise it. Here are five basic essential things you have to work on constantly.
1. Script analysis.
Pick up plays and screenplays and break them down. Understand the script analysis of it from A to Z. Make a list of events—relationships, wants, conflicts and obstacles—and look for what is not obvious. That’s good script analysis. Look for the deeper meaning of things. Go out on a limb in your analysis. What could be the extra layers of complexities that exist?
Those discoveries will lead you to make choices that are off-kilter. Again, the more you train yourself to do this exercise, the easier it becomes to do this intricate work.
2. Creating characters.
You should constantly be thinking about creating different characters. Keep writing backstories for different characters. Create profiles, composites and explore their physicality. That is always the way into discovering who they are. What are the most controversial events that could have happened to them? Read lots of biographies. It will inspire you to find twists and turns. Interview folks, ask them about their lives and uncover their secrets. It will give you ideas!
3. Improvising.
Yes, you have to be able to improvise and think fast on your feet. To be able to put it in your own words makes you able to own the material you are working on on a deeper level. Also, knowing you can improve the scene makes you fearless—a feeling that you could handle anything. You can have a lot of fun getting out of your head in that way and completely forgetting what the next moment is. You really have to trust your impulses and channel them in the most creative way.
4. Knowing the words.
Work on committing lines to memory. If someone comes to see you perform in a play, remember that cliché question they ask you backstage, “How did you learn all those lines?” But all joking aside, for some actors, memorizing can be a challenge. The breaking down of the script, knowing who the character is, and improvising the dialogue before committing to the words that are written can very much help you with this tool.
Again, it’s a muscle that you have to train. Memorize a poem, a song, a monologue, or a scene every week. Once you understand the intent of the line, say it and make it yours over and over again. Your body has muscle memory; it remembers.
Although improvisation is wonderful, if Aaron Sorkin or David Mamet wrote that script, you will need to get it perfect word for word.
5. Knowing how to work in front of the camera.
Yes, practice makes perfect, but the moment a camera is filming you, everything is different. Learn to watch yourself and learn from it. It’s important to understand if the choices you are making are reading.
Look at what your body is doing; look at what your face is doing; see how you take direction and implement the adjustments quickly. As you try out different choices, find out which one is the strongest and which one plays the best.
Every tool mentioned above is a muscle that needs to be worked on consistently in order to strengthen your craft.
Once you have that foundation, repetition will deepen your work as an actor. So roll up your sleeves and get to work!
Michelle Danner is a renowned acting coach who works with A-List Actors privately as well as on set. Michelle trained with Stella Adler and Uta Hagen and was voted favorite acting coach by Backstage readers and featured coaching Andy Richter on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Michelle has two books, The Daily Ritual and The Golden Box. Please find more about Michelle and her acting classes at michelledanner.com.
Want to get your acting career started? Sign up or login to Casting Frontier and start auditioning today!
Related articles:
How to Use Casting Frontier’s Agent and Talent Finder Tools
7 Tricks To Help You Get Into Character
Tips for Aspiring Actors from Casting Directors Diane Heery and Jason Loftus