Advice To New Actors

Many of you have sent me emails asking for advice on getting started in showbiz.  Well, first of all, I'm not a super celeb yet, myself.  You should be asking for guidance from someone like Beyonce, Halle Berry, or 3-6 Mafia.  But I'm guessing you find me more approachable because I'm still hustlin' at this.  Any hoot, to save myself time in answering the same email over & over again, this should help ya out.

CHECKLIST:

1. TAKE A CLASS Whether it's scene-study, cold-reading, or a commercial workshop, you should constantly be studying your craft so that your tool is sharp when your opportunity comes.  When you feel you've mastered one technique, take another class! 
   
2. KEEP UR HEADSHOTS UPDATED Invest time & money into a decent photo shoot so that you'll have good pictures for folks to hire you from.  Decide what types of roles you'd like to see yourself playing, and then dress & pose accordingly.  But no, you don't have to take pictures in a full policeman uniform to get booked as an officer.  Slacks and a collared shirt are fine.  And make sure the pics look like you're going to look when you walk into the casting room.  Diva glamour shots only work if you're going to enter the room actually looking like that.  
   
3. POST URSELF ONLINE Take your new wonderful headshots & whatever you have of a resume (incl. classes taken, special skills, & hobbies) & upload them to all the casting websites in your area.  The 3 major Hollywood ones are ActorsAccess.com, LA Casting.com, & NowCasting.com.  And keep your profile on these sites current so folks can find you if they need to.
   
4. DO INDIE PROJECTS The major casting websites, film schools, and Backstage.com are excellent for finding small-budget projects that are looking for new talent just like you.  So check their listings regularly & submit yourself daily. Even if they're not paying, you should keep working on indie films & local plays so you can practice your craft, build up your resume, network with like-minded people, & get footage for your demo reel.
   
5. CUT A DEMO REEL Once you have some fairly well-produced footage that shows off your talents, hire someone to edit it down to your best 3 minutes.  Don't let your ego end up with a 7 or 8 minute reel.  No one's gonna watch it!  Casting directors don't have that kinda time. Plus, the casting sites and websites like SpeedReels.com, encourage actors to upload 1-minute reels.  If a movie can sell itself with a 60 second trailer, you can too.
   
6. GET AN AGENT The more you have on your resume, the more an agent will want to work with you.  Agents also look to see who trained you.  (tell 'em Tanjareen. j/k :-) )  Mass mailings work okay, but you're usually better off asking a fellow actor of the opposite sex if he'll recommend you to his agent. (Same sex actors usu. see you as their competition)  If you have trouble finding representation, don't trip! Remember, an agent only gets 10%, so YOU should be doing 90% the work for yourself anyway!  If you just nourish relationships and book credits, the agents will find you.
7. NETWORK & MARKET URSELF You won't work if no one knows you exist. You're your own business, & entrepreneurs need good marketing to succeed.  (An amazing career coach who helps actors with marketing is DallasTravers.com. Plz tell her I sent ya so she can take good care of ya) Get your own website.  Send postcards to casting directors.   Attend Casting Director workshops regularly so the CDs can see you perform.  (Try workshops like OneOnOneNYC.com, ActorsKey.com, TalentToGo.net, CastingNetwork.net, ActingBridge.com) Collect business cards of folks that are doing better than you and follow-up with them from time to time.  You must remind everyone that you're still in the game.  Don't just meet people & say you'll "do lunch" & then never call them.  Then they probably won't remember you when they sell their script and begin the casting process. "The fortune is in the follow-up."
8.  STAY HUMBLE If people like working with you, they'll hire you for their next project.  Know that in Hollywood, you're only as hot as your last gig, so don't let booking a job or two go to your head!  (You'll be broke by tomorrow!)  It isn't the most talented or most trained actor that books the job, its usually the one that people want to be around for 12 hours per day.  The professional, likable, guy who treats everyone on the cast and crew with respect.  (Coincidentally, he may also be the writer's nephew.) Just build honest friendships and remain grateful along the journey.  The work will continue to pour in!
   

FREQUENT QUESTIONS:
But Tanjareen, what if I live somewhere in the mid-west, like Bumfuck, Idaho?
Exhaust as many things on my checklist as you can in your hometown.  Then when you run out of projects to add to your resume, save your money, move to LA or NY, & start the list again.  What were you doing in Bumfuck, Idaho anyway?

Tanjareen, how do I find a class/photographer/demo reel editor/website builder?
Backstage.com, Craigslist.org, and Google are filled with ads for classes, photographers, editors, webmasters & castings, as well as more articles with advice for actors.  View their portfolio to see who's a good fit for you.  And Samuel French Bookstore is an amazingly complete resource for industry books, guides, & how-to pamphlets. 

Tanjareen, I want to model, but I've been told that I'm overweight.  What should I do?
Welp, you really only have 3 choices: 1) Model full-figured fashions or in ethnic magazines where thickness is more acceptable, 2) Lose the weight, or 3) Keep your day job!  It's just that simple.  What matters is how you feel about yourself.  If you're honestly happy with your size, screw them.  But if YOU think you need to shed some pounds, what are you waiting for?!?  Sacrafices must be made for us to attain our dreams.  Sometimes that means staying out of Hometown Buffet.

I really want to make it in showbiz, but my corporate job has me at work 8-12 hours a day.  Should I quit?
Don't get evicted on my account!  If you don't work, you don't eat.  Until you're booking jobs consistantly, you need to earn a living somewhere.  If you're serious about acting, you should get a "no brainer" job that you can do in the evenings.  (ex: security guard, waitress) Or a daytime job that's flexible if you need to frequently leave for an audition.  (ex: work for your auntie's baby's daddy)  

Please add a blog comment below to let me know if this was helpful to you at all.  I'll add more to it as more questions come in.

                                       Create a fabulous career!