How to Become an Actor or an Actress Without An Agent
If you want to become an actor or actress, one of the easiest ways to get started is to audition for commercials. You don't need an agent and you don't need an acting portfolio. All you need is the determination to go to lots of auditions, accept lots of rejections and keep trying until you get a job. Although the entertainment business is filled with lots of hopeful actors and actresses all wanting a job in front of the cameras, if you happen to live in one of the major cities that produces commercials, movies or TV shows and you are persistent, you can become one of the lucky actors or actresses who find their way to fame and stardom. Follow this eHow to discover how to become an actor or actress without an agent, by starting your career with a job in commercials, TV or movies.
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Instructions
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JOIN A CASTING SERVICE. If you want to become an actor or actress and get a job in commercials, TV or movies, it is not hard. You just have to know how to do it. If you live in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, South Central Texas, Florida or Hawaii, you can join an actor's casting service that will help you get auditions. You do not need an agent represent you.
You can sign up for these services free of charge and pay a couple of dollars to submit yourself for an acting job. Or you can pay a yearly subscription fee and submit yourself to an unlimited amount of auditions. If you don't want to spend any money to see if you want to become an actor or actress then submit yourself for acting jobs as an extra in movies. It is free to sign up and you do get paid for working as an extra.
Casting directors list their casting needs and search for actors and actresses at online data bases. There are several that are reputable. Try Actor's Access at: www.actorsaccess.com (see link below), Breakdown Services, or Extras Access. You need to fill out a profile about yourself, submit 2 photos of yourself, and then you will have complete access to all the commercial, movie and TV auditions that are currently available. Once you submit yourself for a role, casting directors sift through the submitted photos and resume profiles looking for the faces that they think they want to audition. You will get a call if they are interested.
Sometimes agents also look through the profiles of actors and actresses who don't have representation, and contact them through those website. Even if your profile goes unnoticed by agents, you are able to submit yourself for an audition. You fill out a profile about yourself; submit 2 photos of yourself and then you will have complete access to all the commercial, movie and TV auditions that are currently available to actors and actresses.
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SUBMIT A VARIETY OF PHOTOS. Once you are a registered member, you must submit photos. Submitting head shots can be as simple as uploading digital photos that you took yourself, or you can have professional photos taken and have them uploaded. It doesn't matter which method you choose as long as your photos are clear, professional looking, and present you in the best light.
Although it is free to submit the first two head shots, if you want to submit more than two photos, you will have to pay a small fee, usually around 10 to 20 dollars. Sometimes it is to your advantage to submit more than two photos if you have a variety of "looks." For example, you may want to show yourself looking like a young girl in pony tails, and then a business look with your hair up and glasses, or you may want to show a vampy side with wild hair and make-up. The more "looks" you have, the more acting jobs you may qualify for. When you submit your profile information requesting an audition, you will also pick which photo you want to go with the submission. Eventually you will find the "look" that best suits your career goals.
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SIGN UP FOR AUDITIONS. Once you are signed up with a casting service, you can click on the "Breakdowns" link and see all the listings for requesting actors and actresses for commercials, movies and TV auditions. Read through the qualifications which the casting directors have listed. Then submit yourself for any auditions that you feel you fit the profile. Do not go over board and submit yourself for everything. Casting directors do not look highly upon submissions for an "Asian or black male 6 ft or taller" when you are a blond 5'2 female.
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CHECK TIMES, DATES AND PLACE OF FILMING. If you submit yourself for an audition, be sure to check when and where the commercial, movie or TV show is filming. Although an audition may take place May 1st in Los Angeles, the filming may take place in Las Vegas in January. Casting directors are not happy when they find out that an actor or actress has wasted their time because they were not available for the job when filming started or were not willing to fly to Figi. Also be on time for auditions. They will not wait for you if you are late. They will just move on to the next hopeful actor. If you get a reputation for being unreliable, you won't get audition calls in the future and your acting career will be over.
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BE READY WHEN THE CASTING DIRECTOR CALLS. Once you submit yourself for a role, casting directors sift through the submitted photos and resume profiles looking for the actors and actresses that they think they want to audition. You will get a call if they are interested. When they call, be confident and professional. If you are nervous, it will show. Find out the place and time for the audition and if there is anything you should bring.
If you are called to an audition, you will be asked to bring an 8x10 head shot of yourself that was taken within the last six months. Casting directors use these to remember the actors and actresses after the auditions are over. They will then call back the actor or actress they are interested in.
On the back of your photo, you should have your contact information. You can have these produced on your own, or you can use the Actor's Access website or any photo service to have them produced at a cheaper rate. It doesn't matter how you do it. Just look for the best price because you will need to have lots of them on hand if you plan on becoming an actor or actress and doing a lot of auditions.
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HAVE A WORK PERMIT. Do not show up for an audition unless you have received a call. Sometimes those calls will come two hours before you need to be somewhere to audition. In your profile information, be sure you leave a contact number where you can be reached at anytime. If you wait to get your messages when you get home at the end of the day, you will miss many of your audition calls.
If you are a student, you will need to fill out a work permit form at your school that gives you permission to be absent from school to do an audition.
If you are employed, you will also need to be free to take off with a few hours notice. (There is a reason why so many hopeful actors and actresses have table waiting jobs. They can easily get someone to cover their shift when they are called for auditions.)
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DON'T PAY SOMEONE TO GET YOU AN ACTING JOB. If you are serious about acting, take classes or do local theater. You will make good contacts that way. Don't get sucked into paying someone to get you an agent, find you acting jobs or making introductions to producers. That's not how it's done in the business. There are plenty of scam artists out there willing to take your money and not deliver anything. A good rule of thumb is not to pay anyone for services other than photographs. Agents, casting directors and producers NEVER charge for their services. Legitimate agents make money only when you work, and casting directors are not paid by the actors, but by production staff who hire them to get actors on set. If you want to become an actor or an actress and make movies, commercials and TV shows, remember that it is a legitimate business that does not require you to pay someone to get you a job or start your career in acting.
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Tips & Warnings
If you do not live in one of the major cities where movies, commercials and TV shows are produced, it is not recommended that you move there for the sole purpose of becoming an actress or actor. Hundreds of hopeful actors show up at each audition. Casting directors have an image in mind of the kind of person they are looking for. You may be a great actor or actress, but if you do not fit the image of what they want, you will not be hired.
The more auditions you go to, the more likely it is that you will get a job. But the jobs do not come often enough in the beginning to make a living off of the money. You will need another source of income until you establish yourself.
If acting is the career you want to pursue, be prepared to be called at any time of the day for an audition.
Sometimes agents also look through the profiles of actors who don't have representation and contact them through casting services. The more roles you have done, the more desirable you are to an agent.
Just because you submit yourself for an audition, that does not mean that you will be called for an audition. Hundreds of other actors and actresses are also submitting their photos and profiles for that same audition. Just be persistent and continue to submit yourself for jobs.
If someone offers to help you become an actor or actress but it requires taking your clothes off or sleeping with someone as part of the casting audition, you should refuse. This is not how it is done in Hollywood or anywhere else that legitimate casting auditions are held. • If you are asked to pay a fee to get an audition other than the minimal submission or subscription fees you pay to a casting service for storing your profile, photos and resumes, it is a scam.
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