Actors, Acting and Agents – What It Takes

Actors, Acting and Agents – What It Takes

by Eugene Buica
Artistic Director
The Acting Corps

It is the same old story. An aspiring actor comes to town and quickly discovers that no one will just walk up to him and offer him an acting job. Stories about being discovered still abound, but the reality of show business is that it is just that - show BUSINESS, which implies that a commodity is being bought and sold, in this case acting and actors. What then, is your next step? It's easy, you say, everyone knows that without an agent, a good talent agent, an actor doesn't get anywhere in Hollywood . But how do you get a good agent, one that believes in you and will pull out all stops to get you auditions?

The answer is actually quite simple. You have to create a product and a marketing plan that will allow agents to smell the money. And no, talent agents are not interested in your immortal soul and unique natural ability. They may be interested in your immortal soul and unique natural ability as well as anything else about you if it will fill their coffers. Meaning agents are people, just like you and me, and they have dreams of their own, mortgages of their own, families of their own. And if you don't hold the promise of making them money not in two years but in two weeks - they will ignore you.

How do you then go about creating the product and marketing it? Well let's start with the product. Your look is your look, and that is pretty much a given. What is there to change then? The answer is again, quite simple. It is what you really bring to the table, your ability to do the job and do it well - your acting. Which means you must be the best at what you do. Your competition is certainly very good at what they do, with years of experience in some cases. Ask yourself, how do you match up to them? Are you a raw beginner with some community theater experience? Or have you been studying acting for years and many film and TV credits behind you? If it's the former rather than the latter, before you get those TV and film credits, you must train. You must find yourself a good, efficient, practical, professional acting training program and work hard to get in shape. Acting is a muscle, exercise it frequently and you will quickly become proficient. Avoid acting schools that require one or two years of your time and money - you can get your training much faster and far more efficiently. Just look around.

Now, say that your training is in place, the next question is, do you know what you're selling? You had better know because no agent will be able to pitch you if you can't pitch yourself. Are you the young mom? Are you the ingénue? Are you the leading man with an edge? Are you the goofy best friend? Are you the librarian, the plumber, the lawyer? Watch television, ask your friends what roles they see you playing, ask your parents, your siblings, people you can trust, and you will soon figure out where in show business you belong. And when you do so, put that information in your headshots and resumes you will then finally be ready to present yourself to an agent.

It still won't be easy, but now you will show up like a professional actor with a shot at a career in the film and TV industry. And if you have done your work they will smell the money.