Summary
In this episode, James Larson discusses the seven steps to becoming a working actor. He covers topics such as training and education, gaining experience, building a professional toolkit, networking and exposure, auditioning and casting, securing representation, and professional work.
Takeaways
Training and education are important for actors to develop their skills and techniques.
Gaining experience through student productions and community theater can help actors build their resume.
Building a professional toolkit, including headshots, resumes, and reels, is essential for actors to showcase their work.
Networking and exposure can help actors connect with industry professionals and create opportunities for themselves.
Auditioning and casting are crucial steps in the actor’s journey to secure roles in theater, film, and TV.
Securing representation can open doors for actors and help them navigate the industry.
Professional work is the ultimate goal for actors, and it requires dedication, perseverance, and continuous growth.
Chapters
00:00 Training and Education
03:53 Gaining Experience
06:15 Building a Professional Toolkit
09:59 Networking and Exposure
13:29 Auditioning and Casting
15:29 Securing Representation
19:40 Professional Work
Transcript
James (00:00.985)
Hey there and welcome to the Actorzilla podcast. I’m James Larson. And today I wanted to kind of make an episode for basically for myself like 15 years in the past and discuss the seven steps to becoming a working actor. So whoever’s listening to this, if you are recently graduating college actor, maybe you majored in acting,
Maybe you don’t, maybe you’re interested in becoming an actor. This is for you. I’m gonna take you through the seven steps right now. So number one is training and education. It’s very important to get training. You know, the best actors have training. And of course you’ll hear stories of people that didn’t train at all. But guess what? They got training in a different way. Maybe they had a great film director who could coach them.
Um, somehow you’ll get coached, you know, um, but it’s, it’s recommended if you want to do this for a career and for longevity to go get trained and to get formal education, to study, um, to study acting, but not only acting, it’s a voice and speech, it’s movement, it’s dance, it’s, um, musicianship, all these things feed into each other. Um, if you want to be a professional actor and, um,
It’s important to work on your voice, especially if you want to be in the theater, because you’re going to need techniques of how to do a show eight times a week. And, you know, this can also, if you’re in musical theater, this obviously has an impact. You need vocal stamina. So formal education isn’t just about being an actor or becoming, you know, acting technique. It’s everything else. And it’s really a way for you to.
carve out time in your life to dedicate to this full time, because the rest of your life, maybe you should still train, but it might be more of a part -time situation. Hopefully you’ll be training between gigs that you get. So another way to get training is by going to workshops and doing courses. I’m developing a course right now. Send me an email at actorszilla at gmail .com. I’m.
James (02:26.2)
The course that I want to build, and I would love your feedback on this if you’re still listening, which I hope you are, is I want to make the course that I wish I would have had when I was first starting out. And I want it to be as practical and also inspiring as possible. And what I mean is I want it to take someone from being a student actor to being a working actor, which means, you know, practical things about setting up your actor’s access profile.
how to network, how to get an agent, how to make your resume, what kind of acting clips should I have, how do I get those done, do I need an actor website, how do I go about doing that, all the things that I had to learn through trial and error where I don’t see, I feel that there’s a gap in the marketplace for this education. And I have a lot of experience in that and I know of a lot of other people that have gone through the similar thing.
And I want to create a resource that is for people that are starting out. And so it would save them time and money. And that’s my idea for the course. So send me an email. I’m not sure when you’re listening to this, but I’d love to get in touch and see if we can work together on that. Anyway, so yeah, you should also be looking at other sorts of training. I mean, like improvisation, clowning.
Voice training, you know, for singing, special skills, working on your special skills is very important as well. And it can be the difference between getting a job or not. All right, we’re going on to number two, gaining experience. So the first way you’ll probably gain experience is by doing student productions. This could be in high school, this could have been community productions, community theater, college productions. It’s important that you put yourself out there.
and that you audition as much as possible and for everything that you can, especially in school, because it’s more lenient as far as what roles you can get and are able to get because it’s an educational environment. So you’re not competing against other professionals and you’re not competing for money. You’ve paid to be there. So you need to get the most out of it. And the best thing that I can see is someone graduating.
James (04:50.741)
with a ton of credits that are relevant to them as much as possible, casting that would make sense for them, get a sense of your vibe and your aura and your skills, your acting skills as well. So yeah, just anyway, student films, I mean, anywhere that you can act, you should just be saying yes. The earlier you are in your career, the more you should be saying yes to opportunities that come up. So yeah, get involved in your…
community or local productions and go see shows. I mean, that’s a huge part of it too. Experience isn’t just about being in shows, it’s about seeing shows. It’s about getting a sense of the landscape of the area of acting that you want to go into. So if you are a big film buff and you want to be a film actor, watch as many films as possible. If you want to be on Broadway, see Broadway shows if you can see, you know,
see taped versions of Broadway shows, see local theater productions, see any musicals you can, see any plays you can. And I would encourage everyone, no matter what kind of path you want to go, what genre you want to be in, what medium you want to be in, experience other mediums too. If you love film and you don’t think you like the theater, go to the theater. If you’re a theater person and you only want to do the stage, watch a ton of films, see how it’s different. See, ask yourself, how would I do this part? How would I…
Yeah, how would I inhabit this character? Uh, and what would I do differently? What do I think I could bring to this role? Cause then you’ll start to educate yourself on your type and your essence. And you have to be self aware of that stuff because when it comes down to it, when you get to that level of marketing and promoting yourself, you need to know what you bring to the table. It’s very important. Speaking of what you bring to the table. Number three is building a professional tool kit. So.
Now that you’ve got experience, you’ve got some training, you need to package that in a way that other people understand you and your type. And a headshot and resume and reels are about where you’re at right now. They will evolve, they will change throughout your career. It’s not like you do it once and it’s done. Every show, every project you’re part of, you update your resume, right?
James (07:09.94)
And you might even have different resumes. Say you have a voiceover focused resume or a TV film focused resume or a theater focused resume. You can have different, you know, emphasis resumes that you put out there. So, yeah, you want to highlight, you know, the training, the skills and the experience that you have and don’t discount if you’re just starting out and you don’t have many professional.
credits, there’s a way to package, you know, student experiences. And if you’re an early career actor, people will understand that and just be happy to see that you’ve you know, that people have cast you. And I have articles on that too, on actors zilla .com, go check those out. And for your reels and your digital presence, you know, if you’re if you like social media, if you
If you want to post on TikTok, if you like doing sketches, you can use social media to enhance your career or just, you know, that can be a way that people get discovered. I mean, there’s people from YouTube that, you know, that have gotten HBO series. I mean, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities in today’s digital landscape. So I say, don’t discount it.
But if you’re not comfortable with it, obviously, then you don’t have to do it. There’s no mandate that you have to. But if you do like doing that and you’re willing to put in the work, then it’s definitely an avenue that you can go down. So for reels, I would say people want clips these days. Casting directors want to see something relevant to you. It’s not to say that you can’t have a reel or that you shouldn’t have a reel.
I have friends that still submit reels, but I prefer and I’ve heard from a lot of casting that they prefer clips because think about it from your end. You get a thousand people submitting for a role and you have to watch a four minute reel where the most relevant clip is at the end of the reel. Or would you rather have a 30 second clip where it’s perfectly aligned to that role? I mean, it just makes sense, right? They’re all about efficiency. I mean, they have to.
James (09:29.395)
Their job is to search through this the haystack if you will to find the needle and You want to be that needle you want to be Pinpoint accurate about what you’re submitting for as close as you can get So I would say focus on clips So number four is networking and exposure so I Say in other videos and other podcasts that the best way to network is
is to show up and do good work. You want to show up to auditions and you want to do your best work. And of course there’s other ways to do this. I mean, there’s industry events, there’s workshops, there’s seminars, there’s networking events. And to be honest, I haven’t done that much of those sorts of things. I’ve done workshops and seminars and I’ve done, you know, Actors Connection and one -on -one and those sorts of things. And they’re,
and they’re very valuable. I mean, it’s valuable to meet with a casting director that is working on projects that you are passionate about or that you’re right for.
James (10:44.594)
But yeah, you want to.
James (11:10.002)
It’s important to learn the business side of acting, which is what I’m trying to help actors with. And I want to come at it with an actor’s perspective because that’s what I can bring. And through this podcast, I want to interview lots of different people to get lots of different sides to this industry because there are, I mean, look, everyone has an opinion and that doesn’t mean anyone’s right or wrong, but it’s good to…
to get a sense of what everyone’s thinking and kind of calibrate your own experience and your own direction from that. So yeah, networking and exposure. I kind of touched on that a little bit about social media and other platforms. You don’t want to go out and harass casting directors, agents, or other actors that you don’t know.
Social media should be social. I mean, if you wouldn’t go up into a room in person and say this to someone, you shouldn’t do it online. Not to say that it’s not a tool that can’t be used. It should be used, especially if, you know, I was speaking with Jamie Beth Margolis, amazing casting director who worked on Harmony on Broadway, among many other high profile projects, but she said, you know, it’s fine, reach out.
reach out to me, let me know, you know, maybe an email or or a postcard. I’m not I can’t remember if that was her specifically, but these are just in general. There are ways to go about it that you want to keep people informed of what you’re doing and keep your name top of mind because you got to remember, they are trying to remember 1000s of people and you want to be on their list and you want to you want to put your name at the top as much as possible, but not just for any reason.
You want to show them that you’re working that you’re valued that you are working on yourself that and you know if you have something like a showcase or a project that you’re in invite them to it you know what they show you can’t control that but you can you can at least it’s beneficial because you’re at least putting your name in front of them and saying hey look I’m working and I’d love to show you what I can do even more. So number five is auditioning and casting.
James (13:29.488)
Yeah, we need to actively seek out and look for auditions in theater, film, TV commercials, et cetera, voiceover. Get involved in every media, every medium that you can. Of course, that does create, you know, more and more people that I know are working in multiple mediums. You’re doing voiceover, you’re doing musical theater, you’re doing TV. So that’s why I want to make a resource for everyone. I don’t want it to be, um,
you know, specifically for any one person, but obviously there’s different skills that are needed. And I think the more well versed you can be, even if you have a strong focus, the more chances you’ll have, the more opportunities you’ll have and life is long and you should go for it. You know, if you say you start getting traction in certain area, that’s, you know, that’s feedback. That’s, that’s the market saying something about you.
is right for this. So I say go for it. And we talk about how to find auditions in another podcast, but generally, you know, Playbill .com is a great resource. ActorsEquity .org, Backstage .com, Actors Access, of course. And you want to be professional. You want to respond in a timely manner. If you get an eco cast on Actors Access, for instance, you want to…
you have to treat it like a business. You have to respond in a timely way and you have to self -submit in a professional way and in a creative way. It depends on the project. I mean, you have to, you have to be bold. You have to be brave. You have to show up authentically. And, and that segues into number six, which is securing representation. This is not a prerequisite to doing professional work, but obviously it can help. It can help.
And what representation does is they crack the doors open, right? So all these doors are closed to you. But casting directors and producers, they trust these agents and managers who have curated, it’s basically a curated list of people that they believe in, that they value their creative talents of, and they want to find the best people.
James (15:57.132)
And so getting an agent or manager can be a helpful step, but it’s not the only step. And I think people discount all the value that you need to bring to an agent. It’s not an agent bringing all this value to you. Yes, that’s part of it. But you need to say, hey, these are the shows I’m right for. This is the casting director I know and I’ve worked with before. These are the…
These are the recent NYU grad school directors who know me and know my work. That is the language of someone who knows the value that they bring, who’s confident and who’s done the work. They want to see someone who brings the work with them because work begets work. If you work on a project, you’re more likely to do more work in the future. That’s what agents want. They want someone who…
is consistent and who brings stuff with them. Who brings connections with them and experience and a future with them.
So, I hope that helps. Number seven is obviously professional work. So this is where you’ve auditioned. We can go back. So you’ve trained, you’ve gotten experience, you’ve built up your professional toolkit, you have networked and gotten exposure, you’ve auditioned and you’ve become known by casting directors, you become known by agents. And another thing I’ll say about…
agents is that sometimes the best way, usually the best way in my personal journey has been.
James (17:47.391)
So you start with this audition wheel, right? You get on and it takes many touches sometimes, many auditions to get known by someone, right? So you’re new and it’s like dating almost. It’s like, you know, you meet them once and you feel it out, it feels good. But by the seventh date, you know them a little more, right? You’re more comfortable. So maybe you don’t get cast by this casting director, but they really like your work. You come back and…
Maybe it’s a week later, maybe it’s five years later, but they suddenly like your work and they finally have a role that’s right for you. So you get cast in that part. You do a great job, you kill it. So now, not only have they known you, they’ve known you for five years. They are familiar with your work, they’re a champion of you. You want casting directors to be a champion of you. And sometimes, and I’ve had this happen to me,
I have a casting director friend and I’ll say thank you so much for bringing me in and believing in me. I really valued coming, anytime I come in for you, it’s always a great time. And I love the projects that you work on and you have such an amazing eye, obviously, for casting me. No, but you can say, hey, I’m looking for representation. And maybe they’ll know someone.
They know they deal with agents. Maybe they know someone who’s looking, maybe they know a greater fit than you would know from your perspective. So it can’t hurt to ask us only if you have that relationship. And the ones that are accessible, the ones that are open, they’re totally cool with that. They understand. And it’s only it only takes one email perhaps, you know, of, you know, introducing you to them. So.
Securing representation, there’s no one avenue to do it, but there are many possibilities and that’s the good news. So we’ve made it. You have made it to number seven, professional work. You’ve booked roles in theater productions, films, TV shows, commercials, voiceover. You’ve made it. I hope this trajectory has kind of helped just lay out some of the steps that you need to take.
James (20:09.994)
and that are helpful to know about. And of course, beyond this, there’s the career growth and development. But I would say, develop your brand first. And what I mean is, if you’re getting cast in certain types of roles over and over again, that’s okay for now. That’s okay. You want to build up a sustainable career. And the more people that value your work, the more…
the more consistent you’ll work, obviously. So don’t be afraid of being typecast in the beginning. That just means that people know that you do this thing really well. And that means that you work and that’s not a bad thing. You can always change directions, right? You can always work on other skills or develop a different type of brand. But first you need to lay the foundation. And I think that these steps are the foundation.
So I hope that was helpful. Let me know if you have any comments or questions and I would love to hear from you. And again, send me an email at actorzilla at gmail .com. I’d love to hear from you and thanks a lot. I’ll see you in the next one.
Leave a Reply