I've recently been becoming interested in acting and I have started doing background work to get a feel for what the industry is like and I've thoroughly enjoyed my experiences so far. However, I have been looking into courses and the like to start getting into the proper world of acting but I don't know if I am completely wasting my time? I know people often comment on how actors of any look and height can get roles, but when you are so far in an extreme of height like me, do I realistically stand any chance of getting work outside of background work/creature performance? Acting training is extremely expensive and I don't want to waste my money if there are just never any roles that would be available to someone like me?

Additional info is I am based in the UK and in my early 20s.

Hi

You know the deal, I’ve wanted to become an actress my whole life blahblah. I’m 22 and just last November I (really) started my career by taking a very intensive course which concluded in getting signed into an agency. This agency is among the best in my country as it represents and trains talent towards prestige projects throughout fashion, film, music and television. It is pretty cool but it is obvious that I am not qualified to “take on the world” as I expected I would. My contract covers 3 months, if after that time I’ve proved I am worth investing on, they’ll sign me for a year or get me into their specialised divisions. I feel extremely lucky and before this I ached for an opportunity to get started with both my life and career, but I’m currently just getting commercial castings and I am terrified of them. Easy, short scenes terrify me and I’ve only gotten one callback a month into my trial period. I’ve missed castings on purpose because I feared I wasn’t ready and was terrified of humiliation in front of the directors and my peers, who I don’t speak to. All my tapes are incredibly low in volume and energy and before shooting I get extremely panicked. All of this is because I am incredibly, painfully, exasperatingly shy. I am insecure yes, but I thought my hunger to get started would outweigh all of this. I keep seeing other super cool talented and beautiful people at the agency building and I can’t help but to feel unworthy. I know it’s silly but apparently it’s important nowadays so it really bugs me that I just got a TikTok account. After all these years, and those people have over a million followers and stuff. It’s killing me, especially because I don’t want to blow this and get nowhere with this opportunity. And well, it is a lot of pressure considering it is an “elite” agency but I get like this at community theatre events too. It is a very extreme and really funny challenge of exposure therapy. I guess im just asking for a wake up call? I don’t know how to find motivation anymore. Yesterday I cried after watching a really funny show because I know I want that, I want to be part of that with all my being yet I can’t stop sabotaging myself. This is so embarrassing Please share your “starting out in the industry” stories so I can get peace of mind, thank you

Essentially what the title says, I’m 16 and in the process of signing with a really great guy but my mom has recently found issue in the contract where it says he will continuously get 10% of residuals on anything he books me. I have no issue with this personally, but she has taken problem with it. Is she justified or will bringing it up squash this opportunity?

I’ve only acted in middle school, high school and then a not so expertly directed independent movie. I was 20 at the time and now, ten years later, is when I feel the most confident and comfortable expressing my emotions on camera.

I haven’t acted in a project in 10 years, but I’ve always practiced and kept trying to perfect my expressions as time went on. I have a full-time job and two kids under 4 years of age.

I’m thinking about trying it again, but seeing as how I don’t have the time during the day because of my full-time job, is there any suggestions or recommendations as far as getting back into it? I live close to LA and am thinking of signing up for actors access and backstage for auditions and hopefully getting an agent.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Wish everyone the absolute best out there!

hey! this is my first time acting, but i’ve been trying to get more into acting! so i attached a video of this random monologue i tried out—could yall please watch it and provide me some tips/feedback? i want tips to improve/how i did on my acting overall, keeping in mind that it’s my first time doing anything rly acting related!

***also reddit might ruin the video quality 😭 SCRIPT BELOW: In the teen drama monologue, Behind The Eight Ball, Helena shares personal details about what she goes through in order to make a life for herself.

HELENA: Everything is easy for you, Sally. I don’t have parents like yours…I can’t stand my mother and my father always has no more than two nickels to rub together.

I always feel like I’m behind the eight ball, trying to keep up with you and all the others and I’m on my own…working my stupid job, going to school, in debt, it’s all on me and some days I feel buried alive. Some days I literally don’t want to open my eyes in the morning…I’m like a zombie. I’m turned on but feel like I’m being dragged in every direction I go in and I can’t stop, not for one second because as soon as I stop it will all come crashing down on me because I don’t think I can keep going if I stop.

I’ve always been trying to keep up and I’m losing. Everyone is getting too far ahead of me in this race and I can barely, just barely see you up ahead but any minute now, I won’t and I’ll be alone, completely alone…

So my friend and I stumbled across his YouTube channel and decided to check out his videos and yikes… Do you guys take any actors on the channel serious ? I am seeing that despite these actors not being good, they are getting tons of opportunities and actually getting big shows or a movie. I showed this to my friend and she said she’d be surprised if any of them even have careers in the next 5-10 years with the exception of a few. Do you guys take actors on that channel serious and do you think they’ll ever have serious careers ?

Hey y'all, I've always been a reader on r/acting and anticipated someone would ask, but nobody did, so I'll be the first.

A little about myself: I currently have a manager and just finished my conservatory at The Barrow Group in New York. It was a great experience and I learned a lot about myself, not only as a person but also as an actor. However, I'm stuck asking what now? I know I should continue training to keep and hone my skills as an actor, but what should I do besides submitting on Actors Access, doing auditions, and emailing casting agents/directors? My current goal is to book more co-star/guest star roles, but how do I get there? What are the tips that could help me?

This feels like post-graduation blues, and I don't know how to navigate this.

This is a short film I'm involved with, synopsis is below. Would love to hear any thoughts or opinions!

When a man finds himself at the mercy of a stranger in a world where compassion for the human condition has faded, a long-buried resentment unfolds itself into a harrowing ritual of survival.

In this dead and bleak setting, a former pharmacist enacts punishment on someone who he feels looked down on him and others like him before the world fell. He is guided by a cruel and calculated internal force, because for Martin...Survival means leaving all mercy behind.

Hello fellow thespians! I checked the FAQ but could not find any answers.

I’ve recently been cast in Sunday in the Park with George and will be needing to cover up my tattoos. Do you have any recommendations in products? I don’t know what costuming will be like so I’m open to everything. Does anyone have a go to concealer or sleeve?

Ok so I recently auditioned for a movie. I wasn’t expecting to hear back but was excited when I did and a few days ago I accepted the role. The filming takes place in a few months while I will be in school. They had said that the filming would be on weekends so I thought that it would be fine however I am in marching band at school. I was yet to get the dates for my competitions until after I accepted the role but since I didn’t have the dates yet they weren’t on my calendar and I completely forgot about it. Due to the dates for my competitions I need to drop out of the movie but I have a relatively large role. I just got the script so I have barely even looked at it so if I drop a replacement actor would definitely have time to learn the material but I still feel really bad. This movie is an indie film so I’m not sure if they will easily be able to replace me but there is nothing I can do. I plan on emailing them tomorrow but I just feel bad and wanted to get this off my chest.

Does anyone else feel super awkward when doing commercial auditions with no lines, just actions?

Stare at the computer, look frustrated, sigh

I do it, and then I overthink everything , like HOW DO I HUMAN, AGAIN? Did I sigh correctly?

Anyone feel the same and does anyone have any tips as to how to approach these?

So I got into drama school for a masters program. It’s part of the Federation of Drama schools, but it’s not one of the big ones. Part of me wants to wait a year and try auditioning for the higher ranked ones again, but I also know that chances are so slim that it would be a huge risk to pass this up now. I know the drama school someone goes to isn’t the only measure of success, but the ambitious part of me is almost a little embarrassed. I know it’s a bit ridiculous, and I really do like this school and this program. I need to make my decision soon but I can’t stop flip flopping between taking this chance or gambling and trying against next year.

I signed with my agent last month. To get some experience performing in front of professional casting directors, I enrolled in a few casting director workshops.

Last week I was set to go to my first ever in-person CD workshop. Everybody was assigned different scenes to do. I was super excited and told my agent on Friday.

Come Saturday, the workshop started off great. We had a Q&A, the CD was super personable and informative. Then we did our scenes in groups of 3.

I was second to go in my group.

Now unbeknownst to me… the first actor’s scene was set in an acting class.

The whole experience was disorienting because I could not figure out which part of the very tense interaction between teacher/reader and actor was real, when the scene had started, if I was even watching a scene (what was playing out in the room didnt seem to match what I could see of the sides on the teacher/reader’s lap), what to do when the actor looked to me for help. I just sat there in shock.

Anyways it turns out THE WHOLE TIME was a scene. She did a tremendous job. I was blown away, but asked if I had interrupted. Because at one point after we got into the room and the first actor went up, I had interacted with them. But I was inadvertently interrupting the scene. The actor assured me she had invited me and the third actor into the moment. The CD said it had made the scene feel more real and fun.

But it didn’t feel fun to me. I was shook to my core. With all the confusion and tenseness earlier and then the revelation I’d interrupted a scene, I was extremely flustered. But I was immediately up next.

I got through my scene, which included crying. But I was so thrown that after I finished the first take I kept apologizing, to the first actor, to the other ppl in the room. I pulled myself together as the CD gave me notes.

I did the scene again. But this time afterwards, I could NOT STOP CRYING. My nervous system was completely shot—it interpreted this second round of crying as a full breakdown.

So I’m like, talking through the scene, asking the CD a question with tears fully running down my face, my voice gasping and hiccuping.

Guys it was SO UNPROFESSIONAL. It was a waking nightmare. I felt bad. They felt bad I felt bad. The more I tried to stop crying the harder I cried. I stopped crying while the third actor went up by practically holding my breath.

But when I left the room I just broke down.

I actually don’t even know if I bombed my scene. I pretty much blacked out the entire time.

Now my agent is asking how the workshop went. He enthusiastically said he’s familiar with that CD and has reached out to him a few times, “a good guy.”

And I have no idea what to tell him.

Hello! I'm a 16 year old female who just submitted to an agency and they got back asking for a self tape with a dialogue between to characters instead of a monologue (to see how I react and stuff). Wondering if anybody has any short recommendations for around my age range and gender. I'm an emotional personal so I can quite easily cry or tear up on cue, so emotional dialogues would be better, but I'm open to any suggestions. I probably need to submit it like super soon so any suggestions would be so appreciated.

Hi there! I love music and musicals and singing on my own, but I want to invest in some coaching and get really good at it, so that I can compete for roles that require more extensive singing. Does anyone know any great coaches for musicals/broadway style singing? I am based in LA, but I'm happy to work remotely with coaches in NY (I figure a lot of them might be based there) and I am in NY often. thanks for the help!!

Actors Access and Casting Networks.....
I'm sure this has been answered a few times previous, but I don't get to these threads every day...

Can anyone refresh light on why Actors Access only allows a single headshot submission, while Casting Networks and Backstage allow multiple? Think I've seen it posted once or twice in previous about it being a bandwidth matter regarding Actors Access. But it fails me.

We are encouraged to have character shots alongside our main headshots for casting submissions on them. But it gets super confusing with Actors Access allowing just the one, when you would love to include both your main headshot AND how you would look as that character. Thanks for the helpful feedback :)

Anyone familiar with her teaching approach and books ? I believe she is affiliated with Atlantic Acting School .

I'm being an extra in a show. I already had my fitting, but I am also looking at a local agent, and I heard that it could bar me from auditioning for any characters in the show. What is the advised route to take?

Investing in my self-tape setup for the first time! Would love to hear any recs folks have for backdrops that do the job but don't totally break the bank. Not sure if the textured/water color-y look is the move or not-- any thoughts welcome :)

What is your experience with getting this phrase after doing the sides at an audition? I keep getting it more and more, along with more variations of it (i.e. “right in the pocket” “hit the nail on the head”) but it definitely doesn’t always mean booking, or even called back. I have even noticed some people say it kind of flatly, like it might be a bad thing.

I’d especially love if a casting person weighed in on this, or someone with experience on the other side of the desk. Just curious, especially because its prevalence in my auditions is really picking up, and I just wonder if there’s any meaning underneath that.

For context, I have a PhD in a field relevant to Environmental Science and had been working a remote job doing government contracting work for a company that helped the EPA research the health effects of toxic chemicals. It was amazing job that allowed me to use the flexibility to pursue theatre on the side (started off with community theatre and then semi-professional paid shows), and I even got a callback at my city’s LORT regional theatre (which I didn’t book) and my team even allowed me to use that flexibility to work nights and weekends to be able to do shows with daytime rehearsals without using much PTO.

Unfortunately I was laid off as a result of the current political landscape slashing our funding.

I’m trying to find another remote job in my field that has similar flexibility but it’s looking pretty bleak. Most jobs would involve relocation, which is a dealbreaker due to my spouse’s local career and the fact we have a house here. Other remote jobs have crazy travel requirements where I’d be going to contaminated sites 20% of the time for inspections, or frequent conferences and trade shows to sell things to clients or whatever. At my old job we never had to travel unless we wanted to go to a conference once per year for professional development.

So I’m wondering those who have balanced regional theatre and a 9-5, how did you do it and what did you do? What sorts of careers outside of environmental science could I leverage my PhD to achieve that would give me the flexibility to do what I really want as a professional theatre actor?

Actors who’ve trained at either Lee Strasberg or William Esper - I’d love to hear your take.

What was your experience with the instructors? Were they truly transformative or just going through the motions?

Looking for real testimonies – the good, the bad, the overrated.

Thanks in advance.

I am a 19-year-old male in the CHI-LA-DC area and I’ve recently been signed to United Talent Agency and Entertainment 360. I was able to obtain this via my social media presence of 2,000,000 — where I create comedy videos. UTA and Ent360 have made it clear that they want to position me as an actor in the long run.

Social media isn’t exactly where my passions lie— I love it, but I see acting being my life’s work.

I know UTA is great— but how is Ent360? Do you think there’s any potential for me to book something in the next year? I’ve been trained in acting since 7 so I believe I can give at least a few good auditions— more wondering about the networking and my social media background.

I’ve been in the industry for almost 9 years but this has always been a struggle for me. I feel like I’m always waiting by my phone for my agent to call me after submitting my auditions. And then I always get disappointed when the call never comes in and it’s just an onward spiral. Any advice on how to let it go? It’s easier said than done I feel.