<p>^ Clueless about acting and the business? LMAO This is how I make my living, bud, and I’ve spoken the truth. The only reason I saw this thread in the first place is a couple of people contacted me offlist about your clueless remarks and asked me to comment. It’s become pretty obvious to me that you aren’t even an actor and, good God, completely clueless about how the business works. It ain’t a meritocracy. </p>
<p>
What a load of happy horse****.</p>
<p>I do agree that most of the people are actually nice. That was a big surprise for me.</p>
<p>fish, sorry that upset you. but success in acting and success in life comes from hard work. And being the best doctor, lawyer, or actor has everything to do with excellence, which comes through hard work. And ya it helps to be born with the dna that allows you to memorize the sides in the taxi, walk in 15 minutes later, and nail the role over 500 other actors. But that’s life, it’s not fair</p>
<p>I suspect you’re young and have had some bad experiences, that’s why you don’t believe excellence = success. And that’s why you think the acting profession is unfair. I’m sorry you feel that way.</p>
<p>It’s not unfair, but hard working, more intelligent, and better looking actors often do win the role. Even the bad guys in movies are likable:) Almost all working actors are likable!</p>
<p>Hey pach & fish don’t fight!! This is a loving forum to just help me with my future goals :)</p>
<p>I would agree that success comes from excellence, but I would also say that you can still be excellent without success. So it’s not vice versa. I mean if I were to just have my dinky youtube videos and that’s all, even if I thought they were “excellent” I’d be happy. I basically want to audition to many schools next year and see if I can get excepted to prove to MYSELF that I can act. It’s just something I really love and always wondered if I was good at it. I mean the five years of classes has really helped me and all, but I feel as though i need to be accepted to really, truly know.</p>
<p>And sometimes showbiz is unfair… but I mean, it IS showbiz. Sometimes the skinner, more attractive people are picked over heavier, less attractive. But I do believe that if you really really work at it and try your absolute hardest then you can do anything. But that’s just my philosophy and rather optimistic. :D</p>
<p>Success and excellence in acting are certainly not mutually exclusive. All you have to do is turn on your TV to see that they’re not mutually dependent, either, and this idea that some of those people were the best actor for the role is just foolish. </p>
<p>I’ve actually been very successful thus far and haven’t had a single bad experience with the biz. Most would say I‘m a pretty dang talented actress, too, and I’ve worked very hard to develop what I have. However, I know a lot more who are just as talented and have worked just as hard or harder who have not had anything approaching my luck. It’s not fair at all. In fact, the films I work on are packaged in-house by my agency and I’m usually up against maybe three other actresses for them. Do you really think we’re the only four who could carry them off? </p>
<p>At any rate, it’s 04:11 where I am and I’ve gotta be in hair and makeup by 0500 …</p>
<p>Two more words about success equaling excellence: Keanu Reeves … LOL</p>
<p>fish, yeah I guess I see what you’re saying. You seem like you really know what you are talking about! I guess you are fairly familiar with “showbiz” i mean I haven’t had many chances to be in a lot, because my high school is very voice and age oriented. Like, you have to be able to sing really well to ever hope to be a part. And if you’re anything below a senior and can’t sing?? Forget about it. So I haven’t had too many chances, and that’s a shame, cause REALLY the only thing on my resume is that I have years of acting classes and have participated in school plays as the ensemble. Bleh. :/</p>
<p>paige, my daughter last year at exactly this time was in your position - she does like musicals, but she really wants to act in plays. I don’t know where you live (don’t tell us exactly) but even in our relatively small area she has gotten the chance to do some acting outside of her HS, in summer plays, and in community theatre. In one year, she’s gone from 2 ensemble parts on her resume to a nice long list of respectable roles. Not leads, but nice supporting parts that have taught her a lot. She’s also gotten to work with several different directors and learn a lot about how she feels about that side of the process.</p>
<p>Your resume for theatre schools is not going to be the most important element. Fortunately for acting, except for the very most selective programs, it’s not your experience but the potential they see in your audition that counts. It’s not like you just started taking lessons on a musical instrument this year and want to go to a music conservatory. Theatre is a lot more open to the less-experienced. You are very normal for a high school junior!</p>
<p>The acting classes have been very valuable, I am sure, and have given you access to acting teachers (who are usually also directors). Maybe they can help you find some other opportunities to do some acting.</p>
<p>^^nailing the audition is almost everything in pro work, the 2nd is the resume. Casting is like any other business, if they have two actors they think are good for the part and 1 has a lot more roles on the resume that will often tip the hand.</p>
<p>I would imagine for getting in to college programs, the audition is everything.</p>
<p>All the stuff I’ve been involved in, in both theater and TV/film has been in person, I never seen CD’s or tapes actually used by actors or producers (although often auditions are taped and sent to producers). A head shot, a resume, and 2 minutes in front of casting is all you get:) So you gotta impress them in those 2 minutes. And for major roles hundreds of actors, selected from thousands of head shots/resumes, will be auditioned. So going from 5000 to the 1, is really cool!</p>
<p>regional-Theater is different, a lot more clubby, for major roles the creative director/director will usually go to one of the in-house actors. And clubby is not necessarily a bad word, these actors at regional theaters need the work!</p>
<p>“the films I work on are packaged in-house by my agency and I’m usually up against maybe three other actresses for them” this sounds interesting, I’m glad it’s working out for you. I do believe that most people are successful because of hard work that allows them to perform at an excellent level. </p>
<p>Paige, my advice is go to LA or NY, I prefer LA:) And definitely get your college degree! Have fun and good luck to you!</p>
<p>paige - Keep in mind that you are applying to college theatre programs and most are looking for potential! You are just a junior so have time to prepare for your auditions. Do you have someone to work with you on selecting your monologues? Depending on the schools on your list you are going to need contemporary and perhaps classical as well. And you need to make sure you read and understand the source material for the monologue so that you understand the charater. Here is some absolutely great advice from Dr. John from Otterbein:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1057439-audition-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1057439-audition-advice.html</a>
(I know you are not going for MT so just ignore the song stuff ;))</p>
<p>In doing your research, make sure you find at least one non-audition safety school that is an academic and financial fit for YOU. Then round out your list with those programs you talked about earlier or any others you come across that seem to be a good fit for YOU. Think about whether or not you can do on campus auditions or go to Unifieds or even send in a DVD audition if you absolutely can’t audition any other way and you really want a chance at that school. (And yes, people do get accepted that way. Just ask my D!)</p>
<p>If you can go and sit in on classes and attend performances at schools that is ideal. You really get a feel for the program that way. But if you can’t, ask lots of questions here and directly to the school. Get in touch with current students. Check out the curriculum on the school’s website. Read up on the faculty. Find out about how auditions are run, the typeof performance opportunities (both mainstage and other) that are available, whether or not there are senior showcase events, master classes, etc. Can you double major and still graduate in 4 years? Find out what alumni are doing.</p>
<p>I hope you will keep reading and posting. We found so much great info on this site when my D was a junior. And now that she is a freshman we both still post (me way more than her ha ha!) because we found lots of support and information and want to try and pass that on. Best of luck in your search and… </p>
<p>@EmmyBet: Oh, how hard I have been trying to get my mom to sign me up for local plays and theatres! There is this one like 20 minutes down the road that does plays all the time, and no matter WHAT I do she says “Oh we’ll look into it…” and then by the time she actually DOES there is no auditions or anything happening. It’s so unfortunate. But I can totally see where you are coming from. But the comment you made about how they look at my audition rather than resume is really helpful cause I was stressing over the fact that I have not been tons of parts. I have been in many shows as part of the ensemble but I mean, how much does that really help me acting wise?! But I should focus on my audition rather than my experience. I believe if I practice hard enough I can show them my talent and hopefully get them to believe they should accept me and see that I have potential. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>@pacheight: Yeah, I never really thought that all I have to do is really impress them with a 2 minute audition and a headshot. I get senior pictures this summer, so I might just ask for a professional headshot. I mean, most of the time they’re just your face with a white background or something, haha! I’ll have to get that done. And yeah I really need to focus on those short amount of time that I have to impress whoever I am auditioning for. :)</p>
<p>@austinmtmom: Where does your D go now? Just curious cause you mentioned that she got accepted through a video audition… which I think is really awesome! And would take the nerves off a lot! But the good thing about an on-campus is whenever I would go to the audition if I didn’t already visit the campus I would get to!
I am lucky to have started my youtube channel because although I don’t get thousands of views pouring in daily, it motivates me to look into tons of monologues and try different ones. Within four days I already managed to upload 12 videos! I’ve looked into very different monologues - very dramatic to light hearted to immature to very mature. I have yet to look into classical, which I probably should. I mean, whenever I do audition next year, I will PROBABLY end up choosing a monologue from The Laramie Project, which is the show I’m doing in acting class. That way I really get some pointers throughout the next few months on how to say certain lines with my monologues and such, which would really help. And thanks for the audition advice link :D</p>
<p>paige - My D is a freshman at Coastal Carolina Univeristy just outside of Myrtle Beach SC. She loves the program. I’m headed there in a couple of weeks to see her perform :)</p>
<p>one more thing, for tv and film you’ll get the sides 24 hours before you audition. So unlike college you don’t have an audition piece, casting gives you (your agent gives you) what you’ll read. For major roles you may get the sides earlier, for instance when casting for Harry Potter the kids got the sides 2 weeks in advance…Emma Watson’s parents went crazy as their daughter practiced the lines non-stop for 2 weeks, almost 24/7, she wouldn’t sleep.</p>
<p>Paige, you do not need to have professional headshots at this point. They can be expensive. But you will need some sort of headshot for your college auditions. Some students use their senior picture as a headshot.</p>
<p>Regarding the theatre 20 minutes away. Perhaps you can find out exactly when auditions will occur for plays with roles you could audition for. Often this information is posted on a theatre’s website. Or you could phone the theatre yourself…maybe get put on a mailing list. Not every production will have appropriate roles, of course, but you can audition for teen/early twenties roles, or even children’s roles if you happen to be small and young-looking. When the date is approaching, keep reminding your mom non-stop so that she can’t put you off. Tell her what role you are auditioning for. Obtain a copy of the play through your library and read it and talk about it at home. Mastering details like this can help demonstrate your maturity and seriousness.</p>
<p>Or maybe you could arrange for someone else to give you a ride to auditions? Perhaps you will be learning to drive soon?</p>
<p>Being in the ensemble for shows IS valuable theatrical experience. Having even a tiny part (even a non-speaking part) in a straight play at a community theatre will be excellent experience for you. You can see how adult actors work, and how a director directs these people. It will probably be quite different from your high school, and you will learn a lot.</p>
<p>and know that LA is a small, small town, everyone knows everyone. Shandon knows all the agents, agents know everyone in casting, producers, makeup artists, so forth and so on…it’s a fun town to network in:)</p>
<p>@NJTheatreMOM: Thanks! Yeah I’ll remind my mom. Maybe fall of my senior year I’ll be able to get in a play. I would so do it over the summer but the fact that I’m on vacation almost every single week and the three week band camp chunk really doesn’t help my schedule. And my old babysitter when I was younger now does senior pictures so I’m sure I can just ask her to take a nice professional headshot but like, without the charge… like during we’re doing my senior pictures. She’d probably have no problem with that!</p>
<p>@pacheight: Thanks! I’ll keep Shandon in mind! And I think I did know that. I’d probably like that better… maybe… but for now I’ll have to stick to learning monologues for college!</p>
<p>Paige, why don’t you also consider a summer pre-college program in theatre. There are a ton of good programs that would give you some great experience and also confirm that this is where your interest really lies. My D did Carnegie Mellon’s last year and learned a great deal (and confirmed that this is what she wants to study in college). I am sure you could find something close to home as well. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Paige, it sounds like you have a balanced range of interests. Some kids become so obsessed with theatre that they spend every summer in theatre programs, give up things like band and sports (boys have even been known to leave the football team, to the consternation of their coaches…my son knows a boy like this) and choose not to be in school plays in favor of community theatre, unless their school happens to have an excellent drama department.</p>
<p>Another route to becoming an actor is to live the life of a more normal high school student and study acting in college. A BA program would allow you to develop your skills and explore your passion so that you may decide whether you want to try to act professionally. If so, you might want to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) in Acting after you complete your BA. Many people think that is the ideal route. It sounds like it might end up being the more appropriate path for you.</p>
<p>Lulu63 - whoa, little freaked out right now not going to lie. I live real close to Carnegie Mellon! I live in Pittsburgh (like, 20 minutes from the city to be honest) and that’s really cool. I just looked it up and it seriously sounds like the DREAM thing to do this summer, but it’s RIGHT when I’m on vacation. I leave early July for a mission trip, mid July for family vacation, and then end of July - mid August is my band camp everyday. I almost wish I didn’t, because the summer program sounds RIGHT up my alley. Thanks though! Maybe I’ll look into other things I can do, maybe just in June cause I’m here for the most part then!</p>
<p>NJTheatreMOM - Yeah I read that you can either have a BA or a BFA and I didn’t exactly understand the difference between them. I do have a pretty good balance between school and band and acting classes and things like that. I by no means am forced to give everything up for the theatre. I mean, I don’t know how much I would mind that, because I love acting, but it’s definitely good to have diversity. But completing my BA and getting a MFA sounds very interesting, I’ll have to look into that!</p>
i mean I haven’t had many chances to be in a lot, because my high school is very voice and age oriented. Like, you have to be able to sing really well to ever hope to be a part. And if you’re anything below a senior and can’t sing?? Forget about it. So I haven’t had too many chances, and that’s a shame, cause REALLY the only thing on my resume is that I have years of acting classes and have participated in school plays as the ensemble. Bleh. :/</p>
I almost wish I didn’t, because the summer program sounds RIGHT up my alley. Thanks though! Maybe I’ll look into other things I can do, maybe just in June cause I’m here for the most part then!</p>