How do I get into acting???? PLEASE.?

Question

I want to act so badly! I don't want to so that I can be famous. I want to be able to play interesting and intriguing characters. The kind from books, or some that were made just for a movie. I know I could start in plays, but them what? Please help, I've always found acting so invigorating! You can be someone that you're not, and you have to make people believe you! It's such a challenge and accomplishment. I love it! So I really need anyone's help out there, please? What should I do?

Answer 1

"I know I could start in plays ..." !!!!

START IN PLAYS.

"Plays" is actually what acting is about.

They may be screenplays, but ...

It's wonderful - "such a challenge and accomplishment" as I read somewhere not so very long ago.

So - act, invent.

But remember always that 'putting on a show' (or a film) is necessarily a collaborative process. It is not always all about you.

Watch "Funny Girl".

Don't start letters "I want to act so badly!" - it is open to misinterpretation. ( The obvious Groucho Marx answer is "Last week she just wanted to act badly; who knew she could act SO badly"

Take any sort of class you can get free or cheap - singing, dancing, Laban, Method,  yoga, "the influence of Kafka on Brecht", whatever.

Wishing you the best of luck.

Answer 2

woa! you soud very passionate, and this is WONDERFUL!

as foreveranactress said, start with local plays, and try to work your way up. as your resume becomes longer and longer ( and please remember that this will take a lot of time!) and you find more and more opportunitiestry to begin to only allow yourself to be cast for lead/supporting roles ( no ensembles) the strategy is this:  begin getting work anywhere you can find it, taking any job you are given, and as time goes on work your way up the ladder and progress to lead roles, when you've got that down, go outside the near area, go someplace where theater is a little more evident (new york, saint louis, etc. ) and begin again (taking whatever you can get, even if it's esemble- which is often a wonderful experience-) who knows? somewhere along the line you could be "discovered"!!

auditions are hard to find without an agent, but luckily, for those in the st. louis area there's stlouisauditions.com , it's sooo helpful!

love&luck(brokenlegs!),

ALi*

Answer 3

First off, it is really great that you find acting so invigorating, that means when you start, you will love doing it and that is one of the first rules of acting!

To start, you should take some acting classes because they will teach you some tricks to become a better actor and it is really fun.

Next, you should audition for some plays in your local theatre so you can really get the acting experience.

Once you do that, you will be more familiar on how acting and productions work. If you love doing play productions then you can just keep on doing that through out the years but if you want to make it real big and into the movies or broadway read-on!

Note- It takes time to make it big and get real good so be patient.

Once you get really good you should start auditioning for bigger things like if an agent comes into your area you should audition for it.

Once you start doing commercials or small parts in movies you are set and who knows, maybe you will make it to broadway!!!!

Either way, keep following your dreams, listen to you heart, and stay confident!

One last thing, if you get turned down by someone because they think your not good enough, don't get sad and feel like the world is going to end. All directors are different. Imagine how many times the famous people in movies have gotten turned down or havn't got the part they wanted. Keep on trying and you will make it big! Good Luck!!!!

Answer 4

You would be surprised (or maybe not) at how many young people say almost the exact same things in the same way. Sometimes I'm torn between telling them to start by getting some training and telling them to just go get a head shot and go to some casting website and start submitting. But reason wins over me and I have to tell you that if you really want to be an actor, you should first put your big rush to do it to the side and slow down. Build your base first. The competition is fierce and if you don’t prepare yourself really well, you will become just another statistic of the many who WANTED TO, but never made it.

I even created a new video on my site on the exact same topic: The reasons why most aspiring actors never make it.

You might have heard in school when you talked about Abraham Lincoln, that he is the author of a famous quote. He said, "If I had three hours to chop down a tree, I would use the first hour to sharpen the axe."

If you don't sharpen your axe first, there will inevitably be a time when you will have to stop chopping and sharpen it, so you might as well do it now.

What does that mean? Get some acting training. Find a good school and a good teacher to help you learn how to act.

While you are doing that, try and understand what it really means to be an actor, what actors do...really while they are trying to get work, how little money most actors make, why actors struggle to make ends meet and how successful actors are able to continuously get work. You need to learn business skills, networking skills, communication skills and a lot more.

When you decide to become an actor, you are making a decision to run your own business. Now I know you are young, but if you can start to grasp these concepts now, you will position yourself ahead of your competition.

On the other hand if all you ever aspire to is to work background work on Disney Channel or something like that, then don't worry too much about all that stuff I just said and just go and try and get extra work. That's fairly easy to get considering that the majority of all acting work is background work and smaller roles. But you have to know that if you really want to make a big splash as an actor, sooner or later you will need some real experience. Extra work is great in my opinion at the very beginning just to start and see how things are on set and how real actors prepare and perform and to see how set directions are given, but it will not make your career. In fact, some industry professionals discourage it for those who really want to pursue a serious acting career.

The thing is, you can do both if you want. You can go to school, take acting classes and still work as an extra while you are learning the craft.

At any rate, have a look at this page on my website for aspiring actors. It has 23 links to pages that have to do with starting your acting career.

You'll find a lot of helpful information there that will make you think about how you can get your acting career started including steps to get started, 17 things you can do fairly soon to start getting work, ways to promote yourself, how to get the money together to fund your career, how to get an agent, 29 ways to promote yourself to get noticed and why acting school is so important. http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/teen_...

Good luck!

Tony

Answer 5

i am wondering the same thing

Answer 6

Okay, since I have no idea hos old you are, I'm going to give you a couple of options. Yeah, start in town plays, get some experience, build up your resume. Then after you've done quite a few plays, enough to get the feel of things type up your resume, and get headshots done. This will help you tremendously. Then comes the incredibly hard task of getting an agent. Getting an agent can take months and even years, but keep fighting. These are some steps that should lead you in the right direction. I hope it helps.

P.S. If an agent asks for money up front, they are unreal and fake. Bad. Don't go to them.

Answer 7

1. Be in school plays.

2. Take acting classes.

3. Do community theatre.

4. After (and only after) you do enough small plays and get a lot of training, send your resume and head shots out to agents, who will find you auditions.

Answer 8

Try acting school, then lessons, go to college and major in acting. You've got a long way to go!!!!!!

Answer 9

Hey wisperer93 its drake from "Creating fantasy worlds" Lets talk!

Btw i agree with the guy above. go to acting school