How do you join acting as a 20 yr old university student?

Question

Hello!

I have never really done any acting, but it's something I've always felt was something I'd love to do. I'm a full time university student, I'm really interested in acting. I would love to enroll in classes, but apart from that...what else could I do to "infiltrate" the acting world?

thankyou!

Answer 1

Classes Classes Classes!  There are usually acting classes at most universities... Sign up for one that is open to non-majors.  

And let me take this opportunity to voice my pet peeve -- not necessarily aimed at you -- but to folks in general who think that acting/theatre is "easy".  It isn't.  Just because you think you can doesn't mean you can -- act that is... to act one must be smart, able to memorize, able to understand "why" someone does something, embody that understanding and then "show" it to others by saying the words the playwright gives them.  So take a class, stay in college, take more classes, audition for everything, even the directing scenes.  Because the more you are in the better you get and the more you learn.  

good luck!

Answer 2

Classes are great. If you enroll, you'll learn the basics of the craft and you'll also meet like-minded people who will be able to point you towards performance opportunities in your area.

If your school allows non-performance-majors to audition for shows you could do that, though the best you could realistically do with that is an ensemble role; the people in charge of the department will want to give the more substantial roles away to performance majors, as their degrees depend on logging in some performance time.

Another good thing to do would be to see if there is any sort of a film department at your university. If you talk to the right people there, you're almost guaranteed to find people in need of performers for student films. Most univerisities have some place where the film students post their notices for actors. They're not usually too picky in who they'll cast, but that's because they typically offer little to no pay.

And yet another thing you could do is look for some community theater in your area. Just do a google search for "[your city] community theater" and see what you find. Community theater is all volunteer work, just people in the community doing it for fun, but it's a good way to test the water and see if acting is something you'd like to pursue further.

Don't worry too much about things like getting headshots and finding an agent right off the bat. Get a little bit of experience and see if you even want to take the time and effort to pursue this further, and along the way you should meet some people who can point you in the right direction if you want to do it professionally.

Answer 3

I recommend auditioning for some of your college plays - try it out & see how you like it.  Also, pick up classes to get more experience.  

www.iwascast.com