If you were going into acting, would you choose Hollywood or an alternative to Hollywood such as....?

Question

1. Local television-work in your own area

2. Local cinema-work in your own area

3. Christian entertainment

4. Work as an entertainer in Las Vegas

5. Live theater

6. Independent film

7. Behind-the-scenes work

8. Work in the film industry but not in Hollywood

9. Do commercials

10. Do voice-overs/narration

11. Do voice work

12. Local live theater

There are lots of actors who have turned their backs on Hollywood and opted for alternatives such as Pamela Sue Martin, Emma Samms, Ellen Page, Dustin Diamond, etc.

Answer 1

Its best to cut your teeth locally.  If you have exhausted the training available there its time to move to where there is better training.  There is a lot of good training in Hollywood but there are a lot of poor classes there as well.  

Any time you find yourself being better than those you are working with, its time to move on.

Answer 2

Local live theater

Answer 3

Whatever intrests you the most is best. Try all of them and see what you like the best. If you are in it for the money, don't do theatre unless you really love it. If you want the big bucks, go for Hollywood. Either way, I would try to get local work or try to get an agent locally, depending on where you live, agents will take you on your potential.

Answer 4

Saying you want to get into acting is a broad area. What kind of acting do you want to do? Basically it depends on if you are interested in Theatre primarily or Television and Film.

For the first you will want to be in New York and for the others, although you can get tv and film work in NY, LA is the place to be.

I would say that the very first thing is to start getting some training and stick with it. If and when you go to Hollywood, you won't get very far without it. I would start out by taking classes, learning about the industry, learning about the industry in Hollywood, learning how to network and market yourself, learning about agents and what they look for, how to audition and basically just educating yourself about what it is you say you want to do.

I just made a new video about the top mistakes that young, aspiring actors make when trying to get into the business and which usually end up being the reason why they don't make it. One of the reasons is that many go from "wanting to get into acting, to wanting to go directly to Hollywood."

One Hollywood acting coach I interviewed said that Hollywood is like the Olympics of acting. That said, you really need to be prepared.

At any rate, have a look at this page on my site for new and aspiring actors. It has lots of links to pages that have to do with different aspects of starting an acting career, including things that you can do to get started, getting an agent and other things you might find helpful.

http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/teen_...

Also, on the menu you will find a link about Expert Advice, which will take you to a page on which there are many articles   written by experts in the business, some of whom talk about the perennial NY or LA question, which is similar to what you asked. It might give you some insight as to what to do.

Good luck!

Tony

Answer 5

I totally agree with lolol ?

=) so yeah first small stuff , then break down Hollywood!

Good Luck?

Answer 6

i'd do alternative first like commercials then go right to hollywood

Answer 7

I'm a live theatre girl all the way. There's nothing better than that feeling i get on stage.