We have found 19,407 posts across 4 actor forums:
Background actors and loan-out companies by popculturenrd • last post Aug 8th
Why do (or don't) you have a loan-out company? Any regrets?
Playing supporting roles by Iloveacting • last post Aug 8th
I have so far in my training only done one movie project. It's an amateur movie and I think that the persons who wrote the script have never written a script for a movie before. I was only really given a script and nothing more. It was a small role so I think they thought that nothing more was needed. But I have hear stories of this also happening in professional settings and that smaller roles can be as difficult as bigger roles. Why do we focus on smaller roles (supporting parts) as beginners if they aren't easier? I recently watched tv series about a beginner actor who joined a small traveling theatre company in the late 19th century. He was only given supporting roles but they seem easier than the bigger roles but was told to be very important. What should you be given beside the script when beeing an actor in a movie?
As Someone Who Wants To Be A Profesional Voice Actor In The Future…… by FrostySnow24 • last post Aug 8th
I really have felt a certain way about “Celebrity Voices” for quite some time. But before I dive into my full opinion, I want to say that the reason I feel the way I do is because I feel as if it may or may not limit the availability to those (such as myself) who want to be professional voice actors in the future. Now, my overall opinion is that I really don't like it, and that it's a strange (and a lot of times, not all the time) poor decision. Apparently, it's been a “popular trend“ since “Aladdin” with Robin Williams doing the Genie. Here is the thing, I remember prior to and during 2020, I always said that I wanted to be a ”legit” voice actor. Oddly enough, prior to late 2020, even “I” didn't know what I meant by that, until someone gave clarification. I've recently learned that celebs are pretty much only hired to draw in the audience. Pretty much when a celeb “voices” a character, they're literally either speaking in their normal voice and acting like themselves, or having the character act as a live character they are famous for. There's usually nothing special with the voices. There are only three conditions where I don't mind celebrity voices: A. If it actually works (e.g: Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Idris Elba as Knuckles, Ed Asner as Carl Fredrickson) B. If a celeb is voicing an animated version of them. I mean, because why not? C. If a celeb is voicing an animated version of a character they normally act as, or acted as before (e.g: Matthew Lillard as Shaggy) But other than those three conditions/exceptions, I really think it's poor. I'm also talking about this after recently finding out about recent voice actors of Harley Quinn. While I am sure that Kaley Cuoco and Melissa Rauch have good Harley Quinn voices, why not just hire the voice that people are used to, which is typically from professional voice actress, Tara Strong. Or just generally hire someone who is actually known in the voice acting industry, and let the people who aren't voice actors stick to whatever their speciality is. Stuff like that, just shows that it's gotten to a point where celebrity voices are getting into regular cartoons. But then again, that's been the case since at least the 2000s. Not too mention with “Oh” from “Home”. It's literally just Sheldon talking. Also not too mention, is how whenever a singer is hired to do voice over (typically for an animated film), their character is usually a singer or ends up singing at the climax. But, here's thing, I kind of view it differently with Mark Hamill and J.K Simmons. The reason is because while he has been live acting here and there, Mark Hamill has pretty much switched over to voice acting since the 90s and is also known as a voice actor, and in the industry itself. With J.K Simmons, while he seems to have more live action credits, he also seems like a solid mix of both. Even with all of this said, I don't think Celeb Voices are always bad, but I still do think that it's best to hire professionals and let non-voice actors stick to their speciality. Adding to what I said at the beginning, the reason I am concerned is because I feel as if it will eventually take over and destroy the industry, and basically get rid of the chances of those who want to be voice actors. This also makes me realize that it's no wonder a lot of (not most) people don't know professional voice actors, because they are basically made unknown due to the celebrities and the decision made by (whoever) to cast them. It's like, I don't know if others share this case, but when I hear a voice, I want to hear myself say “I know that voice, who is that? Tara Strong, Phil LaMarr, John DiMaggio?” I don't want to get this feeling, “Oh, I know who that celebrity is”. As good as Schwratz and Elba were in Sonic 2, I am glad they hired Colleen O' Shaugnessey to do Tails. Not only would a celeb Tails voice likely have been lackluster, but it shows that some are at least trying to give real voice actors their due.
Have you ever been paid points? by TimPrice2 • last post Aug 8th
I'm a producer, not an actor. I'm working on my second commercial (SAG) project. When it comes to my lead roles, I generally pay above scale to get more experienced actors, usually with a tiny bit of name recognition. I'm considering adding points into my offers on my next project's leads. Since I already have one project released, I have revenue numbers I can share which I would think makes points seem more valuable than if the project was a complete unknown. Have any you worked with points before? I haven't, so I'd appreciate any thoughts, feelings, or experience you might want to share. I'd appreciate a perspective from anyone, whether they're an actor, agent, producer, etc. Thanks.
Advice for stand in work by Michael_CrawfishF150 • last post Aug 8th
I want to become a full time actor. I have the opportunity to work as a stand in tomorrow. Would this be a good career move or would it just be a good day’s pay? In other words, would doing this help me to propel my career forward or would it have no effect? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!!
"Mother agency" posts legit work but you also pay for classes? by Hiflower • last post Aug 8th
Looking for advice on whether or not this org is a scam? Context: I recently got accepted to essentially a mother agency, they produce fashion shows and call themselves a model management company, specifically for their Model and Talent expo this November. Note they are a small business in a southern market that's nowhere near as large as Atlanta. I know people that attended their summer model and talent expo, they said they had to pay ~3k for about 2 months of model and acting classes (believe this also included price for headshots and admission to the expo). Other than this they seem to not charge their models and actors and only take a commission ~10% from anything they book & they've casted people in reputable commercials and modeling shows, think JCP, Academy Sports, Miami Swim week, etc. All you read online is how you shouldn't have to pay for classes at all and these agencies should just train you for free until you start booking jobs, but as someone who paid to go to uni for my degree I also see the value in paying to take classes from a reputable source. I'll be meeting with them later this week with eveyone else who got accepted to the callback to get all the final details about cost, contracting, etc and I'm wondering what you all would think about this opportunity? Legit or not?
Are acting classes important? What would your advices be for a broke rookie actress who can't afford acting classes? by catfelinemeow • last post Aug 7th
You see, I just started acting last year, at 26, with absolutely 0 acting experience. After doing 2 feature films in 2021, earlier this year, I was able to get casted to join a big production for a movie that might be released in the local cinemas next year. It's only for a supporting role, but still. 1, it's going to be released in the cinemas. 2, I was given like 5 scenes with lines (4 simple ones, 1 make it or break it one). Here's what I'm worried about. Since I only have 1 very important scene, that, like I said, could make me or break me, I am very worried about how I'll do. I don't really have much experience in acting. Except for Youtube videos, I don't really know how else to learn acting since I am still too broke to be able to afford acting classes. So yeah, I would really like your advices on how to handle this situation. I already have anxiety in general and this situation has just made things worse that I can't even sleep at night. Thank you in advanced for your advices!
I’m a professional voice actor, so I decided to use my skills to make this teaser for my new homebrew dnd campaign! I edited, wrote and did the VO for all of this! by Phoenix2700 • last post Aug 7th
Figured you guys would appreciate this cuz I’m pretty stoked how it came out! Enjoy!
Seeking Voice Actors for Animated Project by Galactose_Intolerant • last post Aug 7th
**Art Studio seeking Voice Actors for an indie sci-fi action-packed anime project in development. Estimated run time for first episode, 9 Minutes. Will be released in parts of 3 minutes until the full episode is released. Expected date of completion: November 2022 \[Long Term Commitment VA only as this project will be submitted to various film festivals and has the potential to become a series\]** Rate: $15/hrSkill Level: Beginner-IntermediateRecording Equipment: Hobby-Professional, no gaming mics, computer mics. Must at the minimum have a solid condenser mic or vocal mic with some level of sound proofing. If I can hear background noise, it's a no go. Voice Audio should be crisp and not muddy Roles: (if you can act multiple roles, that's fine with me)(Main Character) Human Male - Visible Age 17 - Shy personality, withdrawn, soft spoken, kind-hearted. Subject of an abusive military experiment. Medium to high pitch. (Main Character) Human Female - Visible Age 24 - Assertive, achiever, confident tone in voice, medium to high pitch. Subject of military experiment but has shown more resilience and success than the 17-year-old. (Main Character) Human Male - 60 years old - Emperor, serious mood, medium to low pitch, fearless, assertive, humble. Human Male - 35 years old - Agent, militant, loyal, Russian accent, medium pitch, raspy tone, soldier. Human Male - 70 years old - Doctor/Researcher, older voice, medium to high pitch, emotionless. (Main Character) Human Male - 39 years old - Militant, tough, assertive, Southern accent. Commanding officer. Human Male - Extra (Soldiers, base staff, enemies) And a few other roles. I prefer someone who can be flexible and do multiple roles in a convincing manner. Rates & Time: I pay you a sold $15 an hour to record the lines, the time includes retakes you might do to get it right. If I feel anything weird is going on, like lines taking unreasonably long times to deliver, or a few lines taking you an hour to do, then I will terminate our partnership and find someone else. This is not my first-time hiring people from this reddit page or working with VA's.
What percentage of actors do you think have natural talent with little to no training? by MarieN1989 • last post Aug 7th
Do you think some just have it with very little training?
Invited for "pre-screening" by FlaminHot_Depression • last post Aug 6th
So I was invited back for an in-person 'pre-screening' (actors/extras listing -- "some small speaking parts") and was told to "Bring a photo and a resume(if you have one), dress casually and be prepared to read for the casting associates if asked." No other info on role, sides, whatever. What should I expect seeing as it's looking to be just background / extra casting? Anything I can do to better my chances at getting a bigger role (for the circumstances, of course)? Also, what are they expecting in terms of photo -- printed on paper, or are they expecting a higher quality?
How to step into method acting by WorthWar9 • last post Aug 6th
Hi Reddit, I’m 17 years old and going into my last year of HS theatre, my school is putting on “Antigone” for our states play (competition) and me being the go to man actor (I have a beard) might be cast as Creon. However I wanted to know what some tips would be for getting into the mind of that character? Especially because this will be my last HS performance and I want to blow it out of the water!!
Who here lives in the Southeast and has representation in LA? by That-ol-boy • last post Aug 6th
I am basically looking for recommendations for representation in LA for a SE based actor. I have very strong reps in a Atlanta but really need to expand into LA.
Question for actors who voiced in one country and moved to another by Shoddy-Lime-5595 • last post Aug 6th
Let’s imagine I’m an actor that had quite a lot of roles in the US for example, and for some reason I decided to move to Japan. Let’s also imagine I learned fluent Japanese. With all that in mind-is knowing the language be enough to be successful in a new country as an actor with all that experience? And what are the additional steps that I’d have to take? If someone had and experience like in the situation I asked to imagine, it would be even more awesome!
When are actors paid the buyout for working in commercials in the UK? by Mobile-Ad-7736 • last post Aug 6th
I’ve just been cast in a commercial that has a buyout. When should I expect to be paid the buyout amount after shooting the commercial?
Age clarification on backstage by No_running83 • last post Aug 6th
So when describing the role on backstage.com and it says something like : Butterscotch Lead, female, 13-18 Obviously the character is 13-18, but does the actor themselves have to be 13-18 or can they be like 12 or 24? If that makes sense.
Has anyone ever tried submitting for roles outside of your state/region on Actors Access? by LilNocturnal • last post Aug 6th
I’m wondering if anyone has done this or had success from it.
People tell me I should pursue voice acting, but I suffer from major performance fright by Pernaman • last post Aug 6th
So the thing is, ever since I hit puberty, my voice became rather deep and ever since then I've heard comments from here and there about how bombastic, sexy et. my voice sounds. I've also developed an apparent skill of reproducing different voices I hear. I do spend time talking to myself with different voices when I'm alone in my room with no one around. Whenever I play video games with voice chat enabled, I often start doing bombastic oneliners and comments and often other players complement my voice work and give me compliments and encouragement. So I do take enjoyment out of entertaining other people with my voices. However, in my later years I've began to develop a rather strong fear of performing. A convention I was on few weeks back had a panel about dubbing (as in my country the most work voice actors have is dubbing animated shows), and part of it was lighthearted and fun encouraging session where people from the audience could go in and give humorous dubs to short anime scenes. While it was really fun to react to, at the moment my personal reaction to performing in front of full crowd was "Oh heck no!" A friend of mine has taken steps to begin to probably produce an original animated show one day, and tentatively asked if I'd like to do voice work for it. At the moment I'm on board, as recording voice work privately in a booth feels more comforting to me rather than performing live in front of a live audience. But still, when I try to do voices by myself with mental image of doing a voice performance that'd be publicly listened by number of people, I notice how my delivery gets more stiff and not as natural. I wonder if people around here have suffered from similar difficulties and how they've dealt with them?
Looking for Directing advice: creating Chaos with 20 extras by Hayaomiya • last post Aug 6th
Hi everyone! Next week we are going to shoot a "chaotic" scene, with people pushing around, becoming crazy, screaming, and fighting (non-violent fight, more like a metal-concert type of "fight"). There are two main characters, I've been doing training with them for a couple of months now. But there are about 20 extras/background actors in the scenes (most of them not being actors at all), and I am going to do some exercises a couple of hours before starting to shoot. Do you have any recommendations for some effective group exercises/conditioning to prepare them, "release" them, and make them open up completely so they can go all in during the shoot? Usually, I have no problem doing this with pro and non-pro actors, but I've never done a collective exercise with a big group (20 people). It's not an "angry" chaos, but a joyful and collective mayhem. Thank you for reading!
Letting go of a role you've auditioned for... advice for not letting it affect your mental health? by lovetempests • last post Aug 6th
A few weeks back, I had a self-tape audition request come in through my agent for a role that felt like kismet. I can't describe it otherwise. The role required someone of my age, specific ethnic heritage (which is quite obscure where I live and work) and to be speaking the languages I speak fluently (I was raised multilingual and so is the character). The project is set in a different time period which I specifically LOVE and know very well. It's based off of a book, and I ended up reading it and falling in love with it all. Basically the character is just like me. And that's really rare and pretty obscure. I sent in the audition a couple days before the deadline (which included three scenes and an ident) and ever since then, *I can't stop thinking about it*! It's never happened to me like this before, like I have. auditioned for projects where I wanted it really badly and would think "oh I hope I hear back soon" but this time it's like, I'm a little obsessed with it. I think about it every day, and though I haven't heard back my heart hopes it's about this and getting a callback every time my agent calls. I did try to mention it to my agent but he says he's not heard anything and they've not cast any other roles yet as the project doesn't start shooting until next year so the casting team are taking their time with it. I don't know why though, something inside me feels like I'm destined to play this part. And not hearing is driving me mad and I think about it way too much. It's not making me feel down or depressed, but rather just anxious because I loved that audition, the character and the book so much and I really wish I could tell that story. I'm not a narcissist and I swear I'm not going insane... I have been recently diagnosed with mild OCD but I've never had this kind of passion for a role I've just auditioned for before and I think it's irrelevant to the OCD (my OCD seems to be more like health OCD). But clearly it's all causing some anxiety and I don't know how to let it go and let things take their course as any actor should theoretically do after auditioning for a project. Even right now I'm thinking I should pick up the book again and re-read my favourite bits. I feel like such a child! Anyone else can relate? I'd appreciate any advice on finding ways to not let it affect my mental health.