We have found 19,414 posts across 4 actor forums:
Should I get high for a performance? by i8GILBERTSgrape • last post Oct 9th
So, I am doing a college production of The Dybbuk by Ansky. I am playing the role of Channon and I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to really immerse myself in the role. This is a very low budget show, in essentially a black box, it is very stripped down with a group of student actors, who like myself are not professionals. The rehearsals run in a very kicked back manner, and I want to take some role of leadership in steering the cast in a professional direction. Im a junior now in college and have been doing shows since I arrived on campus, and before then growing up. Just because some are inexperienced or nervous, that does not mean we can’t act like we aren’t. I had a close buddy do acid today and it got me thinking. Can I rehearse or perform while in an intoxicated state. I know actors who have been drunk on stage. If I rehearse high, can I bind myself to this character and his story on some deeper level? Channon already has a very sad story, and I’m not having trouble channeling or portraying it. I just want to be completely and totally immersed in his struggles, I want to fool myself into thinking it is my own struggle. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? Will I freeze up and forget lines? I have never had much trouble being off book in the past, I don’t know what to expect. Mazeltov!
What matters most at the auditions? by Funnyanglezsolt • last post Oct 9th
Hi All, First off, apologies for chiming in as a non-actor but you’ll see my intentions are noble (ie. I need your help :) We have been working on a [Hollywood talent agent/manager game](https://store.steampowered.com/app/943130/Cattle_Call_Hollywood_Talent_Manager/) for almost 3 years and it will finally be released in about 3 weeks. I did a lot of research for this game, read dozens of articles, watched videos, etc. to make it as realistic as possible. However, I’ve always struggled to pinpoint one of the core elements/moments in the game: the auditions. To be more specific, how to balance the importance of different factors that determine who wins the roles. This morning I finally decided to turn to the experts directly and stop my inner-, relentless speculation :) I’d be immensely grateful if you could help me fine tune this part of the game. According to your experience, what’s more important for the casting people when they choose the actor for a role? Is it that the actor fits the character description in the casting notice perfectly or a very talented actor who doesn’t exactly meets the requirements has equal or better chance of landing the role? Say, the casting notice calls for a slim, handsome, white actor with an age range of 30-40. Does an outstanding actor who’s a bit chunky and average looking has a chance of beating the "perfect fits" and book the role? Let's say all these actors are kind of unknown, so "fame level" does not affect the decision. Thank in advance for enlightening me :)
Interview with writer and director Michael Mongillo by Michael_Dinich • last post Oct 9th
I run an interview series where I have been fortunate enough to talk with a few actors and people involved in the industry. As a complete outsider, I think they are kind of interesting, and I have posted a few here, and the feedback has been positive. My latest is with Michael Mongillo who has a cool new movie out, ’Diane.’ I spent almost an hour with him on the phone and some of the interview I had to cut for brevity, but I think he gave a few cool tips that may help. Also, if you have questions you think I should add to the series please let me know. [interview ](http://vcb.bz/2uz0)
NEW COLUMN - The Aging Process and Your Headshots by SecretAgentMan • last post Oct 8th
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/why-aging-naturally-is-better-than-plastic-surgery-even-in-holly-65462/
Aspiring Actor by Samar Aditya • last post Oct 8th
Hello,
Is it better to join like 1-year conservatory program or 6-week workshop? by TheDarkKnightBegins • last post Oct 8th
Okay. I'm from Indonesia, almost 26 years old and want to go to Los Angeles to be an actor. ​ However, I will be doing a limb lengthening surgery first soon. So being conservative, I'd say that I will be closer to 30 when I go to LA. ​ I just took a look at some of the programs that these acting schools offer and I searched for some well-known ones. ​ I personally don't need a degree in acting to feel high status. I am not young, so I'd prefer a brief quick training. However, I also want to do one that could give me certificate that won't be overlooked easily by the time I apply for acting jobs. ​ So in short, I want to train acting in a good recognized school which will help my career, but not too long, but also not too quick to the point where it gets meaningless (NYFA offers a 2-day workshop lol) ​ And what's the best school to do this? From what I found, some names like The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, New York Film Academy caught my eye.
Famous actors who started at 30 by TheDarkKnightBegins • last post Oct 8th
I'm beginning to worry about my age. Like in the past, I've wasted a lot of times unnecessary and did a lot of mistakes. I thought I was gonna stay young forever but then suddenly I woke up in the morning, realized that I wasn't that young anymore. I like to read actors' wiki pages and most of them (if not all) started so early like below 20. I found a few who did started pretty late though: **Charles Bronson** My most favorite actor of all time. Born in Nov 1921 and his first film is 1951 *'In 1950, he married and moved to Hollywood, where he enrolled in acting classes and began to find small roles.'* So I'd assume that he was at least 28 at that time. Anyway, things were probably different back then. Directors would understand that he was busy in the war and stuff. He's also quite an anomaly being really famous when he was 47 after *Once Upon A Time in the West* (1968) **James Coburn** Born in Aug 1928. First television appearence in 1957. So he was 29. But I suspected he started studying acting quite earlier. **Mickey Rourke** Born in Sep 1952. First film in 1979. He was at least 26. Not so old though. **Yayan Ruihan** He's a less well-known Indonesian actor who actually started after 40. But obviously he's not comparable to the 3 actors mentioned above. https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yayan_Ruhian But hey, let me just cheer myself up by reminding myself of how much disadvantages I had over Bronson, Coburn, etc. They were lucky to be born in the US. I wasn't. They also didn't need to do height surgery to get them to normal respectable male height. Last but not least, I also had unsupportive parents. I don't really think about reaching their level. But I just hope one day I can be a part of this industry.
Moving to NY by Belg4r • last post Oct 7th
Well heya guys, right of the bat I know everybody is gonna be like you shouldn't move there since there's too many people and it's very risky, but hear me out will ya! ​ So I'm turning 18 this month and got a full time job at mcdonalds currently, I've done theatre classes since I was about 7 years and decided to be more serious about it about 3 years back. ​ My fundamentals in acting/theatre can be said to be very thick as of now....I lack certain experience however. ​ I live in Belgium (Europe) and the native language here is dutch. I've done loads of dutch plays here and get the lead role most of the time but I'm extremely unhappy with it. I want to act in English allot more really badly and even tho I love acting in general, doing it in dutch just takes something away from it for me. ​ Im currently following online classes to get rid of my dutch accent which is working pretty well but now I want to decide what to do. ​ The last few years I've been saving up allot and I've got a couple thousand euros in saving as of now which is increasing by the day. I really want to do acting as a living as nothing else gets me exited (as of work). ​ Now I've thought allot about what to do and am considering to move to LA or NY. Ive also thought about England but threw that aside after some thinking. Now I know you got limited info but do you think I should go for it this summer?
Acting with your eyes? by daisy679 • last post Oct 7th
I have an audition tomorrow, I'm incredibly nervous. I asked the casting director what they're looking for in their actress and she said this, "We are looking for an actress who is able to naturally show her emotions (someone who is very in touch with them) and someone who is able to portray everything she is feeling through her eyes." Any advice on how to hit it out the ball park with this audition would be so, so appreciated!
Advice for Actors on what you submit for (through my own experience) by sudrawkid • last post Oct 7th
How do you keep from getting your hopes up? by safarina23 • last post Oct 7th
I am not pursuing a career in musical theatre - partially because there are hardly any roles for the minority I am. HOWEVER, I did go to an open call for the Broadway show of my dreams a couple of years ago and got a callback the next day. Then one the next year. And now I have one again. I would be willing to drop everything if this worked out. It would be my #1 dream come true. But every time they email me, I start envisioning what my life would be like if I got into the show - and then ultimately, nothing happens and my perfectly happy life suddenly seems a little more lame compared to my vision :( I really am trying not to get my hopes up again - but seasoned actors/auditioners, how do you “audition and forget about it”?? I am trying my best but I keep thinking about it!!!
Repped actors:Does having demo reel with actual film footage (no selftapes) help you get auditions? by actingstarterpack • last post Oct 7th
Does it help. I have seen actors with self tapes for demo reels get auditions but also actors who went as far as paying for a demo reel service production, who end up with no auditions. Does it actually help? I feel once you have an agent, it doesn't matter if your demo reel is self tape or film footage (short film, student film etc). I currently an switching reps (interview next week) and I wonder if part of the reason I had lack of agent responses is because of my reel (made mostly of self tapes)
Advice for aspiring actors with LOW experience levels? by elphabaandglinda • last post Oct 7th
I’m going to be a freshman in high school, and I don’t have much experience acting. Any advice? I’m planning on taking some acting, improv, and voice classes in the early months of 2019 at a school for performing arts in my town. The type of acting I want to aim towards is musical theatre, but I’m also open to acting on camera if it means I can get more experience for my resume, other than starting classes and attempting to build a resume any advice? I’m willing to do anything because after doing an acting program over the summer for fun, I’ve realized that this is something I’m (starting off as) okay at and very passionate about. My main concern is that I’m starting so late, there’s some people I go to school with who probably have great resumes and have been acting their whole lives and sometimes it feels like I’m behind and will never reach them. Any tips for an actor to start out with? Again my main goal is musical theatre, thanks
For those who have an agent, how often do auditions come up for you? by SirArchibaldVIII • last post Oct 7th
Hey all, Firstly, I have to say I’ve been lurking this sub for a while now and I’m constantly blown away by how supportive everyone is - it really eradicates the idea that acting has to be such a cutthroat and competitive profession and I love you all. After a year of rigorous training I recently managed to signed up with my first agency (a few weeks ago), and I was just wondering how often y’all get offered auditions/roles. I haven’t heard anything yet, and obviously I’m not freaking out because it’s only been a few weeks, but I was just wondering if this is normal. TL;DR - at what point would I start looking for another agent if nothing came up with this one? Three months? Six? A year? Keen to hear your thoughts!
Needing Advice on Truly "Feeling" During a Scene by THG497 • last post Oct 7th
Hey guys! So I go to school for acting. It's not the best school, I feel like I'll have a lot left to learn in acting class outside of school once I graduate. But anyway. I think I'm a good actor. I get a lot of roles and I really work hard to get better and I have a lot of faith in my career. But I wouldn't say that when I'm on stage I don't necessarily ever feel like I'm TRULY living in the space. Like I know what I'm supposed to do, and I do it. My "method" when it comes to acting is to analyze the show and figure out exactly what a normal person would do, and I create my own inner thoughts, figure out how I would say stuff, etc. It's all very technical and on paper and rehearsed. Let me be clear in that it doesn't come off as rehearsed, because I'm good at acting like things are natural, but I want advice on a better internal method. I talked to one of my acting professors about how I do things, and they said it should be less "figured out." They said the best acting is when you can walk on stage, live in the moment, and just "be." I'm curious what people have to say about this. I'm always looking to improve my acting skills. If anyone has advice, exercises, videos, articles, books, or you just have a method you want to share, let me know! It might be helpful to add I really haven't studied any specific methods, my school weirdly doesn't teach any. In short: What is your acting method?
Is there a specific sub where acting roles are advertised? by buoy__ • last post Oct 6th
Have you ever been in class with this type of actor? by thisisnotarealperson • last post Oct 6th
This is something I’ve been thinking about off and on and I wanted to put it out there for discussion. I can think of a couple of people like this who I’ve encountered over the years. Acting is their primary focus, it’s what they want to do, they’ve spent a lot of time pursuing that goal and they put the work in in class. And...they just don’t progress and they don’t have the goods. By which I mean they’re not getting any better, and they’re simply not at the level one needs to be in order to do this professionally. One guy’s main hangup was vocal. He had some emotional depth, but when he spoke he just couldn’t get his mouth around the lines in a way that made them sound like something a real person was really saying. Not the same as his normal speaking voice. He always sounded like a person who was pretending to say something. Another guy had been acting for years, even teaching it, and he could tell you EVERYTHING intellectually about a scene. He knew so much at a literary level about plays and playwrights, and the psychology behind the characters. But none of this really came across in his acting. His mannerisms were always the same, he always seemed restrained, he would fake laugh with about half of his line deliveries. It just never seemed real. I’m not writing this just to criticize these actors for being bad. And they weren't even *bad*, they just weren't good. Everyone has their hangups they have to work through, everyone has blind spots a teacher needs to help them discover. It’s why we’re in class. But these guys just never seemed to get it, and they didn’t seem to understand that they weren’t where they needed to be in order to get hired for anything. It’s like their blind spots were their whole acting selves. So I’m curious if anyone else has worked with actors like this, and chiefly, how do you know if *you’re* an actor like this? That’s like my personal acting nightmare. And what is a teacher’s responsibility in a case where one of their students just isn’t getting anywhere after a good deal of effort?
Best male actor tournament by DangDesigner • last post Oct 6th
​ [I wanted to put Robin William, but he always a legend to me.](https://i.redd.it/lgdoey8tpmq11.png) [I did not expect the outcome, but I still have mad respect for the battle winner, because of the stun that he did, and his philosophy in life.](https://reddit.com/link/9lzkpu/video/4r555oxnpmq11/player) Game trailer: [https://youtu.be/P40duXpwBxw](https://youtu.be/P40duXpwBxw)
Extra Work by sildet • last post Oct 6th
Hey everyone, I booked my first extra gig in Atlanta for Monday and Tuesday. I've never done anything in the industry before and am testing the waters to see if I want to make a career change. The e-mail I received mentioned the call time was at 11 am. What time should I actually be there? Any tips? Thanks
There Are No Stupid Questions - Oct 6 by AutoModerator • last post Oct 6th
Please feel free to ask any question at all related to acting, no matter how simple. There will be no judgements on questions posted here. Everyone starts somewhere. So ask away!