We have found 19,293 posts across 4 actor forums:
Torture scene: How to play panicked/scared characters? by mirrorsarereflective • last post Apr 27th
So I am doing this scene for a character that involves panickedand heavy breathing. Basically im being kidnapped and I wake up and being intimidated. I am trying to understand how to play panicked and heavily btrathe yet deliver my lines.... I find I end up talking fast like I was panicked or I fumble the lines. Technically this would be truthful given my circumstances, but I feel it can be problematic in the context of a film scene? Any ideas or inspirations from famous actors? Most interrogation scenes make the victim seem too much like a calm badass or cool-headed killer. The scene calls for a panick and scared situation. I made the choice of being tortured or potentially tortured. Since I wake up in a sketchy room and I am tied up.
Best Advice? by lilwoodzey2013 • last post Apr 27th
What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you about yourself as an actor or acting in general that has always stuck with you? I’m very big on positive self talk, so words can be quite inspirational to me if it hits a note inside me.
Getting in shape. :( by CuspChaser111 • last post Apr 27th
So I got my first 'break' and I'm on a show (not a huge part at all but I am so happy) and I am looking around and even though we are shooting in NYC everyone is from LA and in like, bangingly hot shape. Damn. Not an ounce of fat. They are full-time series regulars and that is what I want to be and it's been so hard working my day job and auditioning and balancing shooting this show til like 6 am sometimes and then going to work and working out - but my next goal the minute show ends is to get into shape because it's so embarrassing going to wardrobe and have them stare at my tummy fat rolls (I'm what they call skinny-fat) and I want to start working out pronto/eating better. Does anyone have any personal trainer recs or any words of encouragement? These actors are very good and very fit and I look up to them, they are so conscious about the foods they choose on set, etc. so I am trying to do the same. Thank you!
Atlanta actors, where do you submit online? by crisjr92 • last post Apr 26th
I looked on actors Access and couldn't find a section for Atlanta. Do they have a service like LA Casting or Actors Access, etc?
Should I move to Portland to work on the craft and save money? by olivesandwichess • last post Apr 26th
A little background, I’m a 20 year old actor currently living in Los Angeles. I moved here 9 months ago without very little acing experience and 0 credits, since then I have taken 6 months of scene study classes, and enrolled in beginning improv at The Groundlings. Also, I got an agent about a month ago, although I have not been sent to any auditions yet. I have the opportunity to move to Portland Oregon with a good friend and pay $400 in rent compared to my current rent of $1300. Would it be worth it to move and take classes and do theater up there? Or would it be a step backwards since I’m already in LA? Thanks for reading, this has been a tough decision.
Jeremy Irons on Screen Acting by WinonaPortman • last post Apr 26th
"Film acting has traditionally, in the UK at least, been rather looked down on as being something that the Americans do and which really doesn’t need the technique of a theatre actor. In England, we’re mainly theatre actors, and film actors have been historically regarded as overpaid and under-talented. But in reality, film acting can give you a real insight into acting in the theatre, because you can’t lie on film whereas you can get away with lying in theatre. In other words, the camera will see you if you are pretending. You have to *be*. Now, I believe you have to *be* in the theatre also. You have to have a technique to enlarge that state of ‘being’ so that an audience, whether it’s two hundred or two thousand, can understand what you’re saying and what you’re thinking and what you’re feeling. And you have to be able to transmit that. But in order to do that honestly, you have to be able to *be* in that moment – with no pretence. And if you come to film and think that you can ‘pretend’ in front of the camera (which you can get away with on stage, and which you see a lot of actors doing) – it doesn’t work. In life, we recognise the difference between someone pretending to be angry and someone *being* angry. We can tell whether they really find something funny or if they’re pretending to find something funny. So, if we ‘pretend’ on stage, a perceptive audience can sometimes tell. Well – they can *always* tell on camera. So I think film is a real testing ground for actors. You have to find ways to get, very quickly, into your role – to learn the techniques that you need when you’re going to shoot, probably, in short little bites. You have to understand what the scene’s about and what the arc of the scene is, as you would in theatre, but then you have to be able to get immediately into the right bit of that arc for the particular shot that’s being done. These days, people tend to shoot longer takes, shoot wide and use multiple cameras, so things are easier than they were. But you’ve still got to have tricks to make sure that – very fast – you’re ready. You don’t want directors to have to do more than two or three takes. The old days of fourteen or fifteen takes are over. The misunderstanding arises, I think, from people assuming film and television acting is no more than being ‘real’. Hopefully you will seem to ‘be’, but you are being someone else in a different situation. You have to get yourself into that situation. Now some work doesn’t require very much. Some work requires much more, requires you have to make a huge leap – into maybe a different century or to a personality that’s completely different to you, the actor. I think great acting should be seamless. It shouldn’t show. It’s a god-given talent that some people have. I watch the great actors and try to learn from them. Training is important. I think it’s useful to get used to the situation on set – to get used to dealing with the pressure. People will say so often, ‘Real people are so much more interesting than actors – let’s have a *real* person playing that role.’ And so you bring in a real person and you put the lights on them, turn on the camera, and they just collapse with nerves. What you have to do, as an actor, is to be used to all that tension and the time pressure, and learn not to worry about it. Keep your own space. Know the jewel that you carry – what you have to offer, that no one else can do. Make sure you are in a completely calm space that is the right space for that moment in the scene. So that you don’t *see* the camera, you don’t *see* the lights, you don’t *see* the technicians watching. That’s clearly very important, and you will learn to do that with practice and training. You have to allow the lens into you. You have to be open to it but not play for it. It’s an attitude. When I say ‘Keep your own space’, it’s about making the space to allow us to see what you’re thinking, see what you’re going through. Because storytelling is what we do in a film – sharing experience, sharing emotion. And people who put things *out* to you tend to make you, as an audience, pull back ... I’ve always thought that making a character is like making an advent calendar. In each scene, you open a window and you just show a bit of life inside that particular room from that angle, and then the next scene you open another window… But *invite* us in. Don’t feel you have to justify yourself or *show* yourself. You don’t. Just intrigue us ..." Jeremy Irons' Forward to *A SCREEN ACTING WORKSHOP* by Mel Churcher
Headshot-Age Range-Character Type Post - Apr 26 by AutoModerator • last post Apr 26th
Use this thread to post your headshots for feedback, get info on your age range/type, find good headshot photographers, ask any questions you may have about headshots. If you are posting a DIY headshot for feedback, and not just a snapshot in order to get feedback on your age range/type/etc, it is advised that you do at least some basic research on what actor headshots look like--composition, framing, lighting. You will find a Google Image search for "actor headshots" to be very helpful for this.
Guide 2 Hollywood: Death of an Actor by revele • last post Apr 26th
Why is LA Casting so expensive to upload headshots! by crisjr92 • last post Apr 25th
One of the worst thing about being an actor is LA Casting. It's ridiculous how they charge $25 to upload 1 headshot to their website! This shouldn't ever be the case for actors. It should be included in the self submission rate. Sorry, just wanted to rant this out lol
Do you think untrained successful actors know about script analysis, objectives, beats, etc.? by PepperAnnPearson • last post Apr 25th
I was wondering if actors who’ve never taken lessons like Jennifer Lawrence know about all the stuff that actors who have taken lessons know? Or are some actors like her talented enough to get away with not knowing stuff like this?
Did you notice a difference in auditions on Breakdown Services after including a Slate Shot with submissions? by AndYouHaveAPizza • last post Apr 25th
I've had my Actors Access profile up nearly a year and I'm just now looking into Slate Shot. Now, I'm not sure how much casting directors are actually looking at a Slate Shot when combing through submissions, but from what I've read it sends your headshot to the top of the list (provided you also include your resume and reel clips). On popular projects with hundreds or thousands of submissions that can make a big difference. Has anyone noticed an uptick in auditions and/or self tapes after adding a Slate Shot when submitting for projects?
Need your help and advice on SO and scenes of intimacy. by Wutini • last post Apr 25th
Hey guys. I turn to here because I read so much useful information on here, and you guys tend to be honest and helpful. So, let me give you some backstory. I recently went to an audition for a recurring guest star on an HBO series. Before heading to the audition, I was told that I must be comfortable with nudity. It wasn’t at all specific with what kind of nudity. Not wanting to keep any information from my girlfriend, I told her. Now mind you, she is not an actor. She seemed excited for me, but wasn’t too happy with the “nudity” thing. So, I told her I would ask the CD at the audition. I go to the audition and do it, and after I do my take I ask them what kind of nudity they meant. They told me they weren’t sure yet either. But they told me that there would also be some intimacy scenes as well. I tell my girlfriend this but think nothing of it because I don’t hear back from them for a while. Cut to a week later, I get a call back. So, I go in for the call back and I feel really good about it. But I still asked them what do they mean by nudity and intimacy and the head casting director still doesn’t have an answer for me. Now here’s my dilemma. This being such a big part, my girlfriend wants to be supportive but she is very uncomfortable with intimacy scenes. And I don’t want to tell her to just deal with it or get used to it. Even if I don’t book the job this may come up again in the future. What advice or help can you give me to help us work through this together? What can I do or say to help her feel secure and comfortable? I understand everyone is different and everyone has different levels of values and boundaries. Thanks guy for your help.
helping wife with her acting by OhEmGeeZ • last post Apr 25th
Hey guys, who better go ask than reddit community. I'm trying to hell my wife progress her acting career. She currently is in acting school, as well as doing lots of posts on Instagram (@sasha_actress). I'm trying to get her more exposure and tools for her career, what should I focus on? I'm starting with website, insta, Twitter. I would like to know what else is good to promote
French film industry by ActingLabRat • last post Apr 24th
I'm visiting France this summer and would love the opportunity to work on a set just for the experience. Does anyone have advice on how to go about this? I know all the Facebook pages for the United States and Actors Access, etc but nothing for Europe specifically. Thanks!
an agent who travels a lot or has clients that don't book anything recent? by mirrorsarereflective • last post Apr 24th
hello, I recently applied for some new agencies that just opened a few years ago. I'm certain any change is better than my currrent agent, but I am a bit unsure about this. So the agent claims to travel a lot. How i knew about this is irrelevant, but they said so in their own words while I asked them a question, that they do travel a lot so prefer to see clients via skype. I'm not entirely against this agent since from what I get all an agent does is submit actors. the next agent is one who branched off from a main one. he intiailly started off in musical theatre and theater, but his agency worked in film and television before. he now has branched off to form his own roster, but some of his roster is full of actors who haven't booked antyhing in past two years. at least half of his roster. The rest do, but it's only a small portion. I feel like these situations are complex, and I'd rather take it to reddit for a discussion. what do you guys think?
Actual workshops in NY by Dishevelment1991 • last post Apr 24th
Does anyone know of any one off or two day (or in that range) acting WORKSHOPS in NYC? I really don't want to join a 8 week class or anything like that. But like a meetup for actors (I'm pretty new). I live on Long Island so if anyone knows any info out here either that'll be great...
Any help? by baryll • last post Apr 24th
So I am a middle-eastern-american actor, I am signed in my state but recently I had the privilege to read for an agent from LA - they really liked what I did but the only issue is that they would like me to have at least one credit that would make me SAG eligible. Does anyone have any leads or contacts for this? I am on sites such as AA of course and that is handles by my agent and I keep up w/ local FB groups for any projects, but it has proven a little difficult because I am not the stereotypical middle eastern look (bright eyes, etc). If anyone could help me out or give me any contacts it would be much appreciated - please comment or private message. Thank you.
Advice pls by cvx2148 • last post Apr 24th
I have to shoot a kissing scene with the actress of my student film this week. As per the scene, I drop her home after a dinner. Outside her house, we both have to kiss (smooch) each other. Since I am a lil nervous, how do I overcome my nervousness? Would it be okay if I ask her for a practice before the main shoot?
Advice pls! by cvx2148 • last post Apr 24th
I have to shoot a kissing scene with the actress of my student film this week. As per the scene, I drop her home after a dinner. Outside her house, we both have to kiss (smooch) each other. Since I am a lil nervous, how do I overcome my nervousness? Would it be okay if I ask her for a practice before the main shoot?
New here! Questions concerning social media, does follower count matter? by jamlee089 • last post Apr 24th
Hi all, I wanted to make a quick introduction post as well as ask some questions that have been brought up a lot lately for me. Hi there I'm an actor newly living in LA and loving the city so far! I've jumped into classes and auditions \(finally bit the bullet and bought a Backstage membership, which to me is TOTALLY worth it\) and have even booked some non\-paying jobs, which for just starting out I'm excited by so I can get some footage for a reel. Question time: social media. I've been recently trying to really use my social media to my advantage as far as connecting with people and getting some followers because... I saw and have heard a few times that the role will most likely go to the person with the most followers on social media. I'm wondering if this is true? If so.. that sucks BUT I understand business wise so my follow up question would be; any advice on how to get some more followers? Thanks so much!