Expert: Peter Messaline - 1/13/2009

Question
Okay, so I am just going to lay it out on the table. I am 18 years old and I live in Pennsylvania and am in my first semester of college. I wanted to act since I was four. I've gone to a bunch of agencies but in the end they never pan out the way i want. I am currently involved with Babyboomers but all they did was put me on agency pro. On the web site it tell me how many " companies" have looked at my site. The number is pretty high but I have yet to hear from them. I guess my question is what should I do from here? Go see another agency? Call babyboomers? like I am at complete loss for what to even look for when I even begin to look for a new agent.I can;t just sit by and not attempt my dream. Any advice at this point would mean a great deal. Thanks for reading this! it means a lot

Answer
Right off, don't waste your energy worrying about your online popularity. No-one ever got hired from any online directory except by local directors looking at one that was aimed at only local performers.

Babyboomers doesn't make my engine race.

You're at college -- what are you studying? Does the college have any film or performance outlets, clubs or courses? At least you'll find like-minded people there. And you might get some acting.

How available are you for work, and for auditions? No serious agency will take on an untried and untrained actor who is only partly available. The agency makes money only if you work.
Probably, in reality you aren't all that available, except at the cost of lost class time.
If you are available, make it known -- since you are with an agency, push at them. Make them aware of how easy it would be for you to appear at auditions.

You are eighteen, which cuts down the number of roles available. Engagers prefer older, more experienced actors who look young. Look for chances to get yourself working on tape -- anything to show experience.

Look for chances to act in anything, amateur, good, bad, funny, embarrassing. It's all the same craft. And you may find you actually don't like it, once the novelty has worn off.

Even if you really like to act, you may not be right to be a professional actor. Read all the books about an acting career that you can. Under 790 in the Dewey Decimal system. Not star biographies, but advice to beginners from those who have been through the mill. Read several books, to cut out any one writer's prejudices, and see if the reality would suit you.

Don't just dream of the possibilities of being an actor -- find out all you can about the realities. It's a career, so you need to do all the research you would about any other career. Those of us who have spent time in the business know its attractions, but they aren't the attractions you see from outside.

Most N American actors don't work. Those who do, don't work much. Those who work regularly don't make much money, and they can't predict what they'll make next year. Being an actor is a hard grind and there's precious little acting joy to set against the uncertainty and poverty of the life.

Dream your dreams, build your castles in the air, but you'll have to build real-life foundations under them if that's where you want to live.