Expert: Peter Messaline - 6/10/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I am currently trying to get into the entertainment industry, but I am having trouble getting started. I have been looking for casting calls online, I haven't found any yet though. I've tried backstage.com, freecastingcalls.com, etc. Do you have any tips on where I can find auditions and open calls?

ANSWER: You are being active and you're pushing ahead, which are very necessary if you want to be an actress. I think that you won't get much joy from the online casting sites, though. Some people find them useful, but I believe they are actors with a résumé already, living in a busy acting area.

Much better to look in your own area for acting of any sort, paid or unpaid. Any professional theatre always wants volunteers and with your foot in the door you can learn an awful lot by watching other people make a mess of things ;)

Try out for local community theatres and find out if the grunting and heaving part of acting is worth it to get to the Tadah! moments. Lots of people find it very hard to be always looking for work, making nice to important people, and generally never having enough acting to keep them satisfied, or enough fees to pay the rent.

Start in your local area, where you know your way around a bit, and where you know people you can ask for help.

Lotsa Luck

Peter M

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks, Im actually in the NJ/NY area. I recently moved here so I don't know much about the area. : ) However, You were very helpful.

Answer
You are entirely welcome. Thanking people for there assistance is a very valuable habit to hold on to.
It's not that common, and people do remember it.

NY/NJ should have a gazillion opportunities, most of them scams offering immediate stardom, but some legitimate. Google the names you come up with and read what they say, and other people say about them.