Expert: Kenneth D. Plonkey - 9/15/2010

Question
Hello, my name is Ivolyanne I'm 16, I live in Aruba and I'm in Highschool, it's my last year and I want to go to College in the States. I'm looking forward to become an actress, I'd like to know what steps I should take.

I'll be waiting for the advice.


Answer
Hello Ivolyanne, Let's begin with some facts. To act professionally in the US, you have to be a citizen, have a green card or be a visiting star. So one of your goals would be to get a green card or become a citizen of the US.  You are graduating young. You need to pick about ten schools that you think you would like to attend, get their catalogs and apply to some of them. If this is your last year of HS, you are very late in starting this process, so get on it right away. The internet will be a great help.  I assume you have limited acting experience, though I could be wrong.  But limited experience (not having been in a lot of plays) will make it difficult to get into many acting programs at colleges.  Therefore, what you need to do is follow the strategy in Chapter 8 of my free ebook, The Tao of Acting, and choose a college where you can be in the plays without being a theatre or acting major. Read this book at www.kenplonkeyacting.com. At this web site you will also find my blog, and you should read every bit of it carefully all the way back to its beginning. This blog is filled with helpful information about being a professional actor. Well, that is a lot to get started, so I am going to let you get on with it.  Best wishes and God bless, Doc