Expert: Taylor Sheppard - 4/25/2007

Question
umm... hi! i would like to ask how i can get an agent! my mom supports my dream in becoming an actress. but there seems to be a bit of a problem with the whole no auditions in Minnesota. My older sister says that we need portfolios, and pictures. so i just want to ask, how do i get in the Disney shows, and how to know what agencies are fake, and a rip off. I've been dreaming of becoming an actress since forever, but i can't afford to do this and that, because i have to farm. and all of these things. I've been through a lot, so i know how to play many different kinds of roles that people throw at me.  

Answer
Hi Mai!

Well, when you don't have much to work with: work with what you've got! Find out what it is, that you can do.

It sounds like you have plenty of time to get started before you have to worry about the "bigger stuff".

You don't need a portfolio to act. To model, yes. An actor has a headshot, which is basically an 8"X10" picture of your face, neck and top of your shoulders/necklace area.
They need to see your face! It needs to be a professionally done picture that is taken by a photographer who knows how to do them...not a portrait photog from JC Penney or "Glamour Shots" (are they still in the malls?)
Then, you will need to reproduce them...I have used ABC Pictures in Springfield Mo. for years and they are not unreasonable. There are others out there. You will spend as much getting 250 copies as the picture costs itself, though.
BUT...first things first! Have you acted before? School plays? Community theater? Lessons? You need to know at LEAST some basics to start. The kids you see on Disney look like they aren't acting -that is the beauty of it-making it look effortless and natural. You need to know what to do around cameras, hitting your marks, and how to take a piece of paper with words on it and make it come to life. It is easy to imitate an actor on TV, but to come up with something interesting, yet truthful and believably realistic all at once, takes some skill. The good news is, it can be learned! Don't concentrate on how long it takes though, because it's like looking up a ladder...it will stop you. Just look at each rung one at a time...and before you know it, you will be there!
I think it's good that you can take experiences in your life and use them to work from. I spent years imagining circumstances that I haven't had to explore them for later.
You won't always be able to go through EVERYTHING, but you can observe say, a car accident scene and watch the faces of the people. You can ask yourself questions about how it would affect you inside and out. For instance, when someone close to you dies, do you know the feeling that the happy songs on the radio seem so stupid...and annoying? "How can anybody be so cheerful when this person is gone and won't be coming back?" That is the basis for the "Method" acting approach. You will learn other approaches in class. You may be saying: "All I want is to be on Disney!" If you got on without training, what would you do when it became time to move on from there? Would you disappear and have to go back to living like you did before? Many do. A way to fight that from happening is to be really good, so you could act in bigger things. Again, training.
I searched the net and located a website like many similar ones, that offers to post your headshots for networking.
The good news is, they have links on how to go about creating a resume and other useful stuff. You can use training classes in place of experience on your early resumes, BTW. They also had a page with some apparently legit agencies in the twin cities: http://www.futurecasting2000.com/agencies/minnesota.htm
Eventually, when you are ready, you may have to face the idea of moving where there is more work. But, as I said, get ready for the journey first, that way you will be ready when opportunity knocks!

Best, Taylor