Expert: Kitty Kavey - 10/22/2006

Question
Hey. I am interested in becoming an actress. My experience is in church plays, Vacation Bible School skits, etc. but my desires exceed beyond small town church skits. What next? I have looked on the Internet and am trying to avoid scams, I also see that the SAG has importance as well. Thank you for any information! Megan  

Answer
You'll need a professional 8x10 headshot with your actor's resume on the back.  Once you have that, you can look for agency representation.
A good place to do that is on the SAG website (www.SAG.org, under Resources, Agent Information).  Find the closest agencies to you, and you can submit your information to them via postal mail for consideration.  If they are interested, they will contact you for an interview.  They may want you to do a monologue for them, and/or a cold read - so if you're not strong in auditioning skills you might want to take a class in just that area.  Focus in on the type of acting you want to do.  If it's theater acting, the SAG agents would not be that helpful.  Likewise, make sure that your agent doesn't focus on commercials if you really are interested in doing film work.
Once you have some additional experience, there are other tools you'll be able to put together, such as an actor's demo reel, but for now all's you need is a headshot/resume and good auditioning skills.
Best of luck to you,
~Kitty