One of the most common questions we get is how to become an actor without having experience. aspiring actors who are about to start an audiovisual career are confused about how to get jobs as an actor when you have nothing on your resume.
I can see how this complicated situation can be confusing for many, especially for those who have just left the theater schools or enter the market directly without formal training. Many professionals come from drama schools and are not prepared to act in front of the cameras in the audiovisual market.
First, the good news: obviously you can become an inexperienced actor. Everyone has to start somewhere. The key is to really act and do something to get that experience, and there are some things you can do at this time, which I will talk about below.
“You don’t have to be great to start with, but you need to start being great.”
After you decide you want to pursue a career as an actor, you will need a good action plan on how to become an actor. At this point the planning is essential. Your main objective will be to expand your acting curriculum with knowledge, experience and motivations.
There are many things in which inexperienced beginners can focus on to advance their careers, and all are interrelated. Some involve looking for jobs, and others are simply complementary to your acting career, which will ultimately result in you finding more selections (the famous tests).
So let’s get down to business. Here are the 7 tips on how to become an inexperienced actor and how to do it in the most efficient way.
Read and study
First of all, you need to familiarize yourself with the industry. Know the details of this business, how it works and what people are involved in it. Reading books about performance, audiovisual market, legislation, marketing, production technologies and cinema and so on will give you confidence and understanding of where you want to be and how you will get there.
Depending on where you are starting your acting career, your approach to effectively start hiring acting jobs may be a little different. Once you know the ins and outs of this business, it will be much easier to develop your own specific action plan instead of relying on general advice from sites like this and many others.
Not only that, but reading a lot will also benefit the art of any actor. Read books on acting techniques to understand the theory behind real acting. Don’t forget to read the most essential plays and biographies of those who have already gotten there. However, don’t rely only on the books, because you cannot learn to act alone. You will need to take theater classes or even enroll in an acting school. (Understand, here, theater as the actor’s essential dictate)
When you are trying to find the most efficient ways to become an inexperienced actor, self-education is priceless. In addition to learning about art and business, reading will greatly increase your creativity and expand your imagination.
Do not move away immediately
However, if you are not in one of the bigger cities like Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Los Angeles or New York, don’t worry. As an aspiring actor who is just starting out, your city will probably have many small productions, absolutely great to get this experience, because these jobs are easier to experience.
Big cities are not only very competitive, but also very expensive. So when you’re looking for ways to become an inexperienced actor when you live in a smaller city, focus on saving money, learning about business and exploring local opportunities. Platforms like youtube, Facebook and Instagram are full of opportunities in every city. Explore yours.
Don’t move to a big city once you decide to be an actor. You need to check if this is simply an impulsive decision or if you really like the craft and can do it for a long time. Try to make the most of this less competitive market in your small town and start building your acting resume.
Test and train locally
Your goal should be to move slowly instead of rushing into something. Remember the phrase – acting is a marathon, not a spring. This can no longer be true. Anyone who rushes into this profession will run out very quickly. It is not a smart way to approach this business.
An acting career is like a marathon. It’s not a 100-meter shallow race.
Unless you live in cities like Serra da Saudade (MG), the Brazilian city with a smaller population, 781 inhabitants, or Whittier, in Alaska, with 217 people, your city probably has some opportunities for you to act. If you want to know how to become an inexperienced actor, that’s how you can do it quickly – the smaller the Maoir competition will be your local success.
So, what opportunities can you explore? Anything, even; whatever gives you a chance to act. At this point, you need to start acting as much as you can, anywhere you have the opportunity. It could be community theater, youtube channel, amateur acting workshops, student films, and so on.
If you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to already live in a bigger city, there will be many more things happening, but it will also be more competitive.
So, actively seek work, do tests and do whatever you can to stand up and simply act. As soon as you can afford a local theater class or workshop, try that too.
The goal is to start building this curriculum in any way you can. Put everything you can into it. Jump into any project you can. Be proactive!
Develop your special skills
Being a good actor should always be your main priority. But that does not mean that you cannot learn any “secondary” skills that will help you hire more jobs as an actor. Many actors completely ignore this part and therefore lose their career to easy shows that they could have achieved if they had any particular skill.
It is always useful to be able to do something that a director can use in production. If you can already play musical instruments and do more exclusive things, like riding a unicycle – perfect! Improve these skills, put them on your resume and see how this can help you get that performance experience.
But don’t stop there. Learn new things and spend enough time to really master the technique at a proper level, where you can at least pretend to look like a professional rather than simply “know how it’s done.
What should you learn? Anything, really. Juggling, accents, languages, musical instruments, sports, martial arts, magic and other activities. Try some of the unusual things and put them on your resume, especially if you already do them.
Special skills are not the focal point of your resume (which is why they are usually deep down), but who knows, one day, one of these skills might conquer a significant role in a major production.
Start working on your marketing
When you have no acting experience and follow the above advice, it’s likely that you don’t spend much time on filming projects every day.
Therefore, you’ll probably have a little extra time on your hands, which you can use wisely to boost your acting career.
My suggestion would be to start working on your marketing and your brand. It won’t do much for you now, but if you start early, after having this acting experience, you will be ahead of many other actors who are just reaching their professional actor marketing goals.
So, what can you do to start to build a brand around you? There are several things, and all of them are very easy to do and learn, mainly because it is all online. Here’s what you should focus on:
Create your own personal acting site (or you can pay someone to do it for you, some career consultancies like www.taproducoesconsultoria.com.br develop this kind of service).
Create social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and anything else available.
Become active in your website and with your social media. Share things and communicate with other people.
Make online connections with other actors, directors, producers, screenwriters and industry professionals. (Be careful not to be boring or intrusive in your approaches.)
Besides doing all this online, you can also start working in collaborative networks online. Even if you live in a small town with very little action in the movies or theater, there are probably other aspiring actors, directors, producers out there doing the same thing. Find them, connect with them and maybe start working together on something.
If you try hard, you may also find professionals in the field who are already working. Meeting these people is harder, especially when you’re still trying to figure out how to become an inexperienced actor, but if you can get their attention, try to use these contacts or save them for later. Use this to your advantage.
Get used to hearing “NO“
Rejection is part of this business. A big part, in fact. Many beginning artists don’t expect this turnaround when they decide they want to be actors, singers, dancers or other kind of artist in this so competitive market.
Unfortunately, this is the reality of show business – everyone is rejected.
Unlike other spheres of life, you must accept that Rejection (with capital letters “R”) is completely normal. It is not personal and there is no reason for you to take it seriously. This does not necessarily mean that you are a bad actor or that you have done something wrong.
Imagine you are launching a project. You have only one position, and 100 actors take the test for that position. 50 of them were good. Can you hire all 50 of them? No, you can’t. You have to choose one, and it’s a hard decision to make as a casting director. Nobody wants you to fail, but due to the nature of this business, you will receive more negative than positive answers.
“For every successful actor or actress, there are countless who cannot. The name of the game is rejection. You go to a test and they tell you it’s too high or it’s too exotic or your nose isn’t right. You are rejected for your education, you are rejected for this or that and it’s really hard “- Liam Neeson
What is the point I am trying to make? The point is that you should deliberately put yourself in the position of being rejected as soon as possible. Feel comfortable with rejection. Trust me, if there is one “skill” that actors need to have, it is this. It’s not easy, but it will save tons of internal battles and keep you on the right path.
“Actors seek rejection. If they can’t, they reject themselves . ” – Charlie Chaplin
At this point, don’t go out there to win. Go there to lose. Do your best, try, play and enjoy the process. As an actor, you can never try to avoid failure.