When it comes to Hollywood acting resumes experience matters and more often than not casting directors are looking for similar experience. Are you going out for a co-star role on a TV show? Having done a spot on an episode of Law & Order will work in your favor. Interested in the next Indiana Jones movie? It helps to have a few features under your belt. So where does Broadway come in?
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In many high level feature film and television productions, most characters aren’t just played by one person. Sure, the actor for the role becomes the face and voice of the character, but in order to show a perfect representation the production may use plenty of other professionals to round out the character. These professionals include: body doubles, stand ins, and stunt doubles, and all of these occupations are fun options to learn a movie set and make your way in Hollywood.
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William Hurt, Laura Linney, Kevin Spacey, and Kelsey Grammar are all alumni of Juilliard.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crystal, and Rainn Wilson are just some of the alumni of Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.
Paul Giamatti, Paul Newman, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver all attended the Yale School of Drama.
It would be naive of us to think it’s a coincidence these schools are turning out such great talent – but is a BFA or an MFA in acting, what you need to succeed? Read more…
When you’re just starting out as an actor, or if you’re a seasoned professional but you’re trying to give your resume a bit more appeal, special skills can be a great asset.
It first needs to be said that padding your resume with special skills isn’t going to get you a job – however, having a special skill that a casting director is looking for can be a great way to push yourself forward.
If you’re a black belt in karate, it’s a good thing to put on your resume. If you’ve sang one time during karoke and it went alright… that doesn’t mean you should put singing under your special skills. Being genuine and honest about your capabilities so that if and when you get called in for them, you can deliver.
When casting is looking for very specific type people, such as contortionists, ballerinas, gymnasts, fighters, singers, or people that speak certain languages it helps your chances a great deal to be one of them. There is no telling what casting directors will be looking for, and there’s no telling how to be at the right place at the right time so you shouldn’t go out and take dance classes for eight years thinking it will get you a job. However, if you’ve taken dance all of your life, make sure you let casting directors know what you can offer.
One of the things you can do to make yourself stand out is to have prepared clips of your special skills in action. If you can tap dance, it can’t hurt to have a short tap dance clip available to send out for when it’s relevant. If you know capoeira, clips of your skills can be a great thing to set you apart when the casting director is considering who to see.
Either way, stick to what you’re great at. Think about the things you can do well that not many other people can do. If you feel like you aren’t sure what those things are, explore activities you’re interested in learning how to do. The worst case scenario is that you realize you’re good at things you didn’t know before and more life experience can even help you become a better actor.
We’ve discussed before how you should think before you tweet, but the risks of social networks and public video sites have a further reach than just accidentally spilling secrets.
YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter and any of the public sites you use to reveal any image, video or text representing yourself should be considered carefully. If your children are auditioning for things, putting their auditions up on YouTube gives anyone full access to what they look like, their name, and personal information about them. Not to mention, putting your own auditions and videos on YouTube exposes footage that could come back to haunt you.
There is no “undo” when you give public sites a piece of your identity – so consider it carefully. If you intend on being a well-known face, people are going to be scouring the internet for things you did before you were famous. You should value the opportunity that the internet provides in giving you access to a wide network of people, but you should also take that power seriously. Here are a few guidelines to consider before releasing something or posting it online:
-Don’t post things that you don’t want every single person in the world to be able to see it at any time, be it now or ten years from now.
-Look for sites that allow you to control access to who can view the material.
-Keep things hidden or on a password protected site.
-Always be thinking into the future about whether you really want to be associated with a particular photo, thought, or video before you post it.
When you post something to a site that has no password protection or security in place, you forfeit the ability to control it – and as an actor, the one thing you can and must control is your own image.