Acting Auditions

[TTTSLH]

I'm a teen from KY. I really want to try out for an acting gig. I'm homeschooled, so I can't participate in my local high school's play. I'd rather do a commercial or tv show audition anyway. Does anyone know how to go about this? I'm just starting researching. I'm open to any suggestions of good audition spots or websites. Thanks!

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm a teen from KY. I really want to try out for an acting gig. I'm homeschooled, so I can't participate in my local high school's play. I'd rather do a commercial or tv show audition anyway. Does anyone know how to go about this? I'm just starting researching. I'm open to any suggestions of good audition spots or websites. Thanks!

Unless you are looking for a local commercial or tv show most auditions for national TV shows are done in LA or NYC even if they aren't filming in either city because that is where the biggest casting agencies are located. You may want to see if you could actually be eligible to participate in your public school production. In some states schools must allow part time enrollment so that you can participate in extracurricular activities even though you are home school. Do you have a community theater? If so find out their audition schedule and start there.

Most teens won't do tv or film work unless they have an agent and live in a big city. Even local things are typically handled by an agency so perhaps look into agents in the area for either modeling or acting.

 

[lizabu]

I live not far from I'm toronto and I will sometimes see ads for cattle calls for commercials and extras parts so I don't think you only have to live in NY or LA. I think there is a entertainment industry newspaper in my area too that advertises these things. And every community has community theatre. Getting involved with community theatre will help you get practise. You will also meet other actors who already know the ropes.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Have you looked to see if there is a community theater in town? Or even a regional theater (sometimes they need locals for productions as well)? That might be the best way to get some experience and make friends with people.

 

[goofy4tink]

There are agencies that list these type auditions. Boston Casting is one here in Mass. Perhaps there is something similar in your area. It's very difficult to break into this area...the competition is fierce...full of young people with a ton of experience, both in schools and community theatre!

 

[wilkeliza]

I live not far from I'm toronto and I will sometimes see ads for cattle calls for commercials and extras parts so I don't think you only have to live in NY or LA. I think there is a entertainment industry newspaper in my area too that advertises these things. And every community has community theatre. Getting involved with community theatre will help you get practise. You will also meet other actors who already know the ropes.

I didn't say all I just said most. I also don't usually consider extra auditions real auditions because it is usually a show up and see if you look like what we need not a real audition.

 

[DopeyDame]

Track down some of your local community theaters and give it a shot! It doesn't sound like you've done a lot of acting in the past, so start with some local stage acting and see if you really like it and if you have the knack. People involved in the community theater will have a better idea of the resources in your area for tv, commercials, agents, etc.

 

[barkley]

I'm a teen from KY. I really want to try out for an acting gig. I'm homeschooled, so I can't participate in my local high school's play. I'd rather do a commercial or tv show audition anyway. Does anyone know how to go about this? I'm just starting researching. I'm open to any suggestions of good audition spots or websites. Thanks!

just a suggest re. your local high school's plays-if you are interested in participating have one of your parents contact the school district to ask if homeschoolers within the district are allowed to participate. the district we are in permits non enrolled students to participate so long as they live within the district boundaries and would (if they were attending public school) be assigned to a particular school. it's b/c the plays are done (with the exception of a couple of in-school performances) entirely after school. my son also attends a public high school that has some homeschoolers who only attend in order to take fine arts courses (they provide their own transportation the one or two periods per day to take the performing arts classes).

 

[okeydokey]

just a suggest re. your local high school's plays-if you are interested in participating have one of your parents contact the school district to ask if homeschoolers within the district are allowed to participate. the district we are in permits non enrolled students to participate so long as they live within the district boundaries and would (if they were attending public school) be assigned to a particular school. it's b/c the plays are done (with the exception of a couple of in-school performances) entirely after school. my son also attends a public high school that has some homeschoolers who only attend in order to take fine arts courses (they provide their own transportation the one or two periods per day to take the performing arts classes).

Absolutely. My daughter has a couple of friends at high school that are home schooled but come to the high school for band class and take part in everything that entails.

 

[puffkin]

My cousin and his wife are actors. Both started in local community theater/high school plays and then studied performing arts in college. They made a lot of important contacts through their alumni association, got hooked up with agents, etc. Both have worked on stage, movies, tv, commercials, web series, soaps, etc. They live in NYC and the vast majority of their work is in the city with a few times having to fly to LA. I would consider them professional actors that are making a living doing what they love. She has a fan base from the soap she was on and sometimes pops up in Soap Digest, but they both are pretty much normal people who are actors.

We live about 2.5 hours from NYC. My one friends DS7 and DD3 do commercials. She has a casting agent in NYC and they drive up to NYC several times a month for auditions (more in the summer when school is out). Her kids have been in a few national commercials and her DD in a national print ad. They have been auditoning for 2 years and have each booked 1 commercial and the print add. Its a lot of work/time/money. From my understanding, there really isn't much "acting" skill involved. Its more if your kid fits the "look" the casting director wants and then has the right personality for the spot. Her kids are biracial (spanish/caucasian) and they actually advertised that for both the spots her kids booked. She will be the first to tell you it is mainly luck with commercials....but an agent will be the one to find out about them and set them up. In most cases it would be almost impossible for a regular person to find out. The other thing is that they usually have a pretty quick turn around. She only usually finds out about auditions a day or two in advance. Callbacks are usually right away and then filming withing a week or two. Its not easy.

Hopefully some of this helps you figure out what direction you want to go in.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

If you're just looking to be cast in commercials, that's a tough gig especially in middle America. Your best bet to get steady work in that field is relocating to SoCal, but there's a lot of competition. Same with NYC. At least being in a major market like Chicago or Dallas would help.


If you're looking to make a career of acting though, I would recommend the following:

Community Theater - you won't get leads starting out, but you'll learn the craft. Most importantly, your work ethic will determine your success. If you're someone that causes issues, you won't get work.

Imrov - my wife does this & she says it helps her tremendously when she does plays or musicals. Last year she was the lead in a show & her costar was in a severe car accident on the way to a performance, so someone else had to fill in. She was able to carry the performance & keep her composure thanks in large part to her Improv experience.

Networking - this is key to find out when shows are casting & such. The folks that do the best are the ones who stay professional.


Best of luck to you!

 

[Feralpeg]

Take a look at this website. It may answer many of your questions.

http://www.freewebs.com/youngactortoactor/

 

[ashley0139]

Start with your local community theatre and get involved there.

 

[drinkme]

My dd15 started in community theatre when she was 9. She's had some really great roles. She's worked in shows that were all kids, and adult shows where she was cast as an adult.

You should look around for local acting classes. Sometimes taking those classes will get you involved in workshops & performances.

We live in a large metropolitan city and I don't think there are too many places to get in a tv show or commercial without an agent. If you live in an area where there is a lot of tv filming you can maybe find out if they need an extra. There are agents that handles those & you have to be registered with them. But it's pretty easy to sign up with those types of companies.

Good luck!!