12 Tips How to Get Acting Gigs Even if You Suck at Acting

How to get entry level acting gigs and voiceover gigs or acting jobs or reality television casting of any kind are common questions on forums and question platforms. If I am thinking I want to get into acting, then the best advice for me is from people who do it in real life. Only they can give you the step by step process. You will save years in time and money in expensive workshops and college student loans. Hands on experience is what they don’t teach you in school and what you need to know. How to make a living from what you learn.

12 How to’s of how to get into acting and performing and learn and hone your performances, even if you suck at acting. Each of these basics is important and practiced by professionals. And you don’t have to pay for ‘expensive workshops and college student loans.’

1. Favors For A Foot In
Find entry level acting jobs: Subscribe to and make a daily habit of reading ‘industry rags’, such as GigsList.info . Audition for volunteer roles with small theatre companies and on indie films. Reality TV gigs can take you places if you have the stomach and stamina for it.

2. Learning the Forms of Performing
Improv acting, stand up comedy, performance art, live poetry readings, mime performance, cabaret shows and indie films. clowning, circus, dance, singing and/or voice overs. Your first job as an actor is to follow direction. Let your directors and Let producers be your mentors and coaches. Let them teach you what they want and how they want it in a real production.

3. Variations Are Versatility
You are more than an actor. The extra skills for a foot-in improve your performing and self-confidence. An example is the ability to dance. Singing opens the doors to the genre of musicals and music album contracts. The control tone improves voice control and range for dialog. Dancing is the ability to move your body to fit a wider variety of characters, from elderly to young, to abled or not. Or swashbuckling pirates who sing and tango while sword fighting.

4. Experience Everything
If you can’t get in one way, you can get in another. In the arts and entertainment industries, it is your resume that counts. Hands on experience, not a college degree. In all arts, volunteer gigs are of equal value to paid gigs. College degrees are for if you want to teach or lecture at an edu or be an entertainment lawyer. Edu and legal need years long internships. If your chosen company doesn’t have internships on their web site, offer to volunteer. The arts industries have many different facets. You have choices.

5. Big Brains Behind the Scenes
Work and volunteer behind the scenes in production and other departments. You learn what to do and where and went to do it on stage and on the set. The father of the actor Lucien Savron is an old friend and mentor in Australia. Bruno Savron worked for Italian director Frederico Fellini. When time for his actors to be on set Fellini’s habitual saying was “Bring on the meat.” Frederico’s situational meme points to producers and directors seeing talent as “talent”. One dimensional. Working behind the scenes gives you more dimensions. And more ways to meet producers and directors.

6 Be A Bit Bashful Backstage
Don’t shove your headshots in their faces. Let them get to know you and how you work behind the scenes. Wait for the subject to come up that they need actors then offer/ask if they’d like to see your reel. (Your reel is a collection of films and shorts you’ve already acted in, such as indie films and stage plays.)

7 Reels Are Really Relevant
Your reel is where those other skills of dance, circus, improv, etc. are a bonus, because you fit more scenes and roles. Or your reel might give the director the idea to create a scene for your extra skills. Such as a fight scene at a 1970s nightclub, while you do standup. Or a love scene in a smoke filled cafe in the 1950s while you do beatnik poetry or abstract improv. Or you are a nightclub singer in a sci-fi, a sleazy bar full of space aliens. Where two astronaut undercover spies meet to swap interplanetary trade secrets.

8. Be Usefully Undyingly Unique
Your job is a performer, but it is not only to perform. Your job is to inspire creators to write scenes for your particular style of performing. A wealthy foodie inspired by their favorite chef. So they build a multi-million dollar Italian restaurant for their favorite chef. Like my friend and amazing chef Bruno. A director can be as inspired to write a movie around your uniqueness.

9. Blasts Build Buzz
Before IOT, building a public platform was for politicians and journalists. With IOT (The Internet of Things) everybody who does anything in public has a platform. Or three or four platforms to show what they do. Your platform is, in IOT technology, your social media network and followers. Your platform is how people and casting directors verify you do what you do and how you do it and who you’ve done it for. It is how they build trust in you.

10. Influence the Influencers
Selfie and write about your experiences. Getting gigs, backstage, in the dressing rooms, and in character on stage and on screen. Interview your directors and fellow cast and crew. It’s a great way to build your reels and followings in and out of the industry. The more followers you have the the bigger bonus for executive producers. Talent or not, with a big following you go on the ‘top choices’ list. Film producers cast chart topping pop stars to make hit movies. The star’s stardom is what makes the hit a hit, not the talent of the talent. It’s all in the numbers that follow dollar signs. (Tip: At least 10,000 followers for small indie productions)

11. Play Nice Not Nasty
It’s not usually until you get to management level that you need to be an asshole to get things done. But that is rare and in 'all or nothing gets done' situations. Divas don’t do well in modern deification. To make somebody a star or celebrity, or god or goddess, is the job of somebody who loves your work and working with you. To make somebody’s job uncomfortable, they may not want get comfortable with you enough to work with you. (Tip: The showbiz “Grapevine” is not a myth.)

12. Live It For Love
Your passion about what you do draws people to you. Have fun with what you do and your followers and fellow talent and crew will have fun with you. Your respect for them shows your love for them and for that they will love you more.

And no ‘expensive workshops and college student loans.’ Bonus Tip: ‘Suck’ is a matter of opinion;-)