An Actor's Guide to Getting Work

Simon Dunmore

• Publisher: A&C Black Academic and Professional
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781408109274
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Acting & Auditioning

Competition for acting work is fierce, and although talent is important, actors need all the help they can get. Now in its fourth edition, this practical, comprehensive guide contains invaluable information and advice to enable actors to make the most of: drama schools; audition speeches and sight-readings; letters, CVs and photographs; finding and working with an agent; auditions for musicals; the fringe; interviews; TV, commercials and films; voice-overs; the Internet; Equity.

The author, an experienced director, has drawn on his own knowledge and also on the experience of numerous other professionals to produce a book that has become the standard work of reference for actors of all ages.

Chapter One

For Aspiring Actors

People who aspire to become professional actors are of all ages and backgrounds, ranging from those still in primary education to those who have held steady jobs for decades but still have yearnings for the profession. Each group of people has different things to consider, so I will deal with them in chronological order.

Those of school age

The performer is in most young children. (The onset of puberty, and the awful consciousness of self that this brings, eliminates many.) For those wedded to the idea, remember that it is one thing to perform in front of people you know; very much another to do it before those you don’t.

So what is the best course for the child who won’t let go of the idea of being a professional actor? There are numerous full-time private stage schools and a few publicly funded ones – however the former are expensive (with a few scholarships available) and the latter will often require the child to live away from home and don’t usually provide accommodation. There are also numerous part-time schools (part of national franchises and locally-based). Such schools (part-and-fulltime) are often allied to agencies which promote their children for professional productions, but it is a fact that many child stars do not succeed as adult actors. There are notable exceptions – Nicholas Lyndhurst, Dennis Waterman and Jenny Agutter, for instance – but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. I also wonder whether a childhood largely devoted to performing is entirely healthy – what about learning about life? It is also important to note that employment of children is very strictly regulated.

Generally the best thing for the stage-struck child is to send him or her to one of the numerous youth theatre groups and drama workshops that exist in almost every town and city. (Many of these are members of the National Association of Youth Theatres <www.nayt.org.uk>.) Public productions are often the last priority of such groups – especially for the younger ages – but a terrific amount can be learnt by the young from what seem like simple make-believe games. Children in such groups won’t learn many of the technical skills necessary to acting, but they will learn a lot of important social skills and the fundamental business of ‘interacting’ that is so important to an acting ensemble: that it’s not just what you can create that matters, it’s what you can create with other people. Many managements will choose to use the freshness and spontaneity of such ‘not formally trained’ talent for their productions. They will audition hopefuls but not always through public advertisement; usually they directly approach appropriate youth theatres or conventional schools with strong drama departments.

For serious aspiring actors of school age it is well worth auditioning for the National Youth Theatre <www.nyt.org.uk>, the National Youth Theatre of Wales <www.nyaw.co.uk/nytw.html>, the Scottish Youth Theatre <www.scottishyouththeatre.org> or the National Youth Music Theatre <www.nymt.org.uk>, all of which run extremely good workshops in school holidays as well as mounting excellent productions.

Drama/Theatre Studies exams Whilst success in these can lead on to a university course, they are not necessarily a good idea for a genuinely aspiring actor. Although they contain some practical content, they are predominately theoretical – and this concentration on looking from the outside can be very confusing for someone going on to ‘do’ acting with its concentration on working from the inside. (They also pay little attention to important acting techniques like how to breathe properly.) The study of alternative subjects can be more beneficial in the long term because they can broaden the student’s horizons in finding alternative work when not acting. (Also see ‘University acting-oriented degree courses’, page 18.)

Other early training Elocution lessons may enable someone to speak ‘beautifully’ but they can be damaging to a future actor as their method is directed towards recitation of words with little account of the feelings behind them. Correction of a speech defect is better done by a qualified therapist. The well-established ‘Speech and Drama’ examinations tend to have very little to do with modern acting. These, as one drama school maintains in its prospectus, are ‘judged on entirely different criteria’ from those for entry to full-time training.

School-leavers

It is essential to get a proper training, at a recognised drama school – perhaps doing a conventional degree first! It used to be possible to become an actor without formal training – and why not? An awful lot of what is fundamental to acting is that indefinable instinctive something which you either have or have not. In the past, doing menial tasks and watching the professionals at work could teach aspirants all they needed. But nowadays getting started without formal training is virtually impossible for the school-leaver. That is not to say that it is not worth trying to get work experience in order to observe and learn from others; that experience can be very valuable for the future. (See ‘It’s different in the real world’, page 26.)

The mature entrant to the profession

If you are one of these, you have far more going for you than your younger counterpart. This is principally because professionals of your age, if you are over about 30, are fewer on the ground (many drop out in their first decade for financial and domestic reasons) and those that are around tend to become more choosy about what work they will accept. Therefore, there is not quite as much competition and it is easier to find those small parts that are the essential first step in an acting career. Also, there is great value in having life experience before training, which brings me to the primary question:

To train or not to train? Most of the actors I know who have successfully made the transition from a ‘conventional’ career to one in acting have been to drama school. Often they’ve found it difficult to adjust to the ‘school’ disciplines after so long. Many have also found the immaturity of some of their fellow-students hard to cope with for the first few months. However, through patience and by standing back from the herd and ignoring any ‘ageist’ attitudes, they have found their respective niches and have often got a lot more out of the training than the younger students. As a mature student you should have a much better idea of how to learn, how to organise your life and how to sell yourself.

It is a common phenomenon for ‘maturing’ dancers – as their bodies decrease in flexibility – to wish to continue performing, albeit less athletically. It is essential to get proper acting-training: you have got to unlearn those bodily positions which ‘people do not use in real life’, let alone learn how to use your voice properly.

Incidentally, I’ve met several people who have gone to drama school in their 40s and even one who started her training at the age of 59. It’s never too late, but some drama schools do have upper age limits for their three-year courses – I think they’re wrong. (It’s also possible to do one-and two-year courses with no upper age limit – often called ‘postgraduate’, but not necessarily leading to an actual further degree qualification.) If you’re not sure that full-time student life would suit you, then try a part-time course, but you’ll find it much harder to crack the nut of gaining a toe-hold in the profession as it is generally the full-time schools where agents and casting directors search out new talents.

The amateur theatre as a training ground Some people think they know it all through amateur work. This is almost invariably untrue. I am not saying that all amateur theatre is bad (or that all professional theatre is good), but there are numerous techniques and professional practices which amateur theatre cannot teach you. For example, performing the same role for three weeks or more (even for several years) requires much more stamina and technical skill than the four or five performances which are the norm of amateur theatre. Amateurs aspiring to be professionals should find out what further training they need – and can get – and audition for drama school.

Training courses

If you want to be a professional actor you have to have proper training at a drama school. (Most won’t admit you until you are 18.) You should obtain prospectuses and see which schools you think might suit you best. Audition procedures vary and you will have to pay for the privilege – around £30 for each school as of Autumn 2003. The chief things to remember are that it costs money to attend auditions – travel and fees (and, if necessary, accommodation); adding up to a total of about £400 to cover my daughter’s nine applications in 2001 – and that competition is extremely fierce. Figures vary, but only a tiny percentage of applicants actually get accepted into the principal drama schools – and numbers applying have risen significantly in recent years.

NB More and more schools are taking two men for every one woman on their three-year courses. This is not fair, but does represent roughly the proportion of work available. The gender balance of numbers of applicants is – at least – in the reverse proportion.

The drama schools At the moment, there is a core of established schools which belong to an organisation called the Conference of Drama Schools (CDS). Most of these run courses that are ‘accredited’ by the National Council for Drama Training (NCDT), which was established in the mid-1970s to monitor standards. This organisation assesses courses every few years and decides whether each is up to a sufficient standard – a process called ‘accreditation’. (The schools themselves are not ‘accredited’, it’s their individual courses: there are schools outside the CDS which have courses with ‘accreditation’ and there are courses in CDS schools that are not ‘accredited’.) Essentially, it is better to get on to an ‘accredited’ course. There are two reasons for this (apart from the obvious one of checks being made): (a) you will stand a much better chance of getting funding than you would for a ‘non-accredited’ one, and (b) directors, agents and casting directors are far more inclined to pay attention to graduates of ‘accredited’ courses.

A complete list of CDS courses, called The Official UK Guide to Drama Training, is available from the Executive Secretary, CDS Ltd., PO Box 34252, London, NW5 1XJ. (The list is free, but you need to send them a s.a.e. – for postage and envelope size, see the CDS website.) You can also view an abridged version and access all the CDS’s member schools’ websites via <www.drama.ac.uk>; other schools advertise in The Stage and can be found via the NCDT’s website at <www.ncdt.co.uk>. On both sites you can also find lots of useful information on applying, auditioning and funding.

Duration of training For the school-leaver there’s no question that three years is essential. (I would advocate a year out before starting training – simply to gain some ‘life experience’ away from educational institutions.) Most mature students seem to go for a one-year training, but from my observations that is usually not sufficient. Of course, many will have to fund themselves and one year is significantly cheaper than three, but I would like to see more ‘accredited’ two-year courses for mature students (there are currently only two to my knowledge). While these are still lacking I don’t think there’s any question that three years is much, much better than one for the vast majority of aspiring actors.

Degrees Nowadays, most three-year, ‘accredited’ courses have ‘degree’ status – in spite of the fact that there is little or no written component to the courses, let alone formal, written exams. (Historically, the schools took the ‘degree’ route to help students get funding on the same basis as those following conventional academic courses.) Degree status actually means very little in the acting profession and courses with degree status are not necessarily better than those without it. Some schools have been quite vociferous about not wishing to become embroiled in the whole philosophy and bureaucracy that is fundamental to ‘degree’ education – believing that joining with a university would compromise the purely vocational character of their courses. One such adds: ‘Universities are academic institutions and the intelligence required of an academic is different from that required of an actor. Whilst some are blessed with both kinds, many talented and intelligent actors are of indifferent academic ability. We would not wish to exclude them.’ Degree status will enable you to go on to a higher degree and enhance your employment prospects outside the profession – but not within it.

Where to apply? Seek advice from drama teachers, youth theatre leaders, drama advisers and anybody else you can find who knows about the profession. But never rely on the word of just one person – get a consensus of opinion. It has become very clear to me that standards have dropped considerably in one CDS school over the past few years and risen dramatically in another over a similar period. I am not going to name names, because the position could easily reverse itself over a similar period in the future. The best advice will come from those with recent contact with drama schools, not from those who trained decades ago and have no idea of current trends in those establishments. A drama school is only as good as its current teachers: a list of famous graduates (and/or patrons) or a glossy prospectus with smart graphics doesn’t tell you what it’s really like now. It is also wise to be cautious if you encounter an overuse of names like Stanislavski and terms like ‘The Method’ – both have been considerably refined for today’s actors. There is no one absolute ‘system’ of good acting; ‘You act how you act,’ as a friend expressed it.

NB In the main, it is wise to ignore public statements made by famous actors about their training – both positive and negative; invariably things will have changed since they left.

Don’t apply to just one school! Unlike almost every other form of further or higher education there are almost always no recognised qualifications for an applicant trying to gain entry to drama school. The decision on whether to accept you or not is based on what you can do in audition, not on what you’ve done before (although some courses also require certain minimal exam passes). Of course, someone who has had good tuition from school, Youth Theatre, and so on, stands a better chance; but that ‘good tuition’ is not nationally regulated and is available only randomly around the country. Also, you may well never have auditioned before in your life and all the practical experience of auditioning you can get will help. Apply to as many schools that you feel ‘suit you’ as you can afford.

Application forms It is important to fill these in clearly, accurately (with correct spellings) and without exaggeration, let alone ‘invention’. Once again, it’s ‘what you can do in audition’ that matters most. Also, don’t send off the forms until you have thoroughly rehearsed your speeches (and, if necessary, songs) – you could get called to audition at very short notice; or you might have to wait several months.

Application deadlines You need to check these for each school. Some – generally the more prestigious ones – have application deadlines of around February/March each year and others see people all year round. It is also important to check with each school if there’s a deadline for application for funding (see ‘Funding your training’, page 14). Check the deadlines of every school you intend to apply for about a year before you’d like to start your course.

NB Some ‘accredited’ courses with degree status require applications via UCAS <www.ucas.ac.uk>; some don’t seem to be on UCAS lists – I don’t know why. A few schools will accept applications directly or through UCAS. However, if you get offered a place at such a school and you’ve taken the former application route, you will still have to go through the UCAS bureaucracy. This can be very slow, so it’s usually better to take the UCAS route in the first place to minimise any possible delays in getting your funding.

Audition speech specifications These vary from school to school, and you will be told beforehand what they want you to do. Usually, you will be asked to prepare at least two audition speeches – often one from a ‘classical’ and one from a ‘modern’ play (see ‘modern’ and ‘classical’ [and ‘period’], page 128). Check carefully how each defines these terms as there are wide variations. For instance, definitions of ‘modern’ (sometimes called ‘contemporary’) range from ‘written after 1830’ to ‘written within the last ten years’ – with other schools specifying (one of) ‘after’ 1900, 1945, 1950 or 1960.

A few schools ask for three speeches; some give you a set list of ‘classical’ spee...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Preface to the Fourth Edition
• Introduction
• 1 For Aspiring Actors
• 2 For Acting Students
• 3 Equity
• 4 The Spotlight
• 5 For Experienced Actors
• 6 Agents
• 7 The Fringe
• 8 A Director’s Life
• 9 Letters, CVs and Photographs
• 10 The Internet
• 11 The Mechanics of Casting
• 12 Interviews
• 13 Audition Speeches
• 14 Sight-readings
• 15 Musical Auditions
• 16 Television, Commercials and Films
• 17 Voice-overs and Radio
• 18 The Actor in the World of Business
• 19 The Business Side of Being an Actor
• Coda
• Postscript
• Bibliography
• Imprint