We have found 19,462 posts across 4 actor forums:
Is LA casting worth it? by hithirteen • last post Jun 2nd
I already have actors access and pay $20 monthly for Backstage
How open should I be to settle for mediocrity? by CaeraBoo • last post Jun 2nd
This is my first reddit post, I'm still new to learning how everything works. I'm sort of in a huge existential crisis right now with a cross roads decision. Either way I choose will severely alter my life. So I'm doing what any other sensible person would do: seeking help on the internet. I (21F) am in university and majoring in theatre with a focus in acting and directing and English with a focus in creative writing. Double majoring isn't that hard for me and I'm not in debt because my family is very poor and the state covers all my college expenses. I started theatre when I was 15 and absolutely fell in love. I grew up homeschooled and as a result, I am socially awkward and weird. My family gets me and my theatre friends get me. Theatre felt like my home away from home. I was never the type of kid that would plan out what their future would be, I just never even knew. For a long time I didn't think I'd survive past the age of 18 with severe depression and anxiety in my life from a traumatic event. I graduated high school early and began community College at 17. I didn't know what I was doing or why, I just did it. It was while I was attaining my associates degree that I learned I wanted to do theatre and since then it's been the only career choice where I could really see myself happy for the rest of my life. I guess it may sound really campy or like something out of a movie, but I always just had a feeling that I was meant for more than just choosing a career that I'm kind of good at and building a family in the suburbs and working a 9-5 on the weekdays to hope for a great weekend. And don't get me wrong, that's fine if that's the life that some people want. I, by no means, want to bash anyone that wants to choose that life. I just don't know if I would ever be happy living my life like that day in and day out. My boyfriend loves me very much and he wants to build a life with me. We've been together almost 2 years. We got engaged after 6 months of dating and we were about to sign a marriage certificate and try for a baby when I found out that I could go to university for my bachelor's degree completely free. The original plan was that I was going to have a baby and slowly work through my degree at an affordable rate. I've been nonstop doing fulltime college and fulltime working since I was 17 so slowing down is a hard concept for me. But going to college for free required me to be unmarried so I would register as "dependent" on my parents. I was under the impression that we had agreed to wait for marriage and kids until I could finish my degree, but apparently he was more disgruntled about it than I believed. Either by miscommunication or me not listening to him. Skip forward to about 6 months later and we break up for 2 months and get back together at the beginning of 2021 and have been together for 6 more months. We fight terribly sometimes and he's tried to dump me twice but the both of us love each other so much that it's too hard to actually break it off. Neither of us thinks the other is easy to love. He thinks that a theatre degree is the most impractical thing ever. He is about to start a 2 year respiratory therapist program at the community College and wants to go to college as fast as possible and start working so he can provide for a family. It's very admirable. He has a deep love for children he hasn't even met yet. He loves me and doesn't want to see me fail. He doesn't want me to waste my time in a career choice with a little to no success rate. He is very practical and pessimistic, especially when it comes to "ifs" and "maybes". He sees respiratory therapy as something garunteed and achievable, even though he isn't very passionate about it. He says he has been realistic about his career choices ever since he was young. He wanted to be a lawyer, but when he learned it took 8 years of college and a lot of debt, he changed his mind. He wanted to be an artist, but then he realized that wouldn't make any money and he convinced himself he wasn't even that good at it (he's actually pretty good, in my opinion). He then decided he wanted to be a graphic designer, as a teenager, and bought an expensive laptop for it. Then when he learned that it didn't make a lot of money, he dropped that too. He has chosen to follow respiratory therapy because it's what his mom did and it was something he knew, it was faster in college, and it was achievable financially enough that he could support a family. Along the way after this decision, he grew passionate for children's respiratory therapy and is now super excited about getting to work with children and explain to them why their body works the way it does. So I guess in a really longwinded way I wanna know, is it worth is to pursue your passion even if you're most likely gonna fail? Or to choose something feasible and hope that you grow to love it? I'd always learned to shoot for the moon and if you don't get there you're sure to land among the stars. I don't need to be some big, leading Broadway lady that everyone loves and adores. I'm interested in singing, dancing, acting, directing, and writing. I'd be satisfied as an ensemble, as long as I can make enough to live. I'd also adore to be in movies. But how is that feasible if my significant other only feels left behind? How do I balance keeping him happy and attended to and pursuing my dreams? This last spring I was working fulltime at the hospital, going to school fulltime, and doing a play at the local community theatre. I set aside Sunday nights as my time specifically with him and we also spent the night at each other's apartments about three times a week. But he felt like he was being put last in my life because I was so busy. But I thrive on being busy. He's convinced me to be more "realistic" and look into other careers that can make me just as happy as theatre, but are achievable and sustainable. He's terrified of me being gone for months at a time if I'm in a big production, which is fair enough. But what if there's nothing that makes me happy like chasing theatre? I've never really been good at anything else, nothing else has ever caught my eye. Life felt purposeless before theatre. I have two choices. 1, give up on my passion and pursue a realistic career where I'm more garunteed to succeed and be able to give him the attention he needs and one day have kids. Be the best damn wife and mother and whatever career I choose. Or, 2, break things off with my longterm boyfriend and absolutely crush me and him emotionally to pursue a passion and career that I may never succeed at. Which in itself is a super high risk because it begs the question: would I even be able to "make it"? What if I'm actually very ugly and untalented and no one wants me? A study from the Queen Mary University states that only 2% of actors make a living. Is it unreasonable to choose a mediocre life that I may hate but I have the garuntee of being financially safe, in a solid career, with a spouse and children in the suburbs for the rest of my life? Or to take the risk and try for a career that I know I'd be happy in, but has a very low success rate? How happy can I be being "normal"? If you've read this far, thank you And if you reply, a thousand thank yous. Signed, a very lost and confused kid.
A Challenge that I need to ask for! by Joniii6913 • last post Jun 2nd
I'm a Disabled person, Autism/dyspraxia/aphasia to be exact. And probably, It has been asked plenty of times. But is it possible to be a voice actor? And if so, An "Overseas" actor (Belgium) to be fit in an all-out English acting scene mainly for Anime and such? Many of my dreams have to become an actor, But my mental capacity has made me feel really worthless, and I love my voice in a strange way and it could be a fit for anime and/or games (Personally) I've been acting sorta for a few years (and with acting is just a weird sketch of a typical anime perve talking about things on youtube) I just really want to know how or if I'm able to be a voice actor or just be a Belgian voice actor for something like pokemon (or they could make it that some anime can be dubbed in dutch but I'm railing off the whole thing) anyways, thank you for the read and I hope there is an answer!
DISCORD GROUP TO PRACTICE ACTING AND FIND NEW PEOPLE by We-need-change-95 • last post Jun 1st
Hello everybody, A friend of mine (an actor) has just created a group on Discord where we can meet up and practice together as well as finding new people. We can try scripts together, propose ones that you've written and talk about them, improvising and preparing for auditions. Hopefully as time goes by you're gonna find a lot of new people from all walks of life, and you might be able to find the ones that are a good fit to carry on some projects together ( and ultimately a movie, who knows). See you there guys!! Here's the link https://discord.gg/F5zvaqg9
i cleaned out some of my junk mail yesterday but for some reason im not getting casting notices like from casting frontier or actors access by nicholasbloom • last post Jun 1st
i tried googling my problem but still haven't figured out why im not getting emails from them
European casting websites by Heure-parme • last post Jun 1st
Hey everyone! I am looking for European casting websites with casting calls all over Europe, especially for bilingual individuals. Do you happen to know any such website? I've stumbled upon "Encast", have you heard of them? As an aside, I think it might be nice to create a subreddit for European actors since most of the resources on r/acting are quite US/UK centric. Thanks for your help!
Where can I find good Behind The Scenes videos on VA recording sessions? by JakeDoubleyoo • last post Jun 1st
I'm interested in possibly directing VAs for my own videos in the future, and I like being able to see what that process actually looks like. I *love* this [video of Cherami Leigh recording the Fairy Tail dub at Funimation.](https://youtu.be/-tHwy7lycpI) Most BTS clips are highly edited and basically only show the takes they end up going with. I'd love to see more videos like these where you actually see the actor being directed and adjusting their performance here and there. I also realize dubbing is a slightly different process than recording original dialogue, and that Funimation has to work at a pretty break-neck pace for their simuldubs, so I'd like to see what a more typical recording session looks like.
Question about IMDb's credits by Maps_and_Sauce • last post Jun 1st
On IMDb, if an actor does not have (uncredited) next to their "character" does that mean that they did in fact have a speaking role, even if only a minor one? I've seen times where some people will have (uncredited) next to their name, yet other actors with the same role won't have that. Does that mean they did speak as that character? For example, let's say the role is "employee" and several people have "employee (uncredited)" while several others just have "employee." Does that mean they did have a line?
Do you need to be a part of your country's union to apply for an O1? by sailor_melody • last post Jun 1st
Background: I'm an actress in Toronto who is non-union, but I just shot a principal role for a non-union feature film with distribution in the US. I also just shot an actor role on a TV show produced by a big name director. I assume being on ACTRA makes you a stronger candidate for O1, but is it completely necessary? Other request, are there any Toronto/Canadian lawyers you're familiar with who would do a free consultation on a roadmap to an O1?
Toronto actors, has it been slow for you lately? by cuppypake • last post Jun 1st
I’m wondering if it’s because of the stay at home order, and I’m hoping things will pick up after this week. But have other Toronto actors been getting very few auditions the last little while? I’ve only had 3 auditions since April. I was auditioning quite a bit and booking before then so I’m curious if others have felt a huge drop in auditions lately.
Had my first audition in over a year-and-a-half since covid started, and I absolutely fucked it. by PineappleLubricant • last post Jun 1st
It was actually a callback, first time in-person auditioning since the world shut down. And it was literally just reactions, *not even any dialogue.* The second I got in the room with the casting directors and the project’s directors, the nerves RUSHED BACK and I ended up making myself look like a fucking idiot instead of doing a normal job. Yknow. Like a normal person. Idk why I’m posting this. I think I’m just venting. I haven’t been acting *in almost over 2 years* while covid’s been a thing. And I live in Colorado so the scene is fucked anyway, there’s some *shite* that comes through my agents office, mostly commercials and training videos, I just... ugh. In the four years+ I’ve been signed with them, I’ve gotten exactly two jobs that were like *actual acting*. A real story, emotions to feel, goals for each scene, yknow?? But they’re all Air Force training videos that won’t see the light of day. There’s *nothing* here that lets me flex actual acting, which is another reason I’m just in a weird headspace or something, I... I... I... just don’t know. *Fuck.* I can’t believe I screwed that audition up so bad since it was my first opportunity for some decent work in what feels like a very long time, and I know I’m not gonna get it. I need to move to LA but don’t have the money. I have no connections with students to try and get into those films, I just... idk. Am I even a good actor? Should I be doing this? Cause I love doing it, but that was some absolute dogshit I just did in that room. *I’m pissed off and bitter and all I wanna do is act and make stories, and I can’t even do that right apparently.* Anyway, sorry for the long post. Just needed to get that out there.
Background Acting Woes by faarrquaadd • last post Jun 1st
Hey everyone. I recently started background acting on the side just to get acquainted with professional sets until I have enough connections to do other jobs in film (props/set design), and I have a couple questions. 1.) How long does it usually take to get paid for an extras gig and at what point should I be concerned about my check? I did a BG gig almost a month ago and still haven't received a check for it. Idk if that's normal, I've done gigs in the past and they almost always get the check to me in about two weeks so this is weird in my experience. If a month *is* a concerning amount of time, who do I even contact about my paycheck? Not the casting company, I assume? Any advice is appreciated. 2.) I've worked on a Netflix show recently and the experience has been.... Interesting to say the least. The actual time spent on set is fine but the communication between me and the BG casting team has been terrible. I've been sent wrong addresses for Covid tests, I've been straight up forgotten about in terms of getting me information for a shoot which left me sending email after email and text after text just to get some information, and there was one day that I was hired for that I had received no shoot info at all for (I waited all night and all morning for them to send me info; I knew it was an afternoon shoot but it was 11am and I had heard nothing and had been emailing them. I finally got hold of one of the casting team through a phone number only to be told the shoot had been cancelled and that they didn't tell me). Is this normal behavior for a casting company??? I get that info can go out late sometimes if a previous shoot wraps really late or something but to be totally forgotten about so many times just feels wrong, especially coming from the casting company that's *literally responsible for the background actors*. Should I just avoid this specific BG company or is this type of behavior normal?? I've worked with other BG companies in my area and it hasn't been quite like this so I just wanted input. Thanks in advance for any input, and I live in Atlanta btw (if that means anything lol).
I can’t find any decent monologues and I’m freaking out. by honeydew525600 • last post Jun 1st
I’ve got college auditions coming up (self taped, which is also freaking me out as I have only an iPhone, no tripod, and no decent lighting, but that’s a story for a different time). I have to perform two contrasting monologues (I’m assuming that means comedic and dramatic), both contemporary, and the 60 second time limit must be strictly adhered to. The 60 seconds includes the slate, so I’d have about 45-50 seconds to impress these people. That’s so overwhelming already, and the fact that I can’t find a single decent monologue that can showcase my abilities as an actor that I can cut down to the time limit scares me. The only ones I can find as far as comedic goes aren’t funny and I can’t connect with them, and the dramatic ones are all about divorcing husbands or what have you. I’m a 17 y/o female student, I can’t relate to any of the content I’m finding. I’ve been hunting for a monologue book, but I don’t have one yet so I’m stuck with the terrible results Google gives me. I’ve wanted acceptance into this specific program for so long, and I’m afraid that if I choose bad monologues they won’t even consider me. Plus, I don’t have real headshots. I’ve done student and community theatre for (going on) five years now, so I’ve got the drive and the passion for this kind of thing. I don’t know what’s going to happen if I don’t get through these auditions. Advice? Please leave it!
Meetings With Agents? by AmetrisB • last post May 31st
When an actor has their initial interview/meeting with an agent before a signing, does the agent ever ask what kind of scenes actors are not willing to perform? Is this a common topic asked about in agent-actor meetings or relationships? How does one go about this when meeting with a potential agent?
Can't stop feeling like I've wasted A LOT of time by Impact525 • last post May 31st
Hey everyone, I'm a 25 year old actor living in LA. I moved to Los Angeles in January of 2020 and almost a year and a half later, I can't shake this feeling that I've wasted so much time in regards to my career. Shortly after I moved to LA, the pandemic hit and the entire film/TV industry shut down. During 2020 and the beginning of 2021, I suffered many bouts of paralyzing depression that cause me to isolate myself in my tiny apartment and just eat junk food and slob around. It not only caused a 20 pound weight gain but an almost complete lack of friends or real connections in LA. My 25th birthday was just a few days ago and I've decided that looking back on my missteps and failures won't help me achieve my goals. I know that going forward I have to be motivated and keep myself ambitious and driven. However, I can't stop obsessing over the fact that I've virtually squandered an entire year and a half of my career. It hasn't been all bad, of course. I did score some low-budget independent films and got my first agent last month. I just had higher expectations for myself professionally & time-management wise. Can anybody relate or have any tips? P.S. I know a lot of people have lost a lot more than just "time" during this pandemic so I know I can't complain forever. However, we all have a free license to complain just a bit, right? :P
Getting started by pleasure_dolphin • last post May 31st
I'm just asking for advice to get into being a voice actor. I've always wanted to do it since I was kid and now I can actually pursue it. I just don't know how to go about it. Any suggestions?
Rate question by Must-ache • last post May 31st
I’m looking at hiring a voice actor for a children’s audiobook. The rates I’m seeing are all over the place. Voices123.com points to [Gravy for the Brain]( https://rates.gravyforthebrain.com/). Apparently rates for audiobooks are $100-$400 per finished hour. [Voices.com](https://www.voices.com/rates) recommends a rate of $1500+ for an hour. Any idea on why there is such a discrepancy and what a realistic budget for this would be?
duologue scene resources- self taping for an american manager- any advice by IrishActor • last post May 31st
Hi All, I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for databases for film duologues? I'm an irish actor and I may be getting signed by an American manager. Long story short I want to put something on tape to send to them which Ill shoot in an american accent just to demonstrate my ability for american projects. Does anyone have any advice? Best wishes!
Which crop of American voice actors have the widest ranges of voices and characters? by StorytellerAli • last post May 31st
They can work in animation or video games, but basically, who in American voiceover acting today do you feel have a large variety of voices for a large variety of different characters today? As an aspiring actor, I'm very interested in the concept of "character acting". Specifically, how (voice) actors can find characters that vary in circumstance, personality, appearance, morality or so on. And how this affects the type of voice you'd use. Who are voice actors who have made a name as great character actors? I'd love to see how they go about their craft. It would be great to hear your choices to learn about how they go about their craft!