Aaron Marcus walks through 11 questions actors should ask agents during a meeting. Research the agency beforehand, dress in form-fitting clothes so they see your body type, and ask what roles they'd submit you for. Skip questions about earnings or exact booking timelines.
Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and if you are watching this on YouTube, uh, don't forget to click the subscription button and the little notification bell so that way you'll know every time I upload a new video. Um, so if you are in a fortunate situation where you get called in to meet with an agent after you submitted your headshot and resume to them, what is the best way to prepare and what kind of questions do you want to ask? So the first thing I would do is make sure that you really study the agent's website. Know what kind of work they do. If you can, if you do have access to the talent that they represent, look at their headshots, look at their resumes, see what kind of projects they work on. See if you can find the names of the various agents who are working there. And sometimes they have a little bio read-up about them. If you don't see anything there, See if you can find them on LinkedIn just to learn more about them in case you are going to be meeting with one of them. And that way you might have more to talk about if you know a little bit more about their lives. When you do go there, first of all, make sure you are there a few minutes early. Give yourself plenty of time. Bring something to take notes with. You know, ask ahead of time, do they want you to read a monologue? Are they going to give you copy to read, you know, for a TV commercial? So that way you're better prepared. When you do go in there, as far as the way you present yourself, I would wear form-fitting clothing so they can get a sense of body type, and that way they can get a pretty good idea of the kinds of things they might be submitting you for. So, you know, just dress appropriately. The kinds of questions that I would ask, I would think that probably the most important question is asking them how do they see you being submitted, you know, for what kinds of roles, what kinds of characters do they think that you could potentially book. That's crucial information for you, and that way even if for any reason it doesn't work out, getting that information from a number of different industry professionals, if you keep hearing the same thing— yeah, you seem like the girl next door, you seem like the Kind of shy person. You seem like the professional. Having that information will be invaluable to you. Some of the other kinds of things you might want to find out about is just learning, are there other people in your category? Maybe you can even see some of the other people in your category. I think that would be helpful to know. But if it doesn't feel right, don't ask about that one. I can tell you one thing you Absolutely never want to do is say, so how long do you think it's going to be before I start booking jobs? How much money do you expect me to, to make here? Look, any, any legitimate agent isn't going to have a clue. I mean, they want you to start booking jobs right away, but I can tell you, sometimes it can take 3 months, it can take 6 months before things start happening, before casting directors keep Seeing your headshot and resume over and over again and then feel comfortable enough to bring you in for an audition. So stay away from that. Stay away from how much you're going to make because nobody knows. And it kind of gives you the— gives them the feeling about you that you're just there for the money and you really don't have that much interest in the actual work itself. And that's what they want. They want somebody who is willing to work hard, somebody who really loves the process, somebody who loves the industry. That's very important. And the other thing too is, you know, don't just give them one-word answers. I would even think of some questions to answer ahead of time, even something like, so what do you like to do, you know, outside of acting or modeling? Think of something. Don't just look back at them and say, I don't know, I watch TV. Think of something interesting. Yeah, I'm in a soccer league. And actually, I like knitting. I don't know, I got into it later in life, and I've loved knitting sweaters. And then explain it a little, whatever it is. Have a conversation because Ultimately, what you say isn't nearly as important as the way you say it. So they get a better sense of who you are. Are you somebody they want to work with? Are you somebody they trust? Are you someone that they can count on and someone who is willing to work hard at obtaining whatever your goals are? They might even say, hey, so How do you see yourself in the next year? What kind of things would you like to see yourself doing? Have some of those ideas in the back of your mind. And if you did some research on places like LinkedIn or maybe Instagram, maybe Facebook to learn more about the different agents, maybe you know some people in common. Maybe you have some shared interests. Maybe you have some shared hobbies. And those are the kinds of things and the kinds of conversations that you can have with somebody that will be meaningful and rememorable. So, uh, rememorable— how about memorable? I think that's the word, not rememorable. I made it up, sounds pretty good, but, uh, you get what I mean. Uh, the point is you want to walk out of that meeting with them going, I like this person. Yep, they seem like there's some potential talent there. I know they're just getting started, but I had a good feel about them. I'd like to work with them. So that's your ultimate goal. Those are the ways I would go into it. And the very last thing I would think of is the reality is if they don't want to sign you and they don't offer you a contract. It's okay. There could be a million different reasons why, and it might not have anything to do with your look, your talent, your abilities. Maybe they already have too many people in your category already. The point is, you can always find another agent. So don't go in there with the frame of mind of, I've got it, I've got to get this representation, I really want this thing bad. Just go in there and think I want to have a lovely conversation with somebody. I want to try to learn a little bit more about the industry. I want to learn more about myself. I want to learn more about what agents do. And that's it. Have a good time in there. And I think when you go in there, just like with an audition, when you go in there with not trying to book it, not trying to get the contract, it takes a lot of the pressure off. And the people who you're talking to will enjoy the conversation even more. So that's what I would suggest doing. Once again, if you guys are watching this on YouTube, my YouTube channel, please make sure you subscribe, give it a thumbs up, like it. And, and also, I do have— if you would like to help support this channel, which would be great, there is a donation link goes straight into a PayPal account. I greatly appreciate whatever you can afford, whatever you think is right, however useful, you know, you find the site. That would be wonderful. Love to have you be a part of it and just help, help support it. So anyhow, I'm Aaron Marcus. If there are any topics that you want me to discuss, shoot me an email. Just go to howtoactamodel.com. You can get to me there. And I'd love to hear any of the experiences that you've had meeting with agents and what that's been like and what you've learned from it. Just share that below as well. I'm Aaron Marcus. Can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. See ya.
