Aaron Marcus, a working actor, walks through how to get representation: prepare headshots and a resume, build experience in local theater and student films, then research agents and submit with targeted cover letters. He warns against pay-to-play schemes and agents who pressure you into specific classes or photographers.
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This is a video where I'm going to be teaching you how to get an acting agent in 2026. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus. I've been a full-time actor for many, many, many years, and the very first thing I want to tell you about finding an agent is, look, it's really important that you have an effective headshot, that you have a resume that's in the right Kind of format. And the best-case scenario, you've got some experience too. So if you don't have much experience, then go out and try to get jobs. That will make it easier for you to actually find an agent. Because if you think about it this way, look, if, if you need to see a doctor because your shoulder hurts, well, you want to find somebody who who has— they've gone through medical school, they have a lot of experience dealing with shoulder issues. And it's the same thing for an agent. Look, they, they're running a business and they want to be able to submit people who have experience and people who are good. That's not to say that an agent might not take somebody on who's just getting started because they understand you've got to start somewhere. You've got a good look, they like some of your photos. But it's always better to have experience. So how do you go about getting some experience? Number one, you can do local theater. That's always helpful. Doesn't necessarily help you so much for film and TV work because it's a different type of acting, but agents like to see somebody who's been cast. You can also go to and find Facebook groups in your area. Maybe you can find filmmakers in your area. Maybe you can find student films. At colleges or universities. Just go to the art department and find who's teaching a film class where students have to actually shoot films for the class and find out about auditioning for them. There's even something called meetup.com. No, this is, this is a real place that you can go to, and what you want to do is find meetup groups in your area for filmmakers and attend some of their meetings and start networking. If you are at a point where your headshot, your resume is there and you have some experience and you're now trying to find some names of agents to contact, certainly you can do Google searches, but I think it's always better to get recommendations from people. So attend a local play and afterwards talk to the actors and just ask them, hey, are there any, any agents in town that you would recommend that I reach out to? Or if you get a chance to do some extra work, and you can go to your film commission office and see if there are any productions shooting in your area and talk to some of the extras and ask them. Now, once you get names for people, then go to their website. And see how they want you to submit to them. Typically, they're going to ask you to upload a headshot and resume, and then they'll let you know if they have an interest, if they want to have a follow-up meeting. And by the way, I will put this link in the description section of a video I created. It's how to prepare before meeting an agent. But follow, follow their rules, however they want you to do it. If you don't hear back from them, Doesn't mean that it's not going to happen. Personally, I like to be proactive. I would send a— I'd maybe wait a couple months, 6 weeks, something like that, and I would send a headshot and resume and a short cover letter to a specific agent. Just, you know, don't send it to the agency and say, dear agent. Get their name and send it directly to them. You also have to figure out your type. So for somebody like me I would say everybody's next-door neighbor, the doctor, the lawyer, the professional, the highly educated successful guy. Now I don't have a college degree but I have that kind of look. I get it. So when I— if I were to be sending a cover letter to an agent, I would make sure that I put in there those kinds of descriptions of how I view myself and maybe they'll see, oh yeah, we need somebody in the agency With those, you know, with that particular kind of look. Those things are really, really helpful. And one thing to also keep in mind, sometimes people say you need to have a reel in, or, you know, a film reel, a TV reel, a commercial reel, if an agent is going to take you on. Look, I'll just tell you what my thoughts are. I don't think you need that. Look, yeah, if you have one, you have a minute-long reel, or it could be shorter. I wouldn't make it over a minute, but if you have one, sure, that's always great so they can see your work. But once again, agents understand that you have to start at the beginning, and maybe you don't have a reel yet. Do not hold back from trying to find an agent because you don't have a reel. With some of the work that you do, especially with student films, if it looks good, then you can start building your reel. And here's something that's really important to keep in mind: If you do sit down with an agent, trust your gut. If somebody's talking to you in ways that makes you feel uncomfortable, if somebody is promising or guaranteeing you something, be really hesitant about that because there are no guarantees. Or if there's just something that just doesn't feel right about that particular agent, don't take it on. If somebody is completely trying to take you out of where you think you should be submitted— and look, maybe the agent really knows, I don't know— but if you speak to a couple of different agents and most of them agree with you that, yeah, you do have that professional look or whatever it is, and somebody who is offering you a whole lot of things and they're trying to take you in a very different direction Trust your instincts. And if somebody's charging you money up front just to be represented by them, that would make me very concerned as well. If they say that they are only going to represent you if you take their classes or if you shoot with their photographer— look, it's one thing if they offer that. Hey, we've got some great classes, we bring in some great teachers, we bring in a wonderful headshot photographer. I know this will be really helpful to you. That's one thing. But if they say we're not going to represent you unless you take our class, unless you shoot with our person, that makes me a little bit nervous. So there are lots of different ways of finding an agent. And look, I would love to hear from you. How did you find your agent? And I can tell you, look, the best way to get an agent, if you have somebody you know refer you to the agent And you can say to the agent, yes, this, this person who was represented by them referred me to you. That's always the best. But not everybody does that. That's not always the case. That's not how I started. As a matter of fact, I'll just tell you really, really quickly. I heard about an agent, walked in. I had no experience. And the agent asked what TV shows I've done, what movies I've done. I said, well, none. And she said, look, we only work with people who've had experience. So I said, okay. And I was walking out the door. It was like in a movie. My hand was on the doorknob and the agent said, well, look, while you're here, why don't you read some copy for me? I had no idea that that meant reading a TV commercial. And I had enough sense to say, can I just step outside and take a look at this for a minute? So I went outside, looked at it, went back in, I read, and she said, actually, that was pretty good. I really liked it. Why don't you get a headshot? Let me take a look and then we'll talk some more. I had no idea what a headshot was all about. She— I said, well, can you refer me to somebody? And she gave me the name of somebody that she liked. Went in, did a headshot, was not very good, but there was one photo out of hundreds that we could salvage, and that's how I got started. That's not always the case, but once again Even movie stars, they get started with absolutely no experience. So make sure you are prepared. It's not about who you know, it's who knows you. And, and you want to be prepared before you meet with somebody. So please share with us how you found an agent. What was the best way for you? How did you prepare? Any suggestions or recommendations? for things to look out for. Really would appreciate you leaving a note here. Leave a little comment. And if you like this, if you found it helpful, you know, subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when a new video is uploaded. If you like it, give it a thumbs up. And, um, hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
