Aaron Marcus breaks down how to start acting from scratch: take classes first, get a headshot and resume, find an agent to expand opportunities, then start auditioning. Rejections are part of the process, so keep going.
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Hey, in this video I'm going to be teaching you how to break into acting with zero experience. I also have a few special bonus videos for you. I will leave the link in the description section so you can watch these really, really helpful videos. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. Look, getting started in the field of acting is very difficult, and it's a big decision to make. There are much easier professions to get into. There are other kinds of jobs that are easier. Hey, look, if you want to play football in the NFL, well, you start playing Pop Warner League You play in high school, you play in college, assuming you're really good and you're talented and all the stars align properly, you get drafted into the NFL. The acting world, it's very different. There are so many moving parts. It's a business. You are starting a new business and there are so many things to learn. And it's not like you can just do an apprenticeship And become an actor. Even going to acting school, you know, might teach you how to be a great actor, but then you have to learn the business side of the industry. So in this video, I'm going to be showing you and explaining to you step by step how you can break into acting with zero experience. So the very first thing that you're going to want to learn to do is How to act, because you can have all these other things in place, but if you're not a good actor, it's going to be really tough to have true success in the industry. So what you want to do is make sure you find a teacher, you find a class, you find a mentor, someone who can help guide you. And I do have a video that That you can see that will walk you through the process of how to make sure the class is right for you. Look, I've walked out of— well, I should say one class. It hasn't been that many, but didn't like the teacher, didn't like the way things were being taught. The style just wasn't right for me, and so, so I left. So anyhow, You've got to learn how to act. It doesn't just happen magically. Yes, there are a couple of people that you might hear about that just have this innate ability and they've had tremendous success. They've never studied. That's unusual. You know, people hit the lottery too, you know, and win tens of millions of dollars. That's unusual. And finding you know, the class for the areas that you want to work in. If you want to do theater, then make sure you study with people who can teach you about stage work. If you want to do TV commercials, then find somebody who excels in that area of the industry, or TV and film and working in front of a camera. And for a mentor as well, you want to find someone who could guide you along and really teach you the ropes of the industry. Even things like— and it's not necessarily in the same order, but you need materials. You know, you need a strong headshot, an effective headshot, and a good mentor, if they know what they're talking about, can help you through that process of figuring out your type, what photographer to hire, what kind of emotions to show, what techniques to use, how to find the, the right person for you. Anyhow, you need to get that, that together along with a resume, because at some point, if you want to start auditioning, people need to see a headshot and resume. Those are the 2 basic things. Don't worry about a reel At this point, an acting reel where you take clips— take clips of some of your work. Clips. Oh boy, it's been a long day already. Take clips from some of your work. Well, you don't have any work at this point yet. Yes, you can create it on your own, but at this point, hey, there are other— there are other things that are much more important. So yes, getting a headshot and resume Is absolutely essential. Once you have that together, then you want to find an agent. And like I said before, yes, you can get work on your own, but you're going to have more opportunities if you have an agent. Not only will the agent know more about the types of jobs that are available to you, but they also will make sure you get paid properly. They make sure that jobs are real and make sure that you get paid for the project itself. Hey, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, uh, click the subscribe button, the notification bell, so you always know when I upload a new video. If you like the video, give it a thumbs up and please share the link with fellow actors. This is how we continue to build this great community of actors helping each other. Okay, so now you've got some acting skills, you've got a headshot and resume. If you do have an agent, great, and if not, that's okay. At this point, start auditioning, start trying to get work, whether it's local theater work. And look, just because it's local theater work doesn't mean that they're going to just take anybody. You know, if it's a good theater then they're going to have really good people. If you do audition and don't book one of the roles, see if you can do some stage work behind the scenes, whether it's scenery, whether you can volunteer so you can watch rehearsals. You want to learn as much as you possibly can about what takes place on the stage and watch the actors, talk to the actors. It will be a great learning experience, even doing some extra work. Would be really, really helpful to you so you know what takes place on a set so that if you ever do get the opportunity to audition and you actually book a role, you know what to expect. Maybe there are some student films. Contact some local colleges and go to the film department and find the classes where students have to shoot films for for the class. That would be another great opportunity for you to get experience, make contacts with a student director, and who knows where that person might wind up. Maybe if it looks good, you can start creating a reel and you can add that to your resume. Hey, do you have any suggestions for ways for people to get started acting with no experience? If so, please share that information with us here so that we can learn from you as well. You also want to learn about auditioning techniques. It is really important because auditioning for the camera is very different than auditioning on stage. And once again, you'll find some videos in the description section that you definitely want to watch. But without knowing these techniques and these tips, it's going to make it so much more difficult because there are so many common mistakes that actors make that I made when I first started because I didn't know. It took me a long time to figure these things out and to take the right classes to learn these things. So anyhow, get that information, learn about auditioning, and then you need to learn how to shoot great home auditions. It doesn't have to be very expensive. It doesn't have to be very complicated. You don't have to be a tech whiz to do this, but you will need to learn what kind of equipment you need, how to set things up, how to do basic editing. And these are things that you're going to be practicing so that when opportunities come up for you You are prepared because the worst thing you could do is not be prepared, try to introduce yourself to an agent, the agent has you read for them, and you're just not ready. You don't want to make a first bad impression because those things will last. So those are the major things that you absolutely need to do to break in and get started acting with no experience. And I just want to leave you with this One really important thing, just remember, no doesn't mean never. And I can't tell you how many times I've been told no in my acting career. It's, it's what I expect. That's just the way things are because it's very difficult to actually book a job, even a very, very small role. But The thing is, if the interest is there for you, which it sounds like it is, then go after it because you never want to be in a situation where you are— you don't pursue it and it's constantly haunting you and you're always wondering, what if? You don't want to be in that situation. It's not good. So no doesn't mean never. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. Thank you, Aaron.
