Seda Stepanyan

August 10, 2019

3 Tips for Emerging Actors!

Acting has become one of the toughest, most challenging, and competitive industries. Nowadays, with so many acting opportunities and various media platforms it is harder to get noticed as a professional actor. Here are a few useful tips for emerging actors who are struggling to get through auditions.

1. Be confident!

Whether you are a teacher, a lawyer, or a president you need maximum confidence to get the job done. Otherwise, the directors and the production crews would not trust you to be part of their project. If you do not believe in yourself, why would they believe in you? But, don’t forget that confidence comes with knowledge, skills and having your homework done. You can’t just stand there and feel confident without knowing the lines. As a headshot photographer, I can state that there are no good or bad looking people. There are just confident and less confident ones. As headshots mostly focus on eyes, they easily give away what’s in your mind and how you feel about yourself. Just work on yourself on a daily basis and confidence will come with intelligence and experience.

2. Keep improving!

Los Angeles is full of acting opportunities. Every day thousands of actors make it through auditions. What about you? Your agent hasn’t responded to your calls for a while? No auditions fit for you? What do you do? Keep busy! Take acting classes. Collaborate with other actors, photographers, directors. Finally, shoot a short film, web-series, or a vlog. Besides keeping you busy they will keep you in shape, add to your acting portfolio, keep your social media accounts active. Nobody wants to go to an audition after months of pause and look out of shape.

3. Update your headshots!

Haven’t had any success in auditions for a while? Maybe, it’s time to get new headshots. Usually, you should update your headshots every one or two years if you’re an adult. For kid actors, it is recommended to get new headshots done every six months. We also advise getting new headshots if you have gained or lost weight, changed the hairstyle, or got rhinoplasty done (especially if you’re an Armenian, like me). Another reason why to get new headshots is adding new character looks to your existing headshots. I understand that headshots in Los Angeles can be a bit too pricey. But, believe me, it is worth it. If you are not sure how much it makes sense to spend on a headshot consider how much a day you make as an actor. Don’t save on hair and makeup, as well. Wearing the right makeup is crucially important. Some photographers offer headshot packages that include hair and makeup as well. Check out this page for our headshot pricing and packages in Los Angeles. Check out our future posts for more tips for actors.

To get more information on how to get ready for the photoshoot and how to avoid the most common mistakes read our blog.

0 likes

1 Comment

Seda Stepanyan

March 19, 2019

6 Ways to Fail Your Acting Career

1.Sitting and Waiting.

Exactly! Don’t sit and wait for an agent or a manager to sell you, or a director to offer you a part. Every day is a struggle to do more, to create more and to strengthen your skills as an actor. About doing more: work on your social media by not just posting food or nice landscapes but create your instagram page as an actor, create your brand and try to engage as many followers as possible. Nowadays, videos engage more audience than photos. Choose a topic and tell your story both on instagram and youtube. As an emerging actor you could document and share your experience with getting booked for auditions, making or failing them, getting headshot sessions, learning new special skills like martial arts, a new language or an accent, and adding them to your resume. Anything you do, from getting into auditions, taking acting classes, making connections to getting new headshots will get you to the next level.

2. Judging Yourself Negatively.

Don’t be negative about yourself. By doing so you can eventually convince yourself that you are not good or talented enough. That way you lose your confidence and the failure will be there waiting for you. Instead, evaluate your current skills and abilities and work on yourself. It is also worth asking for others opinion. And, if you follow my advice and start your vlog, you will have a larger audience to ask opinion from.

3. Competing All the Time.

Acting is not boxing or some other type of a sport. There are no winners or losers especially if you’re part of the team. It’s more about collaborating than competing. If people feel that you are trying to defeat them, they would not feel comfortable to work with you. Remember, it’s like any other business, we hire people we enjoy working with.

4. Procrastination.

Don’t put off things you should have done weeks ago. If you get into habit of procrastination it is hard to get rid of it. It results less success and more stress. Besides, it lowers your self-esteem and can ruin your career. As a result, you start blaming yourself, feeling negative and blowing a lot of opportunities. Instead, make a poster that says “Do it now!”, pin it to the wall. Schedule your day, your week, your auditions, meetings, headshot sessions, acting classes and stick to your goal plan. You can schedule headshot sessions with us by clicking here.

5. Saving Money on Professional Services.

There’s this popular saying “Dress for Success”. For actors, it also includes turning to professionals for taking care of your skin, hair, getting headshots by professional photographers, making sure to have your makeup and hair done by professionals as well. If you don’t look your best in the pictures, believe me, it’s waste of money. I used to offer free headshots and people would come with dirty hair and bad skin. Why? Why would they waste both their and my time? As a result, I wouldn’t even get a chance to use those pictures for my portfolio. Nowadays, I charge for headshots. You can see my current rates here. For auditions, try to wear neat and new clothes. They don’t have to be super expensive but looking neat is a way to say that your respect yourself and people who are about to give you a job.

6. Giving up.

Giving up is the easiest thing. You can find chapters about giving up the acting career in every famous actor’s biography. It could be caused by rejections, failed auditions, lack of money or support. If you want to make it to Hollywood you should never give up!