As an actor, you want to have an acting career in Los Angeles like Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks. That is a great wish, but for it to come true, you have a lot of work to do. That work includes not only finding Los Angeles headshot photographers to get professional headshots for your resume and your social media accounts. What does an acting career actually start with? It begins with the thing most actors hate and are even scared of: Auditions and casting calls. Yes, acting career begins with those stressful experiences called auditions.
It is not a joke saying that your acting career depends on acting auditions in Los Angeles. Therefore, you should respond to as many Los Angeles casting calls as it is possible to be successful. Don’t worry; everybody has gone through this at the beginning of their career, even megastars.
Don’t stress!
It is natural that you stress about this issue; however, everything becomes simple when you know what to do. This article will help you make the first step towards your dream acting career. Here you will read about where and how to find the best acting auditions in Los Angeles and enrich your resume with various acting experiences.
What to start with?
First of all, you should realize that in the modern world, there are many tools to help you reach your goal. There are many opportunities for everybody, and most importantly, it is effortless to find those opportunities. Also, you should realize that nobody is going to bring you those opportunities, but it is your job to look for them and to find them. It may sound a little sad, but it is temporary. You are just a starting actor, don’t forget about that. Soon after, the best directors of Los Angeles will start inviting you to play in their movies. But before, let’s look for some auditions.
As I said, there are so many tools, and the first one is the Internet. What does it mean? Yes, you can open your computer right now and find an audition for a role. The first website name you should type in your browser is Backstage.
1. Backstage
Backstage is a perfect website for starting actors. It offers not only professional advice but also provides casting calls in Los Angeles. Those calls include different types of acting auditions in Los Angeles. You can find roles in theatre, movies, and commercial advertisements on the Backstage website.
However, it is essential to note that Backstage is a paid website when it comes to Los Angeles casting calls and that is natural. In fact, most of the websites offering acting auditions in Los Angeles are paid. Backstage requires a monthly membership, which costs $19.99 . For that price, Backstage offers you:
Job applications
You can have unlimited access to Los Angeles casting calls of different types. It sounds like a perfect start for your acting career in Los Angeles, right?
Profile
Signing up to Backstage, you can create a professional talent profile. Here you can post your resume, your demo reel, and the most recent headshots by a professional Los Angeles headshot photographer.
Signing up to backstage is a perfect start for your acting career in Los Angeles. This website is legitimate, and it is not very expensive. Even though there are cheaper websites, you may still go for Backstage, as it offers terrific Los Angeles casting calls. It also gives you a considerable amount of suggestions on how to participate in acting auditions in Los Angeles. Therefore, paying to Backstage will be a tiny investment in your future career.
2. Breakdown Services
If you have an agent, then the website that will be really helpful is Breakdown Services. This is the best website where you will meet the best acting auditions in Los Angeles. This is where all the casting agencies and individual casting directors post announcements about Los Angeles casting calls. However, there is a nuance concerning this website. When I asked about the agent, it was necessary. The point is that only agents can use this website. They get special permission from this website and then, access to the best Los Angeles casting calls by professional casting agencies.
Unfortunately, as an actor with no agent representation, you will not have the chance to participate in these casting calls. However, this should serve as a motivation for you. Take steps to become a more prominent actor: do more acting work, contact more Los Angeles headshot photographers for photo sessions, be more active in your social media. This is all to say, get involved in your sphere more. Agents will notify you and suggest their services.
3. Actors Access
One more website for you to expand the variety of opportunities for acting auditions in Los Angeles. And there is one more good news concerning Actors Access. You don’t need an agent for that! This website provides not only Los Angeles casting calls, but also the ones in New York and Chicago just in case you need them.
However, logically, these services are not free. You should pay for applying to the casting calls. Do you want one more surprise? OKAY! It is very cheap! You pay only 2$ for one acting audition. You can also pay $66 per year and have unlimited access to all the possible auditions in Los Angeles. As a headshot photographer in Los Angeles, and a person very familiar to the acting industry, I suggest you pay $66, as you will participate in much more acting auditions in Los Angeles than you imagine. Let’s be serious: nobody applies for just one Los Angeles casting call. It is impossible to choose 1 in 10000. Just pay $66 and ask for all the 10000. You will save a lot of money, which you can spend on creating a website for yourself, getting good headshots from the best Los Angeles headshot photographers, and making good videos.
As you may understand, Actors Access is a dream place for starting actors. So, don’t hesitate to sign up.
4. Other services
There are many more websites where you can find acting auditions in Los Angeles. The three sites mentioned above are not the only ones. There is always a chance to do more and discover more. These are the names of other casting websites (I wanted to hyperlink the blog I have written called “6 Best casting websites of 2019, but it was not submitted in the website”) that you may find useful to sign up for:
Don’t miss your chance to take the most and the best that the Internet offers you as a help for building your acting career in Los Angeles. There will be no harm from signing in to as much casting websites as it is possible to get access to all the acting auditions in Los Angeles.
Social Media
Let us not forget about this powerful tool called social media, as casting agencies don’t forget about it. It is not a secret how powerful social media can be when it comes to spreading and looking for information. For starting an actor looking for Los Angeles casting calls, social media is beneficial.
Events
Many events related to the acting industry take place in Los Angeles. These events may not necessarily have websites, but they may be vital for your acting career. Participating in activities can actually be a perfect start of a job and a chance to participate in prestigious acting auditions in Los Angeles. You can meet influential casting directors during these events and communicate with them. You can also meet agents and persuade them to represent you during Los Angeles casting calls. Therefore, make sure to follow social media pages of events.
When you like or follow a particular page, make sure to scroll down to see the recommendations that the social media platform provides. As you are making only the first steps of your acting career, don’t hesitate to follow everything connected to Los Angeles casting calls. You will not necessarily communicate with all the pages you follow. However, these pages are extremely useful in that they provide you the chance to be aware of the news in the acting industry and the most recent acting auditions in Los Angeles.
By the way, don’t forget to follow all the official social media accounts of movie productions. What if they suddenly decide to make a job announcement? Who knows? And above all, it is your responsibility to follow the productions you dream to work with.
Social media will also allow you to find the best headshot photographers in Los Angeles and register for photo sessions.
Keep networking
It is extremely important to be active in the acting industry. Let’s say you have used the websites mentioned above and participated in a number of acting auditions in Los Angeles. That is not enough. You should search for more and more, and most importantly, you should make some contact with the influential people of the acting industry. You should make casting directors, writers, and maybe even producers know about you. What to do to find more casting calls and to participate in more acting auditions in Los Angeles?
- Get a job in the local theatre
- Don’t hesitate to do some volunteer acting in commercials
- Visit events connected to the acting industry
- Volunteer to participate in the films students make for their college projects
- Sign up for different acting classes even if you have already graduated from an acting school
- Join various filmmaking associations
- Follow the famous Acting blogs and YouTube channels to expand your knowledge and skills
Auditions for extras
Well, nobody said that becoming the new Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks starts with a lead role in a movie. Absolutely not! All the actors start with small characters where they appear for a couple of seconds in a crowd. Brad Pitt played an extra in a movie called “Less Than Zero” and he got only $38 for his role. Who could even imagine that this guy would appear in 2 Quentin Tarantino movies? So, don’t ever underestimate the job of extras and apply for Los Angeles casting calls for extras.
At the beginning of your acting career in Los Angeles, the work as an extra in an effortless and rapid way to get into more substantial roles in movies. However, of course, everything depends on you. You should take that role of an extra really seriously. Try to impress the director. Try to do everything so that the director notices you. Show off all your skills and demonstrate a massive interest in what you are doing. Grab the attention of the director and the crew, and maybe they will consider you for more prominent roles.
It will be unrealistic to say that the job of an extra is the key to a successful acting career in Hollywood. Don’t take it too easy. It should serve you like nothing else but a boost to achieve higher goals and be only the first step of a ladder leading to peaks such as the Academy Award for best actor or actress.
As a Conclusion…
Today, the Internet allows us to have quick and easy access to the information you are looking for. The acting career in Los Angeles does not start from the top. You have a colossal path to go through before you reach your goals and become a famous actor in Los Angeles. You should start your way by preparing a good resume, which includes a beautiful headshot by a Los Angeles headshot photographer, and then start filling in your acting experience. This experience should be vibrant, and for that, you should respond to all the Los Angeles casting calls you come across.
Take real steps to find casting calls and sign up to the websites and follow acting social media accounts that I presented in this article. Be very active: participate in events and never ever stop networking. Participating in acting auditions in Los Angeles is crucial for your acting career, so do that as much as it is possible, and you will become the Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks of the future.
