A theatrical agent puts actors up for auditions and takes a percentage of what the actor earns. You can find out more about them over at the Agents Explained page. If you don’t have one, finding out about auditions and castings can be quite tricky – with good reason. Casting directors will really only be interested in auditioning represented actors therefore they will not make their casting breakdowns available to the general public. On rare occasions auditions and casting calls will be spread online or casting directors will look to youth theatres to find young actors for their roles. Here are a few tips to get stuck in and find auditions.

Attend Acting Classes

If you’re keen to get into the acting industry, after school drama clubs are the best to provide an encouraging environment for you to learn about the craft, build your confidence and also help you meet people that are interested in the same activity as you. Not only is keeping to drama classes the best way to keeping you acting, but casting directors, when searching for young talent, often look at local drama groups and sometimes even approach schools that aren’t specifically stage schools. Yorkshire drama group Upstagers, heard about the open castings for Narnia and persuaded the casting director to sit in on a lesson, resulting in their member Georgie Henley landing a part. It is easy to forget that the acting industry is built on contacts, and even your acting tutor at your local amateur drama group can help you!

  • Look for information about clubs and societies in your local newspaper or bulletin board. Before doing a big show clubs also place advertisements in local magazines and papers about auditions for new members.
  • There’s no point waiting around for casting directors that may not visit. Why not get your acting tutor to invite them to sit in on your sessions?
  • The National Association of Youth Theatres allow you to find registered Youth Theatres near you!

Network

Whilst you’re building up your acting experience and training with acting classes use your time wisely to learn what goes on in the casting world. If you want to be getting auditions and you don’t have an agent, you need to be both the agent and the actor! When you get an agent, their job is to find out what’s casting that you’ll be right for and then they will suggest you to be seen by the casting director working on that certain project.

Therefore, you need to research your casting directors, producers and directors. Take interest in the projects that take place in the UK, and who is involved with them. ‘Like’ their groups on Facebook, follow a producer on Twitter. In an online world we live in, it’s easier than ever before to connect. With casting directors, always study the projects they worked on previously and take a look at which actors were chosen for that project. This information will help you.

  • Keep in touch of festivals for film whether it be for shorts or features. Lots of festivals hold workshops and Q&A sessions with producers, script writers and directors. Just a few include the London Short Film Festival, Encounters (Bristol), Edinburgh International Film Festival or the BFI London Film Festival – the list goes on! Anyone can buy tickets and you’ll see some great films and actors at work that you might not have seen otherwise.
  • There are also lots of fringe and theatre festivals going on over the UK, the biggest being the Edinburgh Fringe Festival looking at fresh non-mainstream arts and performance. Keep your eyes peeled and see as many new plays as possible, taking note of new producers, screenwriters and directors you may want to get involved with in the future.

Know What’s Casting

Thanks to the amazing growth of the internet, actors can create profiles and web pages that offer their services directly to casting agents from all over the world. It is now easier than ever for actors to log on to what is casting. Casting calls and auditions for actors have been made available through websites that provide a service of regularly updated opportunities in TV, theatre and film, along with numerous other entertainment and showbiz categories. News of casting calls can be spread on message boards and forums. The possibilities are endless!

Websites such as these are incredibly accessible and offer opportunities in a wide range of work with touring shows, theme parks, chorus calls, companies, alongside traditional theatre work, TV and extra work, modelling, and independent or student films. However, service comes with a price, and some sites aren’t as good as others. Usually a monthly fee of around £5 – £20 is required to subscribe, and while it doesn’t break the bank, you don’t want to pay for a service that you don’t know will help you. Audition websites tend to cash in on any performers desperate for fame, and are really only offering work in the showbiz category, such as reality TV shows, game quiz shows or extra work. If you are under 16, the chances are that you will not fit the requirements of the opportunities offered anyway.

  • The PCR Newsletter (Production and Casting Report) is a regular newsletter giving updates on what is currently going into production and also what is casting. Although there is a fee to subscribe it’s well worth checking out to see what kind of production news is published to give you an idea of what’s going on.
  • Just because your information is online, doesn’t mean a legitmate casting director is going to offer you a film job straight away! Consider your online safety to be the most important thing and beware of fraudsters. There is a whole industry that has developed to take advantage of those who would like to become models, actors and singers, cashing in on those who are desperate to be noticed. If you do have to provide personal details or pay for a service online, do your research, see what other industry veterans have to say on the particular website or agency or get you parents to have a look. Remember: If it seems too good to be true, then it most likely is.
  • For a full list of casting websites and which one will be best for you, go to Casting Websites.

Remember

To get auditions without an agent you must portray instant professionalism, and dedication. Great auditions won’t turn up every day – the represented actors who have rightly earned their representation after years of experience and hard work will be the ones able to walk in and do the job with no fuss. That’s what the casting directors want!

But do have initiative – a producer might per chance see you in a play and consider you for their latest production. If no one except family will be at a showcase to see you, why not write to a casting director or agent offering them tickets to see your performance? They might remember you in the future to audition you for a part.

To be successful, or at least get your foot in the door, you must be absolutely passionate about acting. You must not rule out acting for stage or doing student films just because you want to be famous and only strive to be a big film star. To dream of bagging a major role from a one-off audition is very foolish indeed. Think realistically, work hard, proof your dedication and determination to perform and you’ll start to get your foot through the door.