“My Agent Isn’t Getting Me Auditions!”

Here’s a great Q&A from a hacktor who has forgotten the only real rule in life…it’s not about your agent. It’s all about you!

Hacktor Question:

I have head shots, a resume, a manager and a commercial agent, however, I don’t get sent out to TV audition every day, or even every week. I feel that I can book the job, but I need to be sent out to these jobs. Only agents and managers can get you through the door for shows like Law and Order, etc.

What you think about my situation and where should I focus my attention?

David’s Answer:

You clearly are committed to your craft and career but you are already breaking the rules. What rules? The rule that there are no rules.

Maybe there are absolute truths in life like the sun comes up every morning, but the only truth in life is that no one but you is in charge of your life.

As soon as you say you need agents and managers to get in to one door or another, you have already submitted yourself to other people to control your destiny… what they think of you… how they view you… what they think you think or want and what they want… which will always win out over what you actually want.

I booked my first several acting jobs with no agent, no headshots, and no reel whatsoever.

I made my own relationships.

If things are not going the way you want, then rather than relegate yourself to ‘it’s not in my hands’ school of thought, take charge and make a plan for how to make things go the way you want.

Your agents really don’t care whether you succeed or fail. They want their clients to succeed, but not you personally. Only you want that, so you have to be in charge of your own power and your own life. You have all the power you need but as soon as you put it in someone else’s hands, it’s not yours anymore.

Never make excuses. It’s never anyone else’s fault but your own, which is great because you are also the one who can fix your problems.

If you want to work in American TV, you have two possibilities: either become so good they don’t care where your accent is from and there are very few people like that or focus on that and that only. Don’t worry about auditions if you can’t do the accent. Work on it night and day. You will get past it much more quickly if you make it a necessity.

Also ask yourself what is your dream job, without which you will wither and die? Figure out the perfect job for you and then create a plan to get it. If it is someone with an American accent, then it’s pretty obvious you need to overcome that. Meanwhile you could practice other accents like Russian, French, Spanish, etc since people in America are not going to know the difference for the most part if you are pretty close but a good actor.

Finally, despite your training, you have to assess whether your acting is where it needs to be. I always thought it was, but I was miles off until I started helping out in casting and seeing what the pros could do — like series regulars. They were so confident and could change things on a dime with only a few minutes notice. Ask yourself if you could be better and work on that too. Training looks good on paper but the camera can’t tell where you went to school.

OK, sorry for the tough love but maybe a few simple changes will make all the difference.
First thing though is to get really clear on what you want. Clear means knowing exactly what it is and being able to tell others. It should border on obsession, so that no one can knock you off the path and you will also recognize right away when something is on your path or not.