Becoming an Actor In Australia

From a very young age, acting has always been a passion of mine, acting at every chance I got even if I didn't realise I was acting at the time. Since then I have developed my skills and grown more and more love for the craft.

As I have grown up over the past few years, I have studied Drama and theatrics in school learning the ropes of the craft of acting and developing my skills as an actor. I have since acted in many plays, Improvisations, class projects and mini school films advancing my skills and experience in the field.

Over the past year, I have finally become of age where I believe that I could at least attempt my acting career and see where I could end up with the amazing opportunities it may have to offer. Although there have been some set backs for me which I wish to share with those who have the same aspirations and dreams as me.

My first set back was trying to find an agency to represent me. This has been a very tricky thing for me as fees and other payments can be quite pricey when it comes to the acting industry, which is a downfall due to financial difficulties. Not only this, it can be quite difficult to be able to find an agency to represent you, when you never know if you can trust them or if their agency is legitimate or even if they will find you work to act in. Finding and having an acting agency as an actor is a very integral part to any persons acting career if they wish to be successful. Agencies play a major role in an actor's career as they find them work and other great opportunities which may help benefit their career. Furthermore, this set back has been key set back and my main set back for my career.

My Second set back was trying to find the money to get professional head shots done, as only few agencies allow you to pay to get head shots done, meaning in most cases you my need to find a professional photographer to get your photos taken. Why is this a problem you may ask? When it comes to the acting industry, your head shot photo and acting CV are the two main factors which must be up to date and are required when agencies find you work. Employers will look at your head shots as the first thing they do, sometimes and in most cases if your head shot isn't professionally done then they will disregard you in total. Hence, this set back has been tricky.

My third set back was personal and in some ways only minor. I see many actors are good looking, even young actors. I came to the conclusion that in various cases you have to be good looking to become a successful actor, so I had already lost in this case. Good looking? I think not.

As a freelance actor trying to find myself my own work even for short films or other small projects which I could improve my skills has been difficult. There is always a cost when it comes to freelance acting websites which allow you to find films, short films, commercials etc. to audition for. This isn't easy as I previously stated financially I cannot continue to find my own work.

Living in Australia, it can be quite challenging to find acting work. Although it's not as good as having Hollywood right around the corner, Australia is home to the Gold Coast. This is where many major feature films have been shot in the Village Roadshow Studios. This is a great source for acting work when the time come. However it's not as frequent as per say Hollywood.

I have seen a few of my friends, also actors, land mini series, TV series or even short films as they have easy access to finding and affording agents and other monthly subscriptions to casting sites. I find this challenging to watch fellow friends have easy access to these resources whereas I have little none. I still work hard day in day out, trying to better my skills and opportunities as an aspiring actor. I share my story in hopes of a fellow actor with the same setbacks as me to feel as though they aren't the only ones who have to work extremely hard for what they want instead of having it handed to them on a silver platter. I also share my story to find an audience to help me and join me on my endeavour to becoming an actor.

I hope you too can join me and help me in my journey to my career.