Actors always want to talk about agents. And rightfully so: you can’t really build a career in Hollywood without an agent. There isn’t really a way to "pound the pavement" or "make the rounds" as we used to say. A good agent makes a big difference in Hollywood.

Without one, or even with one, you should do as much career-building yourself as you can. SAMUEL FRENCH BOOKSTORE (online, in Hollywood or Studio City) is an invaluable source. Not only do they have millions of scripts and books, but they have monthly updated mailing labels for casting directors and agents. How do you start? With friends recommendations, and a couple of books. Grab K. CALLAN’S agent book. K built a terrific career as an actress; respected and popular. And she’s written several terrific books on the industry. Keith Wolff’s THE RIGHT ACTOR is useful, though not always up to date. Use these books to begin to target agents who might be right for you… and start mailing them. Postcards with your picture (I recommend REPRODUCTIONS in Studio City for this service), pics and resumes, show flyers, jokes… whatever you have. Remember: so much of our business is brand recognition. You want agents and casting directors to think they know you, and to have a positive response to your name and face. Remember that they don’t always remember where they met you, they just remember that they know you. (Warning: no one wants you to see another Dennis Woodruff-ask around about THAT name!) So, market yourself wisely. Do plays, casting director workshops…and send out mailings. Try out LA CASTING, BACKSTAGE WEST, and NOW CASTING online. Check out SHOWFAX. Get familiar with IMDB.com.

Getting a good agent is difficult. Ask friends for recommendations, that’s the best way. Start to build a demo reel if you can get help and get equipment. Make an indy film (check out www.tooniceguysproductions.com for help). You’ll need tape or film on yourself. You’ll need to build your resume. Learn to be an actor. Get in a good class. Spread the word that you’re looking for an agent.

Mail your pic to casting directors, too. Maybe you’ll get lucky. But you’ll also be building your name and image recognition.

You can begin to build a good career without an agent. You can develop your career without one. But for the good projects… sooner or later you’ll need a good agent. And the problem is: it’s REALLY difficult to get a good agent if you’re not already making money as an actor. The exception is if you’re young and hot. That makes it easier. If you are, get READY (see above) and get GREAT PICTURES (I rec Bader Howar or Felicity Huffman), and start mailing. You’ll get bites. But make sure your work is ready. If you’re not quite young, and not QUITE Hollywood hot…. then start building yourself as an actor. Find your essence, market that, and study and work to be the best actor you can be. Work anywhere and everywhere you can. Spread the word, network, get out there…

That’s what I call most of the stuff I see: "good actors doing good acting". You see a lot of that around here. After all, this is Los Angeles… it’s the big leagues. There are a lot of good actors around here. When I sit in on auditions, whether it’s as a director, writer, producer, casting director, or just a guest… most of what I see is good actors doing good acting. But once in a while… some precious once in a while, something extraordinary happens. Something magical and personal and remarkable that makes it seem like only THAT actor could do what they have just done. That the words weren’t written by someone else sometime before. That what just happened wasn’t rehearsed and polished and planned. It didn’t seem like ACTING. It seemed REAL and I felt like I was spying and seeing something I shouldn’t have been seeing. That I truly was a fly on the wall. For me, this is GREAT acting. Something more than good actors doing good acting. It’s what I always strive for.

So, how does it happen? It happens, I think, when the work is PERSONAL. When an actor says "This is me. This is about ME." When you don’t care what "they" want, and you say "I don’t care if this is good or not, but THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY." What it’s like to be ME. I always start with the premise: this is ME. This is not about some character I have to find, this is me in this situation, with these circumstances. Sometimes I substitute things in my mind to turn up the intensity of my emotions. But I always try to make it truthful and personal.

In class, Marty and Maggie did a scene from CRASH. It was electric. Everyone felt it. He is of Asian descent, she is African-American and has Cerebral Palsy. The scene was fierce and it seemed as if anything could happen. They blew the roof off it. Afterward, someone asked them if they’d rehearsed at that intensity. Of course not. They just set parameters, boundaries of trust ("You can’t hit me"), and sketched it out. Then, they personalized it. It took our breath away. So, why doesn’t it happen more often? Because it costs you something. You have to go THERE. To that place. It takes rage and vulnerability, commitment, sexuality, fearlessness. It takes courage. It takes investment. It takes a tremendous effort to make choices that have RISK for you. Most actors are either misguided or don’t even think in these terms. Most actors are too lazy or self-conscious or vain. You have to WANT to be this kind of actor, It doesn’t just happen. But when it does, when something explosive and vital and fresh and real happens… it makes everything else look like ACTING. All of the people I know who are successful in movies are AUTHENTIC. They seem real. They don’t seem like actors. They seem like the real guy in the movie. Good actors often get callbacks… but it’s the real thing that books. 

Some people are great at business. Some people are great actors. Unfortunately, we in Hollywood have to be both. To be an actor in our business, you must constantly cultivate both sides. I wish it was as simple as just doing great work, and the rest would follow. It doesn’t. Constant mailings: postcards, new pictures, networking, new demo reels, notes, letters, meetings, workshops…. it never ends. And we really just want to ACT! Sadly, the system is clogged with people who are very good at the business side, and are mediocre actors. So much of our "business" work is just cutting through that clog…

In class we touched on both. There was a discussion sparked by Anna Corizon who, due to her recent success, had to make a choice about changing agents. There’s an old actor joke that changing agents is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

Anna has started out with the small, but good, agency which represents me. I have been loyal to them for many years and brought Anna to them. But, of course, now that she’s hit the big time, she’s being wooed by every "power" person in town. Her head is spinning. I advised her to stick with our agent and be loyal, and everything will come her way. But, of course, she has many big voices whispering in her ear. And perhaps I’m wrong… I don’t know. Many people have told me that my career is not bigger than it is, because I have been too loyal. That’s just me. My agent, a wonderful person and a very hard worker, has told me countless stories of now-famous people that she discovered and got started, only to have them bail on her when they hit it big. And now Anna…

She was too embarrassed to tell me, only left a message. She was crying and said that she was going with one of the big, "hot" agencies. What can I say? I wish the best for her and I want her to make the best of her opportunities, but she sounded terribly stressed and didn’t come to class. My agent left me three messages, also upset, about a letter from Anna to inform her that she was "moving on". It’s difficult, I know. I have often wished I were better at business. I can only advise people to follow their hearts.

I hope Anna will be OK… And I understand that she is riding a great wave right now…

Marty Lee and Tara did a kissing scene in class: a couple saying goodbye at the airport. They were frustrated afterward because it felt stilted and fake and uncomfortable. How odd it is that we actors are expected to walk onto a set and be immediately intimate with total strangers, in front of a room full of more total strangers!

We talked about how to approach these sort of scenes. It seems, first of all, that you have to establish trust between the two of you. Talk about the boundaries, and your objectives in the scene. I always try to look into the other person’s eyes, to listen to them, to connect with them. I try to find something I like about them, to begin to trick myself into falling in love with some part of them. Usually it’s easy. Rarely have I had to fall back on some technique… like "substitution",  which is something I was taught at the Strasberg school years ago: you simply imagine that the person you’re doing the scene with is someone else, a someone else who makes the scene work for you. The danger here, of course, is that you may drift off into some "actor-land"; and are no longer present in the scene. Some people prefer the more Meisner approach: look at the other person, listen to them, connect to them in the here and now, and go with it. Much as I described earlier. The weakness here, of course, is that perhaps your feelings for this other actor in the here and now, are not deep enough to serve the scene. But I usually find that if I spend a little time with the other actor, an intimate talk, a walk, a couple drinks… it’s very easy to connect and to fall into each other… which, of course, can cause another whole set of problems that I won’t go into here! Ah, the actor’s life… remember: techniques are only tools to help you solve problems. Usually good actors don’t need them because we are sensitive and open people with great imagination.

On the rare occasions that I’ve had to have love scenes with people I just can’t stand, I usually have just tried to stay away from them as much as possible. If it’s a TV show or movie, it’s over very quickly for most of us anyway, and you just have to get through it and make it work. A play is far more challenging, as it goes on and on… That has happened to me also, once: where I had to be in love with someone I just couldn’t stand for the entire run of a play. It was a nightmare. But I did my best to make it work, to be nice to her, and to make her fall for me… I’m sure it wasn’t my best work… But, I lived. So much of it is just PRETENDING. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Isn’t that part of the FUN of being an actor? What a luxury to be able to fall in love over and over again! Enjoy it…. because the business part of it is not that much fun…. for me, anyway.