Getting started

First thing to realize- your career is a business. And as with any business one needs promotional materials. Headshots are one of your main sources of this. One must have them to submit themselves on any large number of things.

Get online-
LA Casting and Actor's Access are two main lines to getting casting notices. Casting notices are where someone is casting a project and you may submit yourself directly to it. You upload your headshots, résumé, skills and other info and start clicking away at the projects you're interested in or are right for.

Tip: try and do your submissions twice a day. Its kind of an early bird/worm thing. I've casted a couple projects before, the people who get there first, get seen more. Its just how it goes.

This at the very least is a good way to get started from scratch. You will have to pay for LA Casting if you don't have an agent though.

Get in class-
Find an acting class that you enjoy, feel safe creating and is affordable. Being in a class you enjoy is good for many reasons, it allows you to create and practice your craft and it connects you with other people wanting the same thing from life as you and people that can help guide you as well. Classes in LA vary, but pricey does not mean better. I don't get paid by The Acting Center. But I do happen to believe so strongly in their technique that I don't recommend going anywhere else. The Acting Center

Make friends-
Make friends with other actors. They're in the same boat as you, so ahead and some behind. Help them if you can, ask them for help if you need it. Ask me if you want to. :)

First Things First

Are you an actor? Do you want to be an actor? I had a very hard time back in the day calling myself an "actor" or "artist." It basically sucked. It took practice. When I was a kid I told someone I was going to be an artist. I remember being told not to be an artist, ("because artist don't make any money"). So one day I realized that I didn't believe that and I started in drama class that year. I decided to skip college and move down to LA and do acting.

Meanwhile, I had also decided that I was not going to wait tables, EVER. So I became a hairstylist. I sat on my laurels for a couple years before I became serious about actually acting and I got myself into an acting class. I went to a class where the teacher gives their critique and other people put their two cents in and you spend months rehearsing a scene for class only to have it ripped to pieces by the people you are trying to please. Needless to say, well, maybe not needless because other people seem to endure it at the price of their individual style, but I digress, I didn't last too long in that class. I would go into class feeling excited to work and create and leave feeling like shit. So I stopped going.

A couple years went by and one of my same teachers from the last class saw me. She said, "Eva- There is a new class. This is the class for you!" She told me a little bit more about it and I was sold. I decided to start right there and I signed up a week later. That was a year and a half ago. Since then I have booked many many projects and my artist purposes have been restored to great heights.

In summation-
Even if you aren't actively doing your art, you are still an artist.

College is overrated. Especially for the arts unless there is a technical aspect to it.

Don't be a lazy ass if you want to make anything happen.

Fallback careers are fine as long as you don't get consumed by it.

Critiquing is not necessary for you to become better as an artist.

Love yourself. Go on artist dates by yourself doing things that inspire you.

Help others and they'll help you, but don't do it conditionally.