Chips down – between the auditions, call-backs, casting calls and interviews, there could be drought of work when you’d kill to have a fall-back skill.

The most straightforward education standard has to be the path to a university bachelor’s degree (BA) in the arts. However, on-the-job experience can give you insights no professor could explain.

Movie and TV Acting

The most unpredictable fields of the performing arts, where anything can happen. If you read well in your auditions and casting calls, casting directors aren’t likely to reject you for your lack of ability to provide a high standard critique of Beowulf! Conversely, a deeper understanding of acting tools and techniques via study can prepare you for the frenetic, chaotic lifestyle so often resided by actors.

Theatre and Musical Theatre

This tends to be where your BA can stand out. An education in theatre-related subjects can be the best way into this intellectual, feisty brute of a business. In this case, education trumps on-the-job.

Modelling

In modelling, you need to be able to walk, pose and express on command. On-the-job wins hands down every time.

To use our service you must be 18 years and over (£1.50 per text, maximum of three per week).

There’s a reason arts professions use the term “lucky break”, and that’s because the recurring role of luck in this great movie of life is perhaps more significant than the best headshots or well-planned outfit. Some of the most eminent stars we love, blog about, watch, live up to and emulate exist as they do because of some sheer bit of luck somewhere.

Harrison Ford, disillusioned with the constant slog of auditions and Hollywood bit-parts, instead opted to train as a carpenter. After completing some work for George Lucas, Lucas called on his acting talents for a role in American Graffiti (1973). Several years of Lucas-fed work ensued until the role of Han Solo, and the rest is frozen in carbonite. Had Ford not all but given up acting for carpentry, he’d never have visited Lucas, and perhaps never have had the chance to appear on our screens, save the world and get the girl!

In terms of the modelling world, Kate Moss was plucked from post-vacation airport boredom in NYC by Storm model agency founder Sarah Doukas in 1988. A day, an hour, perhaps even a minute earlier or later, and one of our most significant fashion icons would just be another, regular girl.

The importance of luck and superstition is well-renowned in the capricious world of the arts, whether for auditions, castings, or model agency applications.

But remember, no matter your luck, you need to be 18 years and over to use our text auditions service (£1.50 per text with max of 3 texts per week).

The financial burdens of acting auditions can be great, especially when making your first foray into the business.

So why on earth is the standard 8×10 headshot in black and white? Surely colour would be more advantageous? The history of the headshot is an entirely different beast, and has all sorts of interesting links back to the various heydays of acting (it tends to depend on who you ask).

Essentially, the black and white headshot is a must because of its simplicity and standard format. There’s only so much re-jigging that can be done to a standard headshot, thus its appeal to casting professionals, as it shows a true reflection of what you actually look like.

Some quick tips:

- When posing, be natural and true to your look – a major frustration for casting personnel is when a headshot is only vaguely reminiscent of you.

- Smile! It’s the standard practice, and with the amount of people passing through auditions and casting calls, non-standard headshots tend to be tossed aside.

- Also, make sure that you consult several different photographers to get an idea of what their packages include, and to try and get the best deal.

Remember, you need to be 18 years and over to use our service (£1.50 per text with a maximum of 3 texts per week).

An audition is often a tense and difficult experience. In order to understand what you have gone through, try to analyze where you think you did well, and where you think you went wrong. Make a note of your thoughts. Be as objective as you can about yourself.

No two auditions are the same. If there were elements you liked or disliked about an audition, or aspects that stood out particularly for you, keep a note of these also. For stage auditions, much will depend on the style of the director himself. Try to assess why she or he auditions in a particular way. Keep a note of their name, the production and the date.

After a few auditions, you will begin to build up a picture of your experiences and your technique. You will be clearer about what you have to offer, and about what might be expected of you in future auditions. All of this helps you in your attempts to ‘land the next part.’

At Audition Now, we text you the latest work opportunities direct to your mobile phone: we’re doing our bit to help you land your next part.

When you are called to auditions, try to find out as much as you can about the people you are auditioning for: the more you know, the readier you will be to face them.

You can never be too prepared with your audition pieces: try to ensure you have a sufficient contrast between at least two pieces that should together last no more than five minutes. You may be asked to perform the pieces in a different way, and you will feel confident about this if you know the pieces really well: this is where the ‘perspiration’ really pays off.

Your CV (resume) should be up-to-date and clearly laid out on one single sheet of A4. You should also be ready to hand in a professionally prepared 10×8 portrait headshot. This is an expense, but if the likeness of you is good, it may prove to be an invaluable aide-memoire for the audition panel after the auditions are finished.

Here at Audition Now, we too are working hard finding out about the latest work opportunities, and texting them direct to your mobile phone so you don’t miss your big break.

However, if your ambitions are more realistic then there are opportunities for you in doing extras work. For a start, there is the reasonable pay. It is true that you are expected to be on call all day on a shoot, and the day itself may start as early as six in the morning, and not finish till well into the evening; but you will be remunerated correspondingly, and at a basic rate of over £100 a day, enough regular work as an extra can see you through the lean times.

Also, though you may not be discovered as the next big star, conversations happen that can lead to more work, and not just as an extra. All acting work is temporary, and actors as well as directors are on the look-out for future possible colleagues. Take along your CV just in case the opportunity comes up.

Great opportunities for extras work come up with us at Audition Now, and we can text all the latest of them direct to your mobile phone so you don’t miss out.

The great British actor Sir Alec Guinness once described acting as ‘happy agony’ and he may be referring to this paradox of mixed feelings. It is certainly odd that what are very painful experiences for actors in professional situations, may also be the work experiences that are the most rewarding for them.

This is not dissimilar to what many actors feel in acting auditions. Here, the confidence that an actor may gain from a four-week rehearsal period, is not available: he or she has just minutes to create a rapport with the audition panel.

This is an acute form of ‘happy agony’. At this most testing time, when you feel most vulnerable and insecure, you may very well feel empowered to give of your best. To ensure this, of course, you have to be extremely well prepared. But the satisfaction of a good audition, despite the anxieties, can itself be very rewarding.

Here at Audition Now we keep you informed of all the latest acting auditions; helping you into those situations where you can give your best.

Another good way to get into modelling is to find out where and when the big agencies are holding casting calls. Don’t be put off by the large numbers of hopefuls that turn up to these calls: if you have the looks and the patience, you can reasonably expect to make a mark, even amongst hundreds of others.

Modelling agencies generally advertise their casting calls in the trade magazines and the local press, but it can be hard work trying to keep up with all that’s available. If you spend all your time trying to find out what opportunities there may be, you will leave little time to turn up to the casting calls and make an impression.

This is where Audition Now can help. We keep you updated on the very latest modelling work, texting you direct to your mobile phone. This means that you are not only kept fully informed of modelling opportunities appropriate for you, but also that you have the time to maximise your exposure.

Sometimes, however, it can be advantageous to have specialised skills. Not only does it help out the production company, but it can also bring you some extra money. This may be where a car needs to be driven in shot, or a small piece of dialogue has to be said. These are the most basic examples, but it can happen that particular stage skills that you have acquired in your training as an actor turn out to be useful on set.

Some actors make it a rule for themselves never to take on extras work. Others are less ‘hardline’. It can however be worth your while if you are starting out on your career, if only because it is an insight into the basics of working onscreen. At £100 or more a day, it is also one way to ‘keep the wolf from the door.’

At Audition Now we offer you access to all the latest opportunities to work as an extra, texting you direct to your mobile phone.

Another important rule is not to outstay your welcome. As the Bard says. ‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’ There is nothing worse for an audition panel than to feel that an auditionee has run out of ‘tricks’ but is still hogging the limelight.

When you come to choose your pieces for auditions, you must consider how to offer contrasting styles of performance, whether tragic and comic, or classical and contemporary; you should also think about how to keep the speeches brief. The optimum is to offer material that displays a wide range of expression or of emotion, in a relatively short space of time. This derives from the old stage rule that it is better to have your public wanting to see more of you, than to have them wanting to see the back of you.

There are many little ways in which you can tweak your audition material to your advantage – keeping it brief is just one example – and help yourself enjoy the audition process. Here at Audition Now we also think timing is important. We keep you up-to-date with all the latest acting opportunities by texting them direct to your mobile phone.