by Eria Kline
(Kokomo, IN – USA)
QUESTION:
I’m 28 years old and have never acted at all, never even did any in school. But now that things have settled down in my life, I would like to give it a shot. Where do I get the funds to help out with acting? I have 3 children and it’s hard to have a lot of money on hand. Would also like to know if they come to Indiana for auditions?
ANSWER:
It is hard for actresses with no experience to start in the business past their early twenties because they face so much competition from actresses with long resumes, but it’s not impossible. Interestingly enough, I would argue that living in a small town in Indiana may actually work in your favor, as you shouldn’t face much competition there. Of course, there’s not many auditions to be found in Kokomo, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sign up for an acting class there or find a small community theater troupe. Joining a theater group is free, of course, and you can learn a lot about acting this way. You’ll get experience acting in front of an audience and you could learn warm-up and acting exercises from the other actors. There may be some shows being cast right now for the Christmas season. Ask around and check your local paper or online casting websites.
If you don’t have money for acting classes, go to the library and start reading some acting books. Visit our acting techniques page to get started. We highlight the must-have acting books for each technique at the bottom of each page. There’s also some sample acting exercises you can try at home to decide which technique you want to study.
Community theater is not the only way to start gaining experience as an actress. You can apply for a theater internship or submit yourself for non-union short films and student films (check out these tips on how to gain experience on our actor resume page).
Once you have a little acting training and a few acting credits on your resume, move on to the next step and submit yourself to acting jobs in Chicago. Chicago is one of the top theater towns in the country. Roles in film and TV are also cast there (there’s over 30 agents and casting directors working in Chicago). It’s a long drive but not so long that you can’t go there if you get a call for a really good audition. Just be selective when you submit your headshot and resume and try to get a local number so casting directors won’t be put off by the Kokomo area code.
If you start getting a lot of paying acting jobs, you can move to Chicago down the road (they have many good acting schools there, many of which offer financial aid). But if things don’t work out, you’ll be happy you didn’t leave your hometown.
Good luck! I think it’s very courageous to want to pursue your dream of acting with 3 kids. Please come back to post comments on this page to let us know how your acting career is going.