by Leigh
(NJ )
QUESTION:
I am 30 years old now, and have always dreamed of being an actress. What steps would I need to take to make that happen? Am I too old now ?
ANSWER:
You’re never too old to follow your dreams, I think. It’s true that it’s harder for women to find acting jobs and that starting late is one more challenge, namely because you’ll be going against actresses with longer resumes and more experience, but becoming an actor is challenging at any age, and if you already had another career, you may find it easier to deal with the ups and downs of this one.
What to do next depends on lot on where you’re at now and where you want to go. If you already have another stable career that offers the flexibility of going out on auditions of if money is not an issue for other reasons, you can fully concentrate on your career. You could go to a full-time acting school to get the basic training you need. I would choose a school with a semi-professional theater and plenty of performance opportunities if you’re interested in doing theater.
Which takes me to the next thing you want to consider… What kind of acting career do you want to have? Are you dreaming of being on the stage or mainly interested in becoming a working actor in film and television? Theatre requires more training. If you want to be a screen actress exclusively, at 30 years old, you may be better off taking a few specific acting classes, like a scene study class, a film acting class and most importantly, an audition class that includes cold readings. So many good actors are not good at auditioning. Make this your specialty, become an expert auditioner.
When you start acting later, it can be a good area to focus all your energy on one area. For example, you could go after independent films exclusively, or television shows, or commercials. If you choose independent films, you can focus your energy on attending film festivals, connecting with new directors and auditioning for short films. If you choose television, you can focus on the shows you’re right for to pick workshops with the right casting director offices, etc. Once you start getting jobs in one field, it’s much easier to expand from there.
A lot of actresses your age who have been at it for years haven’t gotten very far. This is the reality of this very competitive field. You had a different career, which can be a plus. Check out this video by one of our affiliate partners, David Green. He had another career before he started acting and has booked roles on many TV series as an actor since then. From his experience, he came up with a series of “smartcuts” that help actors like you get results and not waste time. His techniques are particularly useful if you are mostly interested in making it in Hollywood (film and TV acting).
Good luck!
You may also want to check out this link on the site
And of course, if you haven’t already, visit our become an actor page where you’ll find a step by step guide to becoming an actress.