How to Start an Acting Career Outside of Hollywood

Acting in the Big D or the Big Shoulders Instead of the Big Apple

So you want to act, but you don't live in Hollywood? So what? Starting outside of Hollywood or New York is a different experience than starting within. Some would say the experience of acting, in local areas or even in larger regional areas such as Dallas (Big D) and Chicago (City of the Big Shoulders), is much more satisfying in some ways than acting in Hollywood. Why is that?

There are tremendous benefits to staying local while you start your acting career. Because of the smaller pool of competition, you have the potential of playing in more projects and having a wider variety of acting roles open to you. There are exciting opportunities to be involved in regional theatre or college theatre.

Some of these local acting opportunities will be closed to you once you gain union status. From that point on, you're limited to Equity, SAG or AFTRA productions, and you've lost the more grassroots acting opportunities that give you strength and power as a performer.

This extra experience is important to honing your art and becoming a much more interesting and well-rounded performer. It is also a key component of building an impressive acting resume and gaining the experience and skills you will need to tackle Hollywood with confidence, should you choose to do so later. Acting isn't all about Hollywood anyway - it's a part of life. Any skills you learn to be a better actor can also enrich your life in general. You can do that anywhere you live.

How to Find Acting Parts

Go very local in the beginning. Community theater groups thrive everywhere, and are very open to acting newcomers or old-timers. There's no pay involved in these groups, but they are vibrant, and the credit still counts towards your resume. You'll need that black-and-white 8X10 and a resume with lots of credits before you approach an agent.

Don't overlook college theatre, which is a good place to network with other professionals and to find more resources for auditioning. Colleges often sponsor more experimental pieces of theatre for educational purposes, and you don't have to be a student of a college in order to audition or be in a show.