Asking agent for particular auditions

[Headliner]

I went to an audition today for a film and I spent quite a lot of time chatting to the CD and her husband (who's an actor) and they were both saying that I shouldnt be afraid to say to my agent, "I really want to work in the National Theatre/Eastenders etc etc" and ask them if they have any contacts for those particular projects.

Those are just examples and there's not one particular programme/show that I want to be in, but I would like to be seen for more TV dramas/soaps (so far i've had none for them).

1) Is this true? I dont want to seem pushy
2) How would I go about asking them about it? Because surely if there was a suitable role my agent would submit me i.e. they're already doing all the can to get me work.

[ash]

you need to work with your agent, its important they know where you would be willing to work (and where you wouldn't) what roles specifically interest you etc

Otherwise they are effectively shooting in the dark on your behalf, when your criteria are "find me work" and as a result it is invariably hit and miss,

so think it through and book a session to go and discuss, after all it is your career so it is up to you to manage it and manage your agent good luck

[pg]

I completely agree with Ash. You should definitely be able to talk to your agent about your career. You should also be prepared to listen to what the agent has to say about what their experience is and to seriously consider any advice they give you. I agree with what you were told at your casting but I think it could be a bit misleading if you take it too literally. It helps if you understand how casting works (your agent might be happy to talk to you about it or you could read books,ask questions or go to workshops on the subject).

It is quite likely that your agent will have good contacts with some Casting Directors and not with others. This means that your agent may find it very difficult to have much say in whether or not you get seen for particular auditions. You may find that your agent isn't completely open and honest about this (not wanting to be considered a lower tier agency) or they may be happy to say quite honestly "I understand your desire to work there and I will do what I can to get you seen, but I doubt they will take much notice because a) they rarely deal with any of my other clients so they don't know me and I don't have much to do with them and b) you just don't yet have the sort of experience/showreel that will make them sit up and take notice".

It is only if you talk to your agent that you will be able to gauge whether it is you or your agent (or both or neither) standing in the way of you being considered and eventually seen for jobs you would like to do. It might just be simply a matter of keeping on keeping on doing what you and your agent are doing now, though there is usually something useful you can do to increase your skills and improve your profile.

If you would like to be seen for TV roles then you need to talk to your agent about what he or she considers is standing in the way of you being seen. It may just be numbers applying/lack of roles you are suitable for, or it might be that your agent doesn't have brilliant connections so they really can't pull any strings for you. They might even feel disinclined to pull strings for you as they don't feel you yet have the experience needed to shine in a high profile audition and they don't want to harm their own reputation by hassling a CD to get you seen for something you are not yet ready for (that sounds harsh, but it would be as well to know it!).

If you are relatively inexperienced then it is quite likely that you are being "out-gunned" by other actors for the role you COULD do and your agent knows this quite well (in which case they should talk this over with you). In other words, the other actors in your casting bracket are more experienced (less risk for the production company) and /or they have something on their CV which sparks an interest and, importantly, if the CD is considering actors they don't yet know for TV roles, that other actors have decent showreels available to view and you don't (do you have a showreel on Spotlight?). Chatting to your agent about this should enable you to understand what can increase your chances of being seen - which might be something you do rather than something your agent does. Does that make sense?

Although it is absolutely fine to have a goal like " I want to get a TV role" or " I want to appear with a prestigious theatre company", I don't think it makes all that much sense to be aiming for a particular TV show because they might never have a character in it in your casting bracket (I know that's a bit unlikely, but hopefully you can see what I mean - you are unnecessarily giving yourself too difficult a target to hit - or rather you don't even know whether you are pointlessly shooting your arrows where there isn't a target). That's where I think the advice you were given at the casting could be misleading. You could have " to be on Eastenders" or "to be the new star of Silent Witness" as your dream, but a better goal might be "to get a TV role". Then your next goal can be " to get a better TV role". You can be as "pushy" as you like with your agent, and you can confide in them what your dream is, providing you understand how casting works and what an agent can and can't do. What an agent definitely can and should do is understand a client's ambitions and talk about the most likely way to achieve them.

Did you talk to your agent when you joined them about what you wanted from your career and where you hoped to be in, say, five years' time?

[Headliner]

Thanks for the great replies!

I think I will have to arrange a meeting with them to chat things over. I kind of signed with them in a rush and didn't get much of a chance to talk things over with them when I first joined their agency (although they are a very well reknowned agency). It's probably my lack of experience that is stopping me from getting certain auditions, but that said i've had auditions for Steven Spielburg's Warhorse, The Inbetweeners etc which i thought would have been much more fussy about auditioning people with loads of experience. So I'm not really sure where I stand.

I have had one bit of professional work but there's no way near enough footage to create a showreel, so in the mean time im looking to get some experience in student/short films too.

I've had auditions for Disney/Nickelodeon TV series, but never long-standing TV programmes like all the different soaps, Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, The Bill etc which most actors I know have done. I just want to know why?

Like I said, thanks so much for the such detailed post!! It's really helped!

[pg]

I've had auditions for Disney/Nickelodeon TV series, but never long-standing TV programmes like all the different soaps, Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, The Bill etc which most actors I know have done. I just want to know why?

One reason for this might be to do with time/numbers. Although these drama series/soaps employ many actors (so you are very likely to come across actors who have been in these programmes), there will only be a relatively small number of actors seen for each role, certainly for the smaller, one episode "guest artiste" roles (it might only be 3 or 4). The CDs don't have time to spend considering lots of people so they will short-list either from people they already know (or know about) or choosing new people whose showreels they can view. Larger projects have more time and may see more people and have more rounds of auditions. This is a bit of a guess, just based on my own experience and that of other actors I know. I expect your agent will have an explanation/viewpoint based on much more experience than I have.

Good luck! I hope you get the answers you need.