People ask me this all the time — at parties, in DMs, from cousins of friends who saw me on a show once. "I've always wanted to act. How do I start?"
And I always want to say: "The same way I did. Badly."
Because that's the truth. Nobody starts good. I wasn't good. My first acting class, I did a scene from Glengarry Glen Ross with all the subtlety of a car alarm. My teacher stared at me for about five seconds after I finished and said, "Well, you certainly have energy."
That was fifteen years ago. I'm still doing this. And the only reason I'm still doing this is because I kept going after that first humbling class, and the next one, and the seventy after that.
So if you want to start acting and you have no experience, no credits, no agent, and no idea what you're doing — good news. That's where everyone starts. Here's how to actually move forward.
Step One: Take a Class
I know. Obvious. But it needs to be said, because a surprising number of people try to skip this step.
You cannot learn to act by watching YouTube videos about acting. You cannot learn to act by reading books about acting. You can learn about acting from those things, but acting is a physical, responsive, in-the-moment skill that you develop by doing it in front of other people and getting feedback.
Find an acting class. What kind depends on where you are and what you can afford:
- Scene study is the foundation. Two actors working on a scene from a play or screenplay, getting direction and feedback. This is where you learn to listen, react, make choices, and adjust.
- On-camera technique teaches you the specific adjustments for working on screen — how the camera reads differently than a live audience, how to scale your performance, how to hit marks while staying in the scene.
- Improv builds spontaneity, listening, and the ability to make bold choices without overthinking. It's also genuinely fun, which matters when you're starting out and everything feels terrifying.
- Commercial technique teaches you the specific style of commercial auditions, which is its own strange art form.
You don't need all of these at once. Start with scene study or on-camera work. Take one class. Show up consistently. Do the work.
How to Choose a Class
Ask other actors. Seriously. If you know anyone who acts — even casually — ask them where they train and whether they'd recommend it. Word of mouth is the most reliable filter.
Look for a teacher who:
- Has actual industry experience (acting, directing, or casting)
- Gives specific, actionable feedback — not just "that was great" or "try it again with more feeling"
- Creates a safe environment where people can take risks and fail
- Doesn't promise you'll get an agent or book work (no class can promise that)
Avoid anyone who charges large upfront packages, guarantees meetings with agents or casting directors as part of the tuition, or makes you feel like you need to spend thousands of dollars before you've even started.
A good beginner class might cost $150–$400 for a multi-week session. That's normal. If someone's charging $5,000 for a "launch your career" package, walk away.
Step Two: Get Comfortable on Camera
Even if you're interested in theater, the reality of the modern acting industry is that most work happens on camera. And on-camera acting is a specific skill that feels unnatural at first.
The best way to get comfortable? Start recording yourself.
Set up your phone with decent lighting and a clean background — nothing fancy, just good self-tape basics — and record yourself doing a monologue or a scene. Then watch it back.
This will be painful. Your first reaction will be to hate everything about it. That's normal. Push through. Watch what you actually did versus what you thought you were doing. Notice where you're indicating emotion instead of feeling it. Notice where you're moving too much or not enough. Notice what works.
Record yourself regularly. It's the fastest feedback loop you'll get outside of class.
Step Three: Build Your Materials
Once you've been training for a few months and you're starting to feel comfortable, it's time to put together the basics.
Headshots
You need at least one professional headshot. Not a selfie. Not a photo your friend took at brunch. A proper headshot that shows what you look like today and gives casting a clear sense of your type.
You don't need to spend a fortune — plenty of good headshot photographers charge $300–$500 for a session. Ask your acting teacher or classmates for recommendations. We've got a full breakdown of commercial vs theatrical headshots if you want the details.
Resume
Your resume should list whatever experience you have, even if it's minimal. Training counts. List your classes, your teachers, any workshops. If you've done student films or community theater, list those.
Keep it clean and honestly formatted. Don't pad it. Everyone in the industry knows what a beginner resume looks like, and there's no shame in it. What looks bad is when a beginner tries to make their resume look more experienced than it is.
Demo Reel
You probably won't have a reel right away, and that's okay. But as soon as you have any footage — from a class showcase, a student film, or scenes you've shot yourself — start putting something together. Even sixty seconds of decent footage is better than nothing.
Step Four: Start Auditioning
You don't need an agent to audition. There are thousands of projects casting through open platforms:
- Actors Access — the industry standard for self-submissions
- Backstage — broad range of projects, good for beginners
- Casting Networks — widely used, especially for commercial work
Create profiles on these platforms. Upload your headshot and whatever footage you have. Start self-submitting for projects that match your type.
Here's the thing nobody tells beginners: you're going to submit for a lot of stuff and hear nothing back. That's not failure. That's the math. Casting directors receive hundreds of submissions for every role. Even experienced actors with agents don't book most of what they submit for.
Your job at this stage is to get audition experience. Every self-tape you send, every audition you attend, teaches you something. You learn how to prepare quickly, how to make choices under pressure, and how to handle rejection without spiraling.
Start with student films, short films, indie projects, and web series. Say yes to things that give you experience and footage, even if they don't pay. You're building a foundation.
Step Five: Say Yes to Everything (For a While)
Early in your career, experience matters more than selectivity. Take the student film. Do the community theater production. Perform in the showcase. Read for your classmate's self-tape.
Every hour on set, in a rehearsal room, or in front of a camera is training you can't get any other way. You're learning how sets work, how to take direction, how to work with other actors, and how to handle the logistics of an unpredictable schedule.
This phase doesn't last forever. Eventually you'll need to be more selective about what you take on. But at the beginning, volume matters. Get reps.
Step Six: Build Toward Representation
Once you have some training, a few credits, decent materials, and a sense of what you play, you can start thinking about getting an agent.
Notice I said "start thinking about." Getting an agent is not step one. It's not even step three. You need to be ready — ready meaning you have materials an agent can actually use to submit you, and skills solid enough that you won't embarrass yourself (or them) in the room.
The actors who get signed aren't the ones who want it the most. They're the ones who've done enough work that an agent can look at their headshot, watch their reel, and think, "I can sell this person."
What Nobody Tells Beginners
It Takes Longer Than You Think
Most actors spend one to three years training and building credits before they start booking meaningful work. Some take longer. The overnight success stories you hear about are almost always preceded by years of invisible grind.
Rejection Is the Job
You will be rejected constantly. Not because you're bad — because there are hundreds of actors who could play any given role, and casting can only pick one. Learning to process rejection without taking it personally is arguably the most important skill in this career.
You Don't Need Permission
You don't need an agent's permission, a casting director's blessing, or anyone's approval to start. You need a class, a camera, and the willingness to be bad at something for a while.
The actors who build careers aren't the most talented people in the room. They're the ones who kept showing up after everyone else quit.
The Industry Has Changed
Self-tapes have fundamentally changed how actors audition. You can submit for projects from your apartment. You can build footage on your phone. You can create a professional presence without leaving your city.
That's an enormous advantage for beginners. Ten years ago, you had to move to a major market and hope someone would see you. Now, a good self-tape can get you in front of casting directors anywhere.
The Bottom Line
Starting an acting career is not complicated. It's just hard.
Take a class. Get on camera. Build your materials. Start submitting. Get experience wherever you can. Learn your type. Be patient with yourself.
And when you tape your first audition at midnight because the deadline is tomorrow morning and you have no idea what you're doing and the lighting is terrible and you're pretty sure you mispronounced the character's name — welcome to acting. It only gets weirder from here.
You're going to love it.