Headshots Do Matter: It’s the Determining Factor in Getting Auditions

I see many actors with amateur headshots and average headshots. If you’re one of them and not getting many auditions, this might be the reason why, I have two examples of actor friends (yes I got permission); one that went from amateur headshots and one that went from average headshots to great headshots. But before I show you the examples, consider the following.

During my last audition, the director told me that almost 3000 submissions were received by them for the role I was auditioning for. Out of those 3000 submissions, maybe 100 got auditions. Do you think they went through 3000 people and watched the reels of all of them. Zero chance. What they probably did was go though all the pictures and started pulling the ones they saw that could pull off the look for the part. Then if they needed to whittle the list down further, then watched reels. I wrote a post about how I went through the process of getting my headshots and how I came up with my “looks”.

The Amateur Headshot

Andrew Breed started out as a background actor, so he didn’t really need professional headshots. As he moved into principal roles, he continued to use his “headshots” for a while, but wasn’t getting many auditions. Recently. he decided to get professional headshots and went to Joe Funk. The decision, in part, was because the rest of our acting group had professional headshots and he saw the difference they were making for us. The before shots were generic, whereas the after headshots are specific. You can look at them and know immediately what roles he can play.

Before

After

The Average Headshot

I met Dana Elaine when I started offering up my audition room to other actors. She has been acting for 20 plus years, was trained in college and has done a ton of theater. When we first met, she took one look at my headshots and said, “I need new headshots”. She made an appointment with Jeremy Bustin and got new headshots made. The old headshots were getting her an audition a week or every other week. Since she got her new pictures, she is now getting 3-5 auditions a week.

Before

After

Yes, great headshots are expensive, but they are your calling card and what gets you into the door. If you’re not willing to invest in yourself, who would be? This is one of the most competitive industries in the world, why would you not give yourself every advantage to succeed.

Someone told me once, “If you’re not proud to show off your headshots, then you need new headshots.” I tend to agree with this.