How the Acting Process Works: From Submission to Booking a Role

It blows me away how many actors don’t know how the acting process works. The actors who post they are looking for roles, the ones who contact filmmakers and ask for roles, the ones who post their pictures in hopes to be discovered. Now, there are situations where this works, but it works on an amateur level. And by amateur level, I mean unpaid, deferred pay and low paying projects.

I know no amount of blogging will change the fact there will always be new actors who do very little or no research and jump into this industry, but I thought I would do a step by step process of how things work. There are always outliers, where actors get discovered walking in a mall, or hanging out in a park, but if that’s what you’re banking on, you’re better off playing the lottery.

The following process is assuming that you have headshots, a resume and a reel. All things you will need in order to take the next steps. It also assumes that you are self submitting. If you have an agent, they submit to casting calls for you. I wrote a post about the benefits of having an agent and it’s here:

Find Casting Calls – The first step is to find the roles. There are many ways to find roles, from casting sites to social media to networking. You can find my blog post about how to find casting calls here.

Submit to Casting Calls – Once you find a role that you fit. Your next step is to submit to the role. This will usually include your headshots, resume, and reel. On some sites, you can also include your size card which includes your body measurements. This info goes to the casting director who makes the choice on whether you get an audition or not. If I am submitting to a role through email, I include my resume and headshots as an attachment, my reel as a YouTube link, and links to my acting social media.

Getting the Audition – If the casting director likes what they see and think you might fit the role or whatever measure they use to send out auditions, you will get what is called a casting breakdown. A casting breakdown is a summary of a project and the roles being cast. It’s used to help casting directors find the right actors for their roles and to ensure that no important information is left out. A casting breakdown can include: 

• Character breakdowns, which list the roles in the film that have speaking parts and significant screen time. This includes the character’s name, age, personality traits, physical description, and relationship to other characters. It also includes the role’s commitment level, such as lead, supporting, or dayplayer for film. Or lead, guest star or co-star for TV series.
• A production overview 
• The pay rate and union affiliation 
• Logistics and requirements 
• Submission instructions 

The Audition – almost all auditions are self tape now. There are situations where I have gotten the option to do a Zoom audition and on the very rare occasion the audition is in person. Every actor’s audition process is different. If you’re interested in mine, here’s the post. At some point I need to update my post since my preparation process has changed quite a bit in the last year.

Wait – This is actually one of the hardest step in acting. Seasoned actors will tell you that once you do your audition and submit it, then forget about it and move on to the next thing. This is easier said than done and from experience, you have to go through this process twice. Once when you start out and doing auditions for small, independent and low paying projects. Then you have to go through the process again when you start get auditions for mainstream, big and life changing projects.

There are four potential outcomes after you turn in your audition:

• You will never hear back. This one happens the most since the average booking rate for an actor is between 1%-3%.
• You will get a callback. This is usually a zoom meeting where you redo the scene in front of the casting director and decision makers for the project. They will also ask you to make changes in the audition in order to see if you can take direction.
• You will be put on check avail, hold or pinned.
  • An “avail check” quite simply refers to the fact that casting is double checking your availability for the shoot dates of the role you’re in consideration for. It’s a signal that you’re one of the top choices for the role and to keep an eye on your calendar as a courtesy to casting. You do not receive a contract or payment for being on avail.
  • The term “pin” originates from the days when casting would literally pin actors printed headshots to a bulletin board as part of their casting process. Similarly to an avail check, it means you are one of the top choices for the role, and you must notify the team of any potential scheduling conflicts within the dates given. You do not receive a contract or payment for being pinned.Sometimes, casting uses these two terms equally / to mean the same thing, but simply prefers one of these phrases over the other. On the other hand, some casting directors might view the terms as two separate tiers.
  • Being “on hold” for a role is the most solid you can get in an “almost booking” without actually booking. This term means that you are being seriously considered for the role to the point where the team wants to put you under a holding contract. This means that you’re holding the days of the shoot and must refuse other booking offers. Because of this, the producers will owe you a cancellation fee if they end up NOT booking you for their project.
• You get the role.

This whole process can be very quick; A week was the fastest I’ve ever gone from submission to callback to getting the role. Or the process can take a while; The longest I had to wait from turning in an audition to getting a callback was 6 weeks.

Understanding the entire process from finding casting calls to landing a role is crucial for aspiring actors. This knowledge empowers performers to navigate the competitive entertainment industry more effectively.