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One Broke Actress
No Stupid Questions (Pt 1): agents, referrals, the hollywood cult, botox and so much more
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You know what? Today's a casual day. We're gonna make it a casual day. We're gonna keep it a casual day because this business is pretty pretentious. Let's call a spade a spade. The acting business and the film business is pretty pretentious for a job that is essentially built around playing pretend. So today, this is a safe space. I'm in a T shirt, I waved my hair. I put on lip gloss for you because I love you. But ladies and gentlemen, today I'm going to answer as many of your questions as possible in a section I'm going to call no Stupid Questions. Fast Forward Productions. The women are speaking. What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the One Broke Actress podcast. An honest account of actor life, plus a few lessons I learned in the process. I am your host, Sam Valentine, and I am an actor in Los Angeles. And I have been at this business for. For 13 plus years and I've learned a lot. There is not a lot of facts about this career. A lot of it is made up. A lot of it is based on opinion. And every actor's journey is very different. That being said, there are some true things and there are some pretty 98% accurate things. And honestly, there's just a lot of jargon and things like that that are thrown around in this business that really should be addressed more often. But we just assume that everybody already knows it because for some. Some freaking reason, we all assume that if we see another actor working that they've worked a bajillion times before. But you never know. It could be their first job or their first job of this caliber, or it could be one of their first times auditioning and they just got lucky or were the perfect person for the role. Or maybe they were the cousin whose aunt or uncle were in the head of casting. Who knows? I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, I want to give you guys a place to ask what you might deem as a stupid question. So in this video and podcast, we are going to to go over all of the questions you guys submitted to me. We are going to cover as many as possible of the questions you guys gave me from Instagram. I put up a question box in my stories. I said, no stupid questions. What would you like to know? And I'm going to share them all anonymously. So I'm just gonna read off what people asked. I'm gonna give you my opinion slash answer. Take everything with a grain of salt, do what you can with some information, leave what doesn't work for you. Hope you enjoy it. It's a free content piece. Okay, so let's get into these questions. I have a ton. This is going to be part one. I have a feeling doing many, many more of these because I'm just glancing at this file I have on my computer and it's really long. All right, first question. What's the best way to ask for referrals from mentors or fellow actors for agency reps? Great question. I think that referrals can get you really far in this business. What this person is referring to is when someone you know, like and trust has a rep that they really like an agent and manager, and you want to ask them to refer you to that person. This is a tricky scenario. If it is someone that you don't know pretty well who has not seen you act, I would never ask for a referral. I personally have like a zero tolerance policy for referrals from one broke actress. Because honestly, I would be referring actors to my agents every day. If I responded to every actor who asked me to refer them to my agent, I would really evaluate the relationship you have with this person. Do they know your work ethic? Do they know your type? And what is it about this rep that you are interested in? I would get really clear on that. Before you do that, ask. And if the ask feels like you're asking too much, I would either evaluate. One, are you asking too much? And two, what is it about you that's making you question this? Because we might need to do some internal work. Okay. To receive our value and to understand our value. So really understanding what you're asking of someone and being really polite and kind when and if they say no. I think the best thing to do is have a true conversation with someone and lay out the facts. You have a rep I really like because of X, Y and Z. I am looking for a rep of that exact same caliber. I have my materials ready. Would you be interested in sharing them with your rep? Thank you so much for considering it. I really appreciate it. Don't get weird. Don't get weird. And don't ask this of anyone who hasn't seen your acting work. This is my a number one thing that is really important to me. Okay, I could go on and on about this question, but we'll leave it there for today. What's your opinion on using AI for agency rep cover letters? Oh, I don't know about that. I think that you could potentially use a chat dbt, for example, to lay out what a good cover letter would look like. So if you want to use it to lay out the body of an email and then clip it the fuck down because it's going to be way, way too businessy and add some personality to it. Sure. Or you could just follow a really easy template of I am looking for a rep. I really like you because here is a few things about me I look forward to hearing from you. Headshot link to your materials if you have trouble talking about yourself, yes, you can use it to help you write a bio. That's great. But I think it's not going to really hit the right tone in terms of an email to an agent because it's not going to sound like you. So really be careful in that area because it can sound pretty inauthentic in a lot of ways. And I think that authenticity with the reps who are representing you is a really important thing. Think how do you handle credit card debt as an actor? So number one, I don't have any. That's a huge part for me. I grew up privileged. I grew up with parents who paid for my college. I will say it forever because I don't want anyone to compare themselves to me. The second I got to la, I started living well within my means. I have very, very many blog posts out on the Internet that I talk about how I ate oatmeal every day for a week too because I was scared to buy groceries. I have lived a very frugal lifestyle up until the last few years and that is how I've managed to stay out of credit card debt. I also heavily believe in only investing in things that you actually need in terms of an acting career, because a big selling point that a lot of people use for actors is this is an investment in your career. Which is cool, but it's a bit salesy if it's something you actually need. Yes, you do need headshots. Yes, you. You do need to make sure your acting skills are up to snuff. But I don't necessarily know if everything should be a yes. So I couldn't tell you more about credit card debt in terms of consolidating it or how what you should pay off first or blah blah blah. Like there's way more people on the Internet telling better advice than that. But I also wonder how much it could behoove you to take a year off of pursuing acting, work your ass off to pay off some of that debt, and then come back to this business a little more free and a little more artistic and less Concerned about booking a big job so you can pay off your debt. That is coming from someone who doesn't have debt. Take that with a grain of salt. Okay, next question. What's the biggest mistake you learned in acting all these years? All these years, I feel like. I feel like I'm an old man on a ship. In all my years on this ship, the biggest mistake I've learned is trying to be anybody but myself. That's a harsh reality. You're gonna play a version of yourself probably indefinitely. So it's worth a lot of time, energy and general well being to figure out who the fuck you are and to figure out how to bring yourself to roles and to stop trying to be what you think you're supposed to be for the role and find the part of it that lives in you. I spent a long time trying to be everything a breakdown told me to be and probably missed out on a lot of roles because I didn't know what Sam was, who I was. Yeah, much happier now. Botox slash fillers for actresses. Yay or nay. I'm going to say actress, actor, male, female, non binary gender fluid. You do what you do what you want. Okay? I have been very open in my entire social media time that I get Botox, ladies and gentlemen. I am of the age where I should have several lines across my forehead and I don't because I see an incredible dermatologist who takes very good care of me. Her name is Melissa. She works at Honest Dermatology. I do not get a discount for this. But if you go, tell her I sent you and they will take very good care of you. They're phenomenal. I think if you're going to do them, understand what you're getting them for and what they're doing for your face. I have never gotten filler yet. Sting, asterisk, I might get it one day. I can't promise anything. I don't know. So I would really, really, really understand what those things do. Because filler is something they inject into, into your face. Whereas Botox and all of the other things that we call Botox that are just different brand names is essentially a poison injection that freezes your muscles for a period of time. Like, it's not pretty, but that's what it is. And that is a very specific thing. But filler can move. Filler also, I hear hurts a lot. But I have a friend who had it done underneath her eyes and she actually was really happy with it. The thing I would say, number one, is don't just Go to anybody for these things. I wouldn't just go to some random aesthetics bar on the street. I would go to a very, very, very qualified doctor who's been doing it for like 20 or 30 years because your face is your fricking business and you don't want it to be messed up. Also, if you are someone whose casting is often roles that look more blue collar, look more lived in, look more like they've had better days or like maybe they're not making bank or something like that, I don't know if you should bother if it really would change your life. And outside of acting, like, you know, I'm all for having a big life outside of acting, but if your casting is actually better with having some wrinkles, more movement and not fresh looking face, I'd say, hell yeah, go for it. My casting right now is very fresh faced. I often look very wealthy in my castings. I get very upscale characters more often than not. And I know how I present myself versus just how I look. So I'm not getting these roles because I have Botox. I am getting Botox because I know my casting. I don't have to get it. I can stop whenever I want. That's the beauty of these type of things. You can just stop getting it. And I might hit a certain point in my 40s or so when I'm like, you know what, I'm done with it. I'm good. I'm just going to let it live for a while and see what happens. But for right now, I really like it. But go to a dermatologist who's been doing it for years and years and years, please, if you choose to do it, please do it. Also, if you're going to get it done for the first time, I would say try and do it around a time in which you don't think you're going to have a lot of auditions come through just in case you don't like how it settles in your face. Filler lasts a lot longer than Botox, so that one's a bit of a crapshoot. But Botox lasts like three to four months. I'm on one that lasts like five. I'll ask my dermatologist and I'll drop it in the comments. I can't remember what it's called, but it's the vegan kind. It lasts a little bit longer. But I would say get it done around like a holiday perhaps, maybe like Thanksgiving type visit, Christmas type visit where you know you're not going to be busy immediately Afterwards, any potential swelling with Botox for me goes down within about two hours, and then the full results come in about seven days. So that's how I feel about that. Good luck going. If you're in Los Angeles, you have to go to Encino, and you have to go to Honest Dermatology and see Melissa. She's the best. You don't need it to have a great acting career. You really, really, really, really, really don't. Is. Is Hollywood a cult? No. I live here, and no one's ever invited me to the culture. If it's a cult and I have not gotten an invitation, I'm pissed. I don't like not being invited to parties. I don't necessarily want to go to the party, but I want to be thought of, you know, Scientology, I think, is what you're talking about. Probably. I have never gotten involved in Scientology. There are lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of very successful actors. Some, you know, some, you don't. Who work very hard in this business, who are not Scientologists. And if there is a cult, I haven't been invited to it yet, and I have a feeling if they do invite me, like, I'm not going to be able to tell you guys. So, dvd. It's Hollywood a cult. I have a question for you. Would you consider Hollywood to be a cult? No. Okay, great. Somebody asked that question, and I thought I'd get a second opinion. Do you think they're talking about Scientology? Oh, maybe that's a cult. Yeah, that's a cult for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, call it a religion, but. But, yeah, none of it. None of the rest of it's a cult. You don't think we have a cult leader in Hollywood? No. Yeah. No. There's not one figurehead of Hollywood that, like, you would follow? Not like somebody who's running for president. That's a very good point. Caleb said a cult needs a cult leader, and we don't really have one of those. Therefore, Hollywood's not a cult. Question closed. Ooh. Does the feeling of I'll never be good enough to do this for real ever go away? Yes, but only when you decide that doing it for real doesn't look like you thought it would. I used to think, and I think this person is talking about the feeling of getting big jobs and being on set all of the time and being in big movies and doing PR campaigns and constantly working and then maybe doing, like, a talk show and then doing another movie and constantly, constantly, like, in it and getting Paid and da da da da da. But that's like the.0001%. So when you evaluate your expectations, which I'm all about, dreaming big, dream big, have it big. But you have to enjoy the days that don't look like that. So does that feeling ever go away? Not unless you make your expectations into your day to day life. So for example, I used to think that I'm never going to book a show. I'm never going to live the actor life. I'm never going to, you know, be famous. I'm never going to. I'm never going to be on big billboards and da da da da. I've been in a movie, it was on billboards. I've been in several other movies. I've been in TV shows, I've been in commercials. This one, by the way, has made the most money. But it doesn't feel like you think it's going to. It doesn't feel like every single day I'm just in the Hollywood mix and I'm killing it and I'm on set and da da da da. That's really not how it feels feels. But when I decided that doing it for real meant going to SAG meetings and making my own income and building up my network and auditioning when they come in and enjoying my life outside of acting and building up my day to day and finding other opportunities to insert myself as an actor, that's when those feelings of will I do this for real Became I am doing this for real. It just looks a little bit different than I thought it would. But the ideas of what I thought it would were developed in my head when I was like 10, 16, 21. And this is not the same business than when I was 10, 16, 21. And I'm not the same person. I have a lot bigger things going on. Right. So if that's for you, it might be time to evaluate what doing it for real means to you. Now if you're like Sam, you just talked a lot and what I really meant was just having an agent going on auditions and then occasionally booking, that feeling will go away because you will eventually get those things. You might not get them tomorrow. You might actually only get them in 10 years. You might just keep working really hard and doing lots of stuff and you might not get them ever. So that's why I actually believe in changing the narrative in your head to fit your day to day. Now while striving to achieve what you want to achieve. I realize that gets a little woo woo. But yeah, It'll go away. Other things will be more important to you. Okay, next question. What is the equivalent of a co star role called in Canada? That's a great question. If you guys did not know the American actors union is SAG AFTRA and Canada's union is actra, which is a C T R A, they actually call a co star an actor role. So it's different. We call it a co star here, meaning you have just a few lines. Honestly, it's more of a contractual number role today. Tells you how much a person is paid and less about them having five lines or less. Because I've been a co star many times with more than five lines, but that's fine. So in actra they call an actor role defined by speaking five lines lines or less. That's according to the ACTRA Toronto education dot com. So yeah, that answers that question. They it is a totally different the union than ours. And if you are in Canada, you function in completely different rules. But great stuff films up there and they have really good laws up there to employ a good percentage of Canadian actors. So love Canada. And those of you from the US who are like, oh, maybe I'll move to Canada as my next market, you cannot. Unless you have a green card or a visa. Okay, we are going to do just a couple more because I have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 more pages of questions. We've only gotten through one page, so let's just do a couple more. Next question. How do I get an agent with no experience? I don't know if you need an agent yet. If you have not done any sort of acting on a student film or a short film, or in scene work or commercials or anything like that. I actually think that you should work on building up your style, skill set and start building up your community and your network and really trusting yourself in the work that you're doing before you submit to an agent. Okay, I can tell based on this person's profile picture that I have in this screenshot, you don't look like you're a child actor. If you are like 18 or younger, you can oftentimes get an agent even without experience. Because Hollywood loves youth. Everyone wants to find the next star. If you are late 20s, 30s, 40s, the agents who might take you as an actor with zero things on your resume might not be good agents. And I say that because it doesn't mean that you can't have a mediocre agent to start. I've had lots of mediocre agents like Too many. But it will make your life a little bit more complicated and you're going to have to break up with them eventually. Any casting, and not necessarily casting that's right for you and that can eventually confuse yourself and your career. And it might make you take things really hard when you don't book roles because you're not getting castings that are right for you. And you might quit the business sooner than you would have if you would have just continued to pursue the work long term and waited until you were better and more established and had done some work on sets and then got an agent who was a little bit better. Tough words, hard topic. That's my honest opinion. Okay, I'm going to do one more. I'm planning on moving to Los Angeles to level up in my acting career. Any advice? Oh, so many. So many advice. First of all, go watch the video I did about acting in Los Angeles. Go watch the video I did about the cost of living in Los Angeles. And I would really ask yourself what it is you plan to level up in LA that you cannot do in your current market. Yes, there are still, even with the rumors, I hear rumors all the time that people are like, nothing shoots in LA anymore. I just searched the SAG AFTRA website today and there's 21 pages worth of productions that are shooting in LA. What is it that you can't start leveling up right where you're at? Doesn't mean you can't move here. But could you start taking more advanced classes from la, maybe online? Could you start working with agents where you are now and being submitted to local casting that you're much more likely to get? What is it that you are planning on, quote, unquote, leveling up when you move to la? Because when you come here, you're going to be a speck of sand in the ocean and it's going to take a really long time for you to build up. Can you start to grow where you're planted right now and then move here when you are really excited just about LA and not necessarily excited about the acting career in la? Because I see people move here all the time who think, like, yeah, LA is where it's happening. Like, I'm going to have a big acting career in la and then they move here and then although they love an acting career, they fucking hate la. And listen, I can understand why you might hate the city. I love it. It's just. I love this town. I love this town. I think it's so cool and so fun and It's California and the sun's out and it's magical. And I freaking love. I love L. A, but a lot of people don't. And you can act in other places and you can have big major careers in other places. So what is it specifically about Los Angeles that you're looking for? I would get really, really detailed on what it is that you could do here and figure out if you can start doing it where you are now. So you don't have to wait to level up until you move to la because who knows, you might start really enjoying your current market and there might not even be a reason for you to move to la. And then my other piece of advice is you probably don't need to bring much. I drove here with a car. That's not true. I did not drive here. My father would be like, I took your car to Los Angeles on the way to a golf trip, ma'am. Yes, he did. Thanks, dad. So pack light, come ready, have a budget, have a plan, and in the meantime, start to grow where you are planted right now. This is a long career, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, ladies and gents. Speaking of tip of the iceberg, who? We got through a handful of questions and I have so many more, so I'm hoping that I'm going to get to some more of the ones that are like, questions that you might be too afraid to ask someone else. If not, maybe they're all just specific to me. We shall see. In the meantime, keep an eye out. Please, please, please click that subscribe button for part two. If there is a question you want me to add to this list that you want to put in the comments, please feel free. I'll either answer it in the comments or I will answer it in a future episode. I love talking to you guys and the comment section has been so, so good. I'm really, really impressed with this YouTube audience. So thank you guys so much for listening and I will talk to you next week. I will, I will put my heart on the line Give it all this time I will, I will put my heart on the line Nothing will stop me this time.