Headshot and showreel tips for actors

At Mandy.com we regularly organise regular surgery sessions giving actors the opportunity to meet with casting directors in person. During his recent visit to Mandy, multi-talented casting director Carl Proctor shared his advice for actors, including how to get the most from your headshots, voicereel and showreel. 


Carl’s Top Tips:


  • Make sure you have enough pictures that showcase your range
  • Ensure range in your headshots, most photos will look better and have more of an impact with a closer crop that draws us more to your face than the background
  • If you are multilingual it’s good to show that in your reel
  • Don’t have showreel scenes in order of playing type- mix it up!
  • Get a voice reel together it can help show a range of characters
  • Only put named roles down on your CV
  • Don’t leave an Agent until you have found another one


About Carl Proctor: Carl originally trained as an actor at RADA, and worked in theatre, film and TV for a number of years, before becoming a Casting Director. He has produced and directed film and theatre, and has worked as a professional headshot photographer. His work as a Casting Director includes ‘Shadow of The Vampire' ( with Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich, ‘The Wedding Date’ with Deborah Messing, Dermot Mulroney and Amy Adams and ‘Blood Creek’ (directed by Joel Schumacher). His theatre work includes Trevor Nunn’s all star ‘Twelfth Night’ .

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