How to get your first TV credits

As an actor, getting on the TV can sometimes seem like an impossible goal, but if you are measured and realistic in where you aim, it can be really quite simple.

For a start it really helps if you have a showreel to send to TV casting directors, so use Casting Call Pro to apply for low budget and student short films and get some footage together and edited in to a showreel. If the casting director can see you on screen and get an idea of how you work on camera they are more likely to call you in for a casting.

Send your showreel to casting directors with a brief email introducing yourself. Tell them you would love it if they would watch it and keep you in mind for any small roles they may be casting in the future. Often TV projects won’t go ahead without a big name attached to the top roles so be realistic in what roles you aim to be considered for. Often a casting director will take a strong submission for a two line part much more seriously than if you had applied for the lead.

Keep yourself on the casting directors’ radars, if you manage to get a couple of lines in Silent Witness, email them all again saying, ‘I’m on Silent Witness tonight, I’d love it if you’d watch.’ No Casting Director wants to miss out on saying they ‘broke’ the next big thing, if they see you are starting to get work and your career might be on the up, they’ll want a piece of the action too.

It might seem like you’re plugging away for no reward at first, but be persistent. The more a casting director knows your name and your face, the more likely they are to remember you when they’re casting a part.

Good luck!