(san diego)
QUESTION:
What acting terms do you need to know when meeting an acting agent? What is a good description of these words?
ANSWER:
Most terms mentioned by an agency are terms you’ll probably know: audition, monologue, headshots, resume, etc.
Just in case, here are a few other biz terms you may not know and their meaning:
What’s your type?
That translates into… what kind of roles do you see yourself playing? What actor/actress are you like? Are you the ingenue type, the edgy type, the best friend or girl next door type?
Cold read
This is a type of audition where you don’t get the script in advance to prepare. More on cold readings here.
Off book
That means you know your lines.
If you’re meeting a film & TV agent, you’ll need to know the difference between series regular, guest star and co-star.
In TV, a regular is an actor who appears in each episode and is part of the regular cast. A guest star is a lead actor who is in one or two episodes only as a guest. A co-star is a smaller TV role.
More important than acting terms is knowing what’s going on out there, especially for television. You need to know the shows that you would be right for, the directors you like, etc.
Hope this helps.