How to Start an Acting Career in Ireland

Are you passionate about acting? Does your heart speed up every time you watch a play or walk into a cinema? Do you feel the desire to perform running through your veins? Before going all in and quitting your nine to five, start by considering the following:

• Are you willing to work a full-time job outside acting while spending evenings and weekends learning lines and filming self-tapes, and using your holidays to be on set?
• Are you mentally and emotionally prepared to accept rejection on a regular basis?
• Are you willing to work on independent and student films and in theatre for free for the first few years, and maybe longer, to build up your experience and showreel?
• Can you accept that pursuing a career in acting may cost you more money than it pays you? The costs are ongoing: casting director workshops, taking time off work to audition and shoot independent and student films, evening classes, audition coaching, self-taping studio fees, headshots, website subscriptions and so on.

Thinking about these points will ground you in the reality of taking this path, and help you decide whether you are passionate enough about acting to pursue it, even if it means making sacrifices in other areas of your life.

So that is the scary part out of the way, but it is not all gloom. Acting can be an extremely fulfilling career as long as you go into it with the right mindset. Once you have taken the above on board, here are your next steps.

Start with acting classes

The very first step is to find a suitable acting class. This could be a degree course, or a full-time or part-time intensive programme at a recognised academy. The aim is to get the training you need to approach your first audition with confidence and gain the skills required to book the role. Listing a recognised course on your CV also makes up for your lack of practical work experience.

Build your experience

After you complete your training, start looking to gain experience by applying for every student and independent film you are suitable for. Send them an email with your headshot, CV and a short clip to show what you can do, and let them know that you recently graduated and are interested in auditioning for the role of X. On Actorly, you apply to a casting from your profile, so make sure your profile is fully filled out so that the casting director can assess your suitability for the role.

You may find that you book only a small share of the roles you audition for. But by auditioning for as many student productions as possible, you gain vital audition experience, your confidence builds and the nerves settle. Booking a role means you get to experience a film shoot and add a credit to your CV. Once the film is completed, you can add your best scenes to your showreel.

Find an agent

Your agent will suggest you to casting directors for professional roles they think you suit, and if the casting director agrees, they will invite you to audition through your agent. You do not have to have an agent in Ireland. You can send your portfolio (headshot, CV and showreel) to casting directors yourself once or twice a year and hope they contact you directly when something suitable comes up. But it is unlikely a casting director will remember every independent actor in the country. Unless you have an extremely distinctive look that they need, or a very specific talent they are searching for (a half-Japanese, half-Irish actor who can salsa dance, say), they will generally go with the agents' suggestions. So having an agent significantly improves your chances of being called to audition by casting directors.

No need to fret: this is simply your next step. You have taken professional training, you have your professional headshots, you have been on set for several student films, and you have an experience-filled CV along with a great showreel. It is time to apply for representation. Read the submission instructions on each agency's website before you send them an email.

Note: graduates of full-time courses can start applying for representation immediately. Agents attend the end-of-year showcases at The Gaiety School of Acting, Bow Street Academy, The Lir Academy and other recognised diploma and degree courses in Ireland.

Practice makes perfect

Even after you graduate, continue with your training. You can work on dialects, audition technique, self-taping, movement and much more. Keep auditioning for unpaid student and independent films, and work as much as possible in the acting world. Acting workshops and small theatre companies keep performers in top form by providing an environment to stretch your creative muscles and practise your craft. Be patient: it can take years to catch a break, but some actors do go on to receive a steady stream of work.

Good luck. Every step above, from your first student film to your first professional audition, starts with applying. Casting directors, producers and directors in Ireland post their castings on Actorly, and it is free to join and free to apply. Create your free actor profile and start applying.