Starting an Acting Career Outside Hollywood: A Guide

Acting careers are much easier to start today than in years past. With so many outlets for the Arts, it is more of a question of where to start than how. As with any career, acting is best learned from the ground up. There simply is no substitute for formal training even if it is interrupted with offers for a real acting job.

Hire a Professional Acting Coach
If you have little or no public speaking experience, start reading aloud at home first. Read to friends, kids and anyone who will let you practice. Focus on enunciation and diction when speaking, as well as volume control.

Find a respected acting coach and check every reference before hiring. An acting coach will teach you how to reach emotions while acting. A great acting coach will be honest about a student's potential.

Record Community and School Acting Jobs
Every major city has a community theater program and auditions are posted in free newspapers. Try out for roles that are suited to you and fit your calendar. Treat every audition as a learning experience and be respectful. Acting careers require the ability to accept harsh criticism.

Tape every performance of the community theater, even if you are not acting in them. Study how others act out their roles and make adjustments to your style. Network with other actors to find more theater jobs.

Use MySpace.com and FaceBook.com to Start an Acting Career
The Internet has made it far easier to start an acting career outside of Hollywood. Using social networking sites like MySpace.com and FaceBook.com, an aspiring actor or actress can build a fan base before a career starts. Get some professional pictures, head shots, taken and post them for all to admire. Post an acting resume and request acting jobs from current screenwriters and directors. Be active on the acting career boards and make as many friends as possible.

Never post personal information such as address or phone number online. Don't let anyone take promiscuous photographs of you for any reason when starting an acting career.

Use Youtube.com to Further an Acting Career
Thanks to the Internet and the people at YouTube.com, millions of people can see your acting ability within seconds. Upload videos of the community theater performances, make sure you have permission first, then send it to all of your friends. Reading poetry and short stories online can also help start an acting career. Find friends on MySpace.com or FaceBook.com who would like to have their writing put to video. YouTube.com also offers independent short film makers an outlet, offering positions to start an acting career.

Use Craigslist.com to Find Independent Acting Projects
Craigslist.com is an excellent outlet for aspiring actors. The site allows anyone to view classified advertising from around the world. There is a special classification for acting jobs, and the listings are plentiful. The convenience of Craigslist.com is getting all of the preliminary auditions out of the way online, saving travel expenses.

Start an Acting Career on Reality TV and Talent Shows
Reality TV and talent shows have taken over our world. While an acting career may be the dream of many reality TV 'stars', sadly it often ends all hope. Reality TV does not tend to show the best side of anyone wanting to start an acting career.

Talent shows, however, do show the dedication to a craft and often lead to new acting careers. American Idol has shown this to be true over and over with Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Pickler. None of these contestants won, but they all started stellar careers.

The Internet has made the world infinitely smaller and easier than ever to start an acting career outside Hollywood. Success is now only a few clicks, and a ton of talent, away.