How to enter the world of acting?

iamyourending

Hey all...I'm wondering if anyone can help me...I'm a 17 year old male about to start college...however, my dream is to become a full time actor! I've some experience from doing stage school for about 4 years up until Junior Cert. I live in Munster, so acting opportunities are more limited here than in the Dublin area...anyone have any advice on how to enter the world of acting or tips on how to get started properly? At the moment, I don't plan to study theatre on a full time basis at college, but I hope to join the acting society in college (UL)...cheers

begsy

Hey there.. i'm in the same boat.. ha i'm also a 17 year old from munster and am hoping to become an actress... I will be studying tv radio and new media broadcasting in the it tralee this year (hopefully roll on the 17th and 22nd like ha).. I haven't muck experience with the acting but hopefully that will all change.. Where bouts in munster you from? :-) what course you doing in ul?

iamyourending

Yay finally someone who's in the same boat! You know how limited the possibilities are here so I've researched that course, looks brill. The problem is that I'm from Kerry, so I'm near to Tralee...and I kinda wanted to make a break away from home when going to college...so I'm hoping to study New Media and English in UL...hopefully! Will these results ever come?!? Media should be good, acting society should be good, wondering how difficult the english will be though! Where in Munster are u?

begsy

Ya i know it's very limited down here. Ha aww jesus thats gas i'm from kerry too. I live about 40 mins from tralee, but i will still move to tralee. Looking forward to a new experience and all.. I have a few of those media courses down for ul aswell.. hopefully i'll get my course in tralee, only downfall is that there are only 20 places. omg this waiting malarky is driving me insane, especially because I may have possibly failed mayhs...:( studpid project maths.. ya acting society should be good, as well as the football club... bring on college... English could be tough?? ha best of luck...

iamyourending

Ah really? That IS gas! Ya I was thinking about moving to Tralee too, but I'm only about 30 mins away...nothing ruled out though! I'd say it'd be an interesting experience to live in Tralee alright! Ya the places in that course are very limited in fairness, with the massive points rise for it in the past 3 years you'd think they'd expand it...Yup but only about 3 weeks now...they'll probably be the longest 3 weeks ever though! Then there's another 5 day wait for the CAO!!! Patience is gonna be an essential Did u do honours or pass maths? I was borderline honours, but it wasn't worth the risk of failing maths so I did pass! Yup the english is a bit of a question mark alright, I liked english in school, but studying it in college could be another story!!! So have u done tv or radio courses before?

vard

If you are seriously considering acting as a career you would want to look in to - first and foremost - education. Your best bet would be to try and get into an established and well regarded drama school, from which you can get a degree.

This is less because you can not be a good actor without sufficient training... That is absolutely not the case, and many established and successful actors have emerged and flourished with no significant training of this sort. They are, however, a minority.
This is because people and potential employers / casting directors / and agents are unlikely to consider taking you on without plenty of experience & work under your belt OR recognized qualifications to your name. And, in completing that mind numbing circle, you will find it difficult to get decent work without an agent / qualifications / work under your belt.

So you need to fill in the gaps wherever you can. Drama training is a significant and long term commitment. It takes a lot of money and a fair chunk of time.

As far as recognized courses / universities / drama schools go you should be looking for an NCDT accredited school.

In Ireland, there are none. The training on offer here is severely limited for a country which boasts so much talent. The UK is the the best bet.

There are plenty of courses - It's important to remember that these are all audition based and there is huge competition to get one of the very limited places. There are usually thousands and thousands applying, and each year only 30 or so people are accepted after auditions.

I'd recommend investigating training as the first option.

begsy

iamyourending wrote: »

Ah really? That IS gas! Ya I was thinking about moving to Tralee too, but I'm only about 30 mins away...nothing ruled out though! I'd say it'd be an interesting experience to live in Tralee alright! Ya the places in that course are very limited in fairness, with the massive points rise for it in the past 3 years you'd think they'd expand it...Yup but only about 3 weeks now...they'll probably be the longest 3 weeks ever though! Then there's another 5 day wait for the CAO!!! Patience is gonna be an essential Did u do honours or pass maths? I was borderline honours, but it wasn't worth the risk of failing maths so I did pass! Yup the english is a bit of a question mark alright, I liked english in school, but studying it in college could be another story!!! So have u done tv or radio courses before?

Ha omg that is so random.. Are you east or west of tralee? Because if you're west i possibly know you? ha it would in fairness. I've a deposit on a house but i'll be sharing with strangers who are going ito 2nd/3rd year.. Don't know if thats a good idea or not? Ya i act thought that they had made more places available on the course this year but unfortunatley not .... They will be the longest three weeks ever... and then the extra few days waiting to see whether we've gotten our places or not.. I haven't had a full nights sleep since the week before my orals and i wont be getting one soon.. haha.. I done pass but and was doing fine in class but paper one totally destroyed my confidence.. I was nearly crying coming out it was so bad.. Did you do project maths also? English and Irish were my favourite subjects in schoool i love to write and stuff.. Don't you have to learn a ****load more about poets in english in college or am i just imagining that?? ha No i havent done a course like this but i did a few video production course in fourth year.. To this day I have appeared in something like five locally made DVD's. But i am really looking forward to a new challenge..

iamyourending

vard wrote: »

If you are seriously considering acting as a career you would want to look in to - first and foremost - education. Your best bet would be to try and get into an established and well regarded drama school, from which you can get a degree.

This is less because you can not be a good actor without sufficient training... That is absolutely not the case, and many established and successful actors have emerged and flourished with no significant training of this sort. They are, however, a minority.
This is because people and potential employers / casting directors / and agents are unlikely to consider taking you on without plenty of experience & work under your belt OR recognized qualifications to your name. And, in completing that mind numbing circle, you will find it difficult to get decent work without an agent / qualifications / work under your belt.

So you need to fill in the gaps wherever you can. Drama training is a significant and long term commitment. It takes a lot of money and a fair chunk of time.

As far as recognized courses / universities / drama schools go you should be looking for an NCDT accredited school.

In Ireland, there are none. The training on offer here is severely limited for a country which boasts so much talent. The UK is the the best bet.

There are plenty of courses - It's important to remember that these are all audition based and there is huge competition to get one of the very limited places. There are usually thousands and thousands applying, and each year only 30 or so people are accepted after auditions.

I'd recommend investigating training as the first option.

Cheers for that I must look into those NCDT accredited schools...hadn't been aware that there was none in Ireland...what about the Gaiety?
I hope to gain plenty of experience in the coming years, then enter an acting course like this...then I'd have a qualification as well as experience! Thanks a million for your help

iamyourending

begsy wrote: »

Ha omg that is so random.. Are you east or west of tralee? Because if you're west i possibly know you? ha it would in fairness. I've a deposit on a house but i'll be sharing with strangers who are going ito 2nd/3rd year.. Don't know if thats a good idea or not? Ya i act thought that they had made more places available on the course this year but unfortunatley not .... They will be the longest three weeks ever... and then the extra few days waiting to see whether we've gotten our places or not.. I haven't had a full nights sleep since the week before my orals and i wont be getting one soon.. haha.. I done pass but and was doing fine in class but paper one totally destroyed my confidence.. I was nearly crying coming out it was so bad.. Did you do project maths also? English and Irish were my favourite subjects in schoool i love to write and stuff.. Don't you have to learn a ****load more about poets in english in college or am i just imagining that?? ha No i havent done a course like this but i did a few video production course in fourth year.. To this day I have appeared in something like five locally made DVD's. But i am really looking forward to a new challenge..

That's weird!!! I'm around the Ballybunion area Ya I guess the wait is getting shorter with every passing day, but I still think about it all the time!!! Ya I think the maths mock just went so bad for me that the real thing couldn't have been any worse to be honest! Nope we did the normal course, but the new LC2 class have been doing project maths, so lets hope I don't have to repeat! :rolleyes: Am as far as I know it's mostly literature, like the stuff we did from comparative, and I loved that so, but there are a few poets :mad:
Really? That sounds interesting, like I said, it's been stage school for me, and I did a few courses in a radio station on broadcasting too, great craic

begsy

iamyourending wrote: »

That's weird!!! I'm around the Ballybunion area Ya I guess the wait is getting shorter with every passing day, but I still think about it all the time!!! Ya I think the maths mock just went so bad for me that the real thing couldn't have been any worse to be honest! Nope we did the normal course, but the new LC2 class have been doing project maths, so lets hope I don't have to repeat! :rolleyes: Am as far as I know it's mostly literature, like the stuff we did from comparative, and I loved that so, but there are a few poets :mad:
Really? That sounds interesting, like I said, it's been stage school for me, and I did a few courses in a radio station on broadcasting too, great craic

hey again.. oh right ha im from lispole just outside dingle.. ha 10 dayssssss wooohooo finally... good luck... hope everything goes well for you :-)