There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, about Hugh Grant. Fresh from his success after Four Weddings..., he received dozens of scripts, many unsuitable. One offered role was a sixty year old Jewish spinster. He called his agent, asked if the script was sent in error. They assured him it was not. He expressed his incredulity about the casting choice. The reply: 'Don't worry about it, Hugh, we'll fix the script for you.'

At the other end of the scale, a friend of mine was offered one role repeatedly: young Asian criminal. He became so tired of this that he wrote and performed his own material, partly to occupy himself but also to spark up interest. He put on his own show, was contacted by several agents and has now changed representation and has a more diverse portfolio.

Peter Sellers, rejected for his first film role, returned disguised and piqued the director's interest before revealing himself.

Carrie Fisher's CV was filled with impressive looking roles, many marked asterisks. At the bottom of the page was a tiny caveat: 'Lie'.

It seems that there are no rules, except those we allow people to apply to us.

An agent can't guarantee work, although they can open doors. We must keep our ears to the ground, send agents leads, be active not passive. As they say in Spain 'tu mandas'; you're the boss. An agent is running a business and wants to make smart decisions. Part of that is not applying their resources - their time, our talent - to a venture which may fail, i.e. an audition for an unsuitable role. Yet we are in business with them; the business of oneself. Sometimes one has to separate oneself as talent from oneself as businessman. We have to work in that capacity too.

One of the greatest things achieved by The Factory is instilling in the actors the sense that they can achieve things themselves. They are not sitting around waiting for a break; they have made their own break.

3  out of 3 found this valuable. Do you find this valuable? Do you?