The Acting Agent Interview:
Interview with Personal Manager Ingrid French
Parts 2 & 3 of 12

Part 2: How Many Actors Ingrid Works With & Why?

Part 3: What You Can Expect During The Acting Agent Interview & How To Prepare For It.

Part 2: Tony: How many clients (actors) do you work with? Ingrid: I have clients that I sign and work exclusively with and others that I freelance with. I have approximately 70 signed clients and about 150 that I freelance with. I usually freelance to begin and the intent is to sign the actor eventually, but every actor and every situation is different.

Tony: Signing a client means then that the actor then can work only exclusively with you. Correct?

Ingrid: Yes that’s correct. It may also be that after freelancing for a little while, that maybe I need a little more time to evaluate whether or not to sign the actor. Maybe the actor has other representation that he/she is working with and maybe they’re not ready to sign exclusively with me yet, so we continue to freelance as long as there are no conflicts with auditions and so forth with the other managers or agents that the actor is working with.

Or still another situation could be that the actor is only interested in being sent out in one specific area. So if an actor is only auditioning for commercials or for theatre or for voice over for example, then it doesn’t make sense for me to sign them to work with me exclusively as my contract will state that they can be sent out for television, film, theatre, voice-over, commercial print and everything. So if we’re talking about someone who is interested in only one area, then I will most likely continue to freelance with him or her.

Part 3
The Acting Agent Interview:
What To Expect & How To Prepare For It

Tony: What is it that you expect of an actor when you call them in for an interview?

Ingrid: Usually the first time I meet with an actor it is just a sit-down, face-to-face meeting. It’s a chance for me to find out a little bit about them personally and also what their background is, such as where they trained, what experience they have, who they know in terms of casting directors or what connections they might have in the industry. Something else I want to see in that first meeting is what kind of personality they have and if we ‘click’. There are so many actors and agents and managers out there. I’m on the phone with the actors I work with so many times each day and they stop by my office, so they have to be people who I’m excited about talking to and having stop by. For me, that personal connection is really as important as everything else.

Tony: So once you have established the fact that there is that connection between you and that the actor has most of “the goods” to be able to work together with you, then what happens?

Ingrid: Then usually the follow up to that first meeting is a call back in which I have them informally do one or two monologues for me here in the office and give them any feedback I might have. If it is someone who is interested in auditioning for musical theatre, they also sing for me. Then, after that meeting I decide whether I would like to work together with this actor or not. If I decide that this actor is someone I want to work with, we then sit down and talk about what their goals are, what they’re interested in and how they see themselves. I also have to take into consideration whether or not we are on the same page as far as what I see for them and how they see themselves. That’s important because you don’t want to have a disconnect there.

Tony: You said you ask for one or two monologues. What kind of monologues do you ask the actor to perform?

Ingrid: I usually ask for something contemporary and I usually give them about 2 – 2 ½ minutes maximum. And if I know I will ask for two monologues, it will be two 1-minute monologues. I ask them to choose something that would be a character or a type that they would believably play. So in terms of the monologue character they are looking at, it should be a match in terms of age and type and it should be a role they would believably be cast in.

Tony: Do you have a preference of which kind of monologues you generally like to see?

Ingrid: I like to see contemporary monologues. They only time I would ask for a classical monologue, something Shakespearean for example, would be if they were a classically trained actor interested in doing that kind of work.

I will also say that often times when I ask for one monologue, that is usually enough for me to get a feel for the actor and what he/she is capable of. However, I will sometimes ask if they have another monologue ready to perform. So I like actors to be ready to do something else just in case I feel I need to see more.

In part 4 of this interview with Ingrid French I asked her about using props while performing monologues for her and about what kind of monologues an actor should have ready to perform.

Now here's just one way you might want to think of trying to make sure you even get to the acting agent interview. This method still works, but now in 2009 you must be aware of the ever-increasing reality of electronic submissions.

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What you’re doing is great Anthony. Whenever I read the things on your site, the interviews and even your book, I feel like if only everybody got to read this before they got started, they would be so much better off and everybody else (casting directors, agents, directors, etc.) would be so much better off too.
Personal Manager, Ingrid French

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Tony,
I want to say you changed my life. I want to be an actress so bad, but i began losing motivation when I couldn't figure out what to do. And then I found you! Thanks to you, I'm taking my first acting classes next month! Yippee!
Sara, Pasadena, CA

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Hi Tony
I would like to thank you for helping me with the monologue question I asked you. I went to the auditions for a Drama course and I am happy to say that I have been accepted as a first-year student at the Tshwane University of Technology. Please keep on sending me those newsletters and let me know where I can find books that will help me in my acting career. Thank you once more. Have a blessed day.
Sincerely
Edward Thaba -South Africa

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Dear Anthony,
Just wanted to thank you for bringing me in to [audition for the video], meet you and chat this Saturday. I was really excited to hear about your working on actingcareerstartup.com and even took a look at it today - it's awesome! You are very well-spoken, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and it shows through the work that you do! I hope our paths in the industry will cross again and really enjoyed meeting you. Thanks, again and best wishes with your very important work!
Warmly,
Gretchen, NY, NY

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Hey Tony, thanks for the info, yours by far is the most useful, I am 30 years old, and I myself always (secretly) wanted to be an actress, but I never knew where to begin, so thank you. You have given me hope!
Ana C., Tampa, FL