The Acting Cover Letter

Acting Cover Letter From An Aspiring Teenage Actress: 10 Things To Consider

A short time ago a young girl wrote to me asking for help writing her acting cover letter. Below you will see the letter she wrote to send out to agents and you will see the answer I gave her, which consists of the ten things I told her to consider.

Help with my cover letter? Is it good? Sending it to agencies. :]

I’m going to send my resume, headshot, and cover letter to some agencies to try to get an agent. I’m 16 and want to become an actress.

Can you tell me if this is good for an acting cover letter? Tell me what to take out or what to add too please:] I’d really appreciate it.

Dear AGENCY,

I have always loved to act ever since I can remember. Since I love acting so much, I’ve decided to take the next step and find an agent. I’m hoping that you'd be that agency to help me.

I’m very dedicated to what I do when it comes to acting. I know that I’m worth the time because I’ve taken acting and commercial classes. Not to mention that I sing and act in school.

Barbara

Here’s my answer on how to improve her acting cover letter: First of all, I want you to know that I don’t consider myself an expert acting cover letter writer by any means. I have, however, been coached and I have written cover letters that have gotten me meetings with casting directors, agents and in a couple cases, that have even gotten me acting work. So I think I’m pretty good at it, because the ones I’ve written have gotten me the results I wanted. Having said that, I will answer your question based on my personal experience and from my own point of view. At the end of the page, I will refer you to an expert resource that might be able to help you further.

While it’s true you are young, the over all tone of your letter sounds like you have no experience and that you are desperate. You ARE young and there’s nothing wrong with that coming through in your writing, but if you do just a little more homework, you can be who you are, but sound more professional and more prepared. Those two things alone can get you more points and, in my opinion, are probably more likely to get you a meeting.

Below are nine things you might want to consider when writing your acting cover letter. This answer will basically provide you with everything except me re-writing the letter for you.

1. First of all, have a CLEAR idea of why you are writing the letter. What is it that you want? OK. You want this agent to represent you, but what else do you want? How do you want it to come to that? Do you want a meeting? Do you want the agent to call you? Do want permission to go in and see the agent? I always found that having a clear idea of exactly what you want and how you want that to happen, helps tremendously.

2. find out who the person is that you want to send your acting cover letter to and address the letter to that person. That's important! It shows that you at least took the time to find out. That gets you points! How do you find out? If you are in a big city like NY or LA, there are industry publications like Ross Reports or NY/LA Agencies that have a complete listing of all the talent agencies and all the people/associate agents that work in their offices.

3. You say that "since I love acting...I've decided to take the next step..." The next step after loving acting stating the fact that it has always been your dream is not to get an agent. You go on to say that you took classes later on. That part should come right after your expression of love for acting.

4. In the second paragraph, I would make reference to your résumé and where you've studied as well. Hopefully it will have been in a reputable institution. That is something that I have learned over the last year and a half. Where you study and with whom you study is often very important to agents and casting directors, especially if you don't have much acting experience.

5. I would also indicate what you think your type is and what kind of roles you think you would be right for and why you think that. If you can do that, you will probably gain some more points! It will show that you are serious.

6. Correct the spelling errors. (There were spelling errors in the original letter that I corrected when I put up the page. For example, she had often referred to herself with “i” instead of “I” and there were other errors as well.)

7. Since you are under the age of 18, keep your parents involved in what you are doing at all times! Ask them for advice when writing your acting cover letter.

8. In the last part, instead of saying "please give me a call...", I learned a tip from someone a couple of years ago, that gives you permission to call. You simply write something like: "I'm looking forward to meeting with you. I will contact you by phone by/on (such and such a date). That way it gives you permission to follow up with a phone call. Leave your e-mail address, so that if they don't want you to call, they will send you a mail and tell you not to or to tell you to come in and meet with them. This puts pressure on them to respond. Does it work all the time? No. But if you just write, "Please call me." and at the same time, your cover letter is written with a tone of inexperience, you may never hear from them again. Just make sure you give them enough time to open all their mail and to process and sort it all. If it’s a big agency, it could take a couple of weeks. Don’t waste that phone call too soon, because then they will tell you that “They will call you back!”

9. Leave your phone number as well(but check with your parents first) and check your messages frequently! If you don't, you might miss an opportunity. That is another opportunity for you to show that you are responsible.

10. OH YES! I don't know what your e-mail address is, but please make sure that it is something professional! I have seen so many e-mail addresses of teenagers (for example) like: famousactress@bbb.com or hollywoodstar@bbb.com or coolactor@bbb.com. If you want to project a professional image in your acting cover letter, you have to cure all the details. Take those things out and create a real, serious e-mail address. The details can make a difference!

And there's more.

Barbara, if you ask 10 different people the question you asked me about how to write an acting cover letter, you might very well get different answers. The things I'm telling you are what worked for me. You have to take all this information, talk to your parents and come up with what works for you. Some of it will be trial and error.

What's important is to try and put yourself in the shoes of the person reading the letter. They are busy. They get thousands of letters. As a matter of fact, many of the casting agents don't even read all their letters personally. Their assistants do. So you have to get past them first!

Think about what you can do to be different and stand out from the rest. You will want to project an image of professionalism, honesty, and reliability, someone who is prepared and has done her homework.

Make sure your headshot and resume are up to speed. But that is a whole different story to tell!

If you need some advice about resumes and how to write an acting cover letter, an excellent book is Acting As A Business: Strategies For Success by Brian O'Neil . He has several examples of both in his book as well as about how to write an acting cover letter.

And don't forget to KEEP STUDYING! Don't stop. Get into a good class and stay there.

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Hi Tony
I would like to thank you for helping me with the monologue question I asked in October 2007. 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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Hi,
I was wondering if there is anything established like actingstartup.com in the U.K. because you are amazing and I have learned loads...
Thank You.
Nadine., Newcastle, UK

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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

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Hi, I’m John.
You answered a question for me about two weeks ago about how to write my cover letters…I want you to know your advice was helpful. I got called in for a part as an extra in my first movie! It’s not big, but it’s my first one! Thanks for your help!
John, San Diego, CA