Hopefully some of this is useful: 1) GO TO DRAMA SCHOOL The obvious advantage of attending a reputable drama school is that you get three years of good training, agents come to your final year show and some people are crass enough to judge you by it. The key word here is reputable. While there are plenty of smaller drama schools run by dedicated professionals, there are also a rash of money-spinning enterprises cynically set up to take cash off young straplings desperate for a career on the stage. Be careful before you sign away your money. Be sure that the school is a good one. Most of the best are registered with the National Conference of Drama Schools www.drama.ac.uk The big five British drama schools are arguably Central (alumnae include Judi Dench, Julie Christie, Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave), RADA (think Ralph Fiennes), Webber Douglas (Minnie Driver), Guildhall (Ewan McGregor, Joseph Fiennes) and the Bristol Old Vic (Daniel Day Lewis, Jeremy Irons). Other well-respected UK schools are Royal Scottish Academy, Drama Centre (Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery), Arts Ed, Rose Bruford (Gary Oldman), Mountview. Shop around, find out what each school specialises in (Drama Centre is resolutely Stanislavsky based, for example) and if their take suits you. Ask former students. Read between the lines of the prospectus. Do a bit of research online. If you don't fancy going to drama school (or you get rejected; or you can't afford it; or you are a late starter and don't have three years to offer) then there are plenty of places where you can go to hone your skills. The City Lit in Holborn runs excellent evening classes and a 2-year programme that runs either weekends or a day a week. 2) GET IN A SELL-OUT PLAY ON THE FRINGE OR IN AN AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILM The best way to get work on the fringe (the myriad of small theatres and above-a-pub spaces that circle the West End) is to do some donkey work. Jobs are advertised on drama school noticeboards, in PCR, a weekly subscription newsletter that's also good for short films and student films (subscription rate £25 for five weeks website www.pcrnewsletter.com phone 01843 860885), The Stage is a newspaper available in all good newsagents, but is quite weak for castings. 3) GET DISCOVERED IN A MILK BAR It's no longer really possible to get picked up by a reputable director while sucking a shake at the local milk-bar. But discoveries do happen. Be nice to strangers. 4) BE A CHILD ACTOR FIRST See Christina Ricci. Even Macaulay Culkin seems to have come back for another innings with his new-found stage presence. Drew Barrymore is the ultimate pigtails-to-paycheck success story; hot new thing Kirsten Dunst Virgin Suicides, Interview With The Vampire has been documented through several bra sizes. But the road to adult roles is littered with casualties (see Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, the cast of Different Strokes). 5) HAVE FAMOUS PARENTS It worked for Kate Hudson (Goldie Hawn's daughter). It worked for Angelina Jolie (progeny of John Voight). It seems to be working for Colin, son of Tom, Hanks... Never did any harm to Michael Douglas or Kate Beckinsale either, come to that. They always say it doesn't help. Some even have the sangfroid to say it hinders. But we all know the truth. Although it is fair to say if they haven't got it, it doesn't matter what your last name is. If you're cack, you're cack. 6) CLIMB ON THE CASTING COUCH It does exist, it's just not clearly labelled any more. People sleep with people on a regular basis to get work. Sex, as well as money, makes the film world go round. Usually they call it a relationship, sometimes even a marriage. Call it what you will, we call it casting couch. 7) GENERATE YOUR OWN HYPE Film people are so impressionable that if they hear someone say that so-and-so is hot, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Be your own best PR: be inventive. 7) GENERATE YOUR OWN HYPE Film people are so impressionable that if they hear someone say that so-and-so is hot, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Be your own best PR: be inventive.

I know what your thinking. "Another one of these?" trust me I was thinking the same thing, lol. But picture this, what if you could be one of the first people to start a new thing? Get that chance to show of your natural acting talent and go big and be the next big thing to hit the screen. Well now is your chance to check it out. Go to www.learntoactnow.com to learn how to prepare for a new TV pilot called America's Talent Showcase. Well for those of you that are woundering. What is America's Talent Showcase? Think "American Idol" but with acting competition instead.

There are so many ways to become an actor, and the first question you have to ask yourself is what does that mean. Do I want to act in local productions, do I want to be a big Hollywood star, do I want to be on Broadway.... that's why some top Hollywood Casting Directors have created http://www.AreUaStar.com - find out what a top Casting Director thinks of YOUR star potential, and get lots of information about breaking into showbiz.