Actors struggle with the agent game

If job security and steady pay are a priority, mark "actor" off the list of potential careers.\nFinding work in acting is complicated. Auditions for big roles in theater, TV and film are only open to actors with agents and members of actors' unions. Getting an agent and into unions takes networking, persistence and, more often than not, luck. The work is also temporary. Long-running Broadway shows and television series are rare at best. \nMFA student Brenden Pentzell originally planned on going to New York after he finished undergraduate work at Hillsdale College in Michigan with a bachelor's degree in drama and English, but because he didn't have any contacts in New York, he went to Chicago and lived with his cousin. \n"I kind of learned the ropes as I was there," he said. "I was auditioning for a lot of non union, small theater companies, start-up companies that do one show and then fold -- little did I know."\nAlthough he was getting roles, he said, he made little or no money for them and had to work various jobs to support himself. Pentzell said the mistakes he made were not networking enough and thinking one show would lead to bigger things. \nTo get into the bigger auditions, you need an agent, Pentzell said. The best way to get an agent, he said, is by being recommended by an actor who already has one, but this didn't happen for Pentzell. Another way to get an agent is to solicit the agencies yourself, but he was unsuccessful in doing this, largely because he was afraid of offending agents.\n"They have protocol in Chicago that is very strict about only calling between certain times on certain dates," Pentzell said. "You can't visit the agency. You have to do it by phone. So I wasn't as pushy and aggressive as I should have been."\nThere are open auditions for TV and film, but he said actors should be wary because many are merely publicity stunts. For example, he said the producers of "Batman Forever" conducted a nationwide search for the next Robin when he was in Chicago but ended up casting Chris O'Donnell, an already known actor, in the role.\nAfter 4 1/2 years in Chicago, Pentzell moved to Los Angeles, where he did theater and worked behind the scenes as an assistant production coordinator for "Hairshirt," a film starring Neve Campbell. Still, he said he wanted to get roles in film and television. He soon was able to get a manager, but he said that didn't guarantee he would get auditions.\n"I got a manager. I got representation -- because it's always tough to get it," he said. "But I wasn't in the unions yet, and they can't really do very much until you join the Screen Actors Guild."\nHe said his manager urged him to join the Screen Actors Guild, but he had been trying without success for six years to get in. Pentzell said he got a break; because of the commercial actors' strike of 2000 in Los Angeles, the Screen Actors Guild was allowing non union members to join if they picketed or helped out with the strike for 80 hours.\n"Finally, after two weeks, I got the hours," Pentzell said. "It was the happiest day of my life. It was on the 20th Century lot, we were picketing a commercial there, and it was just a dream come true to be able to join the union."\nHe began auditioning for film and TV roles, and after a few auditions he got a small role on the WB show "Roswell" and was in a sketch on Comedy Central's "Prime Time Glick," but soon Sept. 11 and the recession hit. Work was harder to come by, and Pentzell said he decided it was time for a transition.\n"I decided to come back to school and get an MFA so I can teach while I'm pursuing acting," he said. "Doing something instead of shoveling coffee all the time."\nMuch like Pentzell, when senior Timothy Schwering graduates, he would like to go to New York first, but he said that is not feasible at the moment. He has friends in Chicago and plans to move there and audition at night while working during the day. Right now, he said a friend is trying to get him an office job.\n"If I can get in there, fine," Schwering said. "If not I'll probably just work 'Joe jobs ...' like waitering."\nSchwering said he doesn't have any specific plans to find auditions or representation.\n"I probably should know that by now, but I'm really not well-versed in that." he said. "I'm still getting my feet wet."\nBut not all actors want to jump into city life and auditions. Lori Garraghty, who was assistant director and stage manager for the Bloomington Playwrights Project's production of "The Rapture," decided not to pursue a career in acting. She attended the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Georgetown to become a professional actor but only stayed a semester.\n"I decided I probably wouldn't be able to live as an actor," Garraghty said. "That's why I went into psychology ... I never wanted to live my life day to day like that. Paycheck to paycheck."\nShe now works as an editorial assistant and lab manager for laboratory work in the IU Department of Psychology but does acting on the side. She is also part of the Ensemble of Artists at the BPP. She said she usually acts in two shows every season.\nDespite the odds against them, actors like Schwering said they are excited about trying to make it.\n"It's a tough path for sure, but I figure you only live once so you might as well go for it," he said. "Failing means at least you tried."\n-- Contact Staff Writer David Charles at dacharle@indiana.edu.