Hey Bonnie,
Been reading your column recently and it’s great!
So I’ve recently made a decision about wanting to become an actor. However, I’m afraid that I’ll be needing to get braces/Invisalign (best case scenario) in the very near future and will have them for probably up to a year.
In your experience with casting, how big of an issue is this when landing roles? I know headshots may need to reflect that fact I have braces, but in terms of availability of roles, would you say that this is a huge detriment? Would it be wise (and I would hate this) to hold off on starting my career until this is taken care of? Thanks!
Kris Ahn
Great question, Kris, and welcome to your pursuit of acting, which will be exciting, fulfilling, and hopefully prosperous. The journey is such a delightful one! Remember to always take the long-haul approach and focus on relationship building, learning, growing… rather than focusing on results in the short term. Those will come.
The cool thing about braces is that even characters in scripted series, films, web projects, stage performances, and commercials sometimes have them! Sure, the percentage of people with braces “in real life” may be greater than the percentage we see depicted on screen or stage wearing them, but there are characters in braces, and that means we need actors who can portray those characters!
Rather than thinking about putting your acting pursuits on hold while you straighten up your smile, consider that you can begin as soon as your craft and your marketing materials are ready, and that braces are just going to be a part of your life during this stage of your pursuit. Yeah, you may need new headshots sooner than another actor whose smile isn’t changing like yours is, but as long as you’re planning for that as you budget, you won’t over-spend on headshots now OR then.
Certainly, if you would prefer to hold off on getting headshots until you’re all finished with your orthodontics, you could do that and focus on training and researching your targets in the meantime, but I get from your email that you definitely don’t want to wait! So, just have the braces be a part of your total package, right now. It’s totally normal and nothing that will throw us off, as long as you’ve either shown your braces in your headshot or noted on your resume that you’re in braces, if we can’t see them from the photo.
As long as we know what to expect, all is well! Good luck in your pursuit and keep me posted on how it goes for you. 🙂
Wanna be sure your tools *and* your mindset are in peak form? Let us get you in gear with some FREE training right now!
Let’s DO this!
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001431.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.