Michael had been acting for the past 16 years and decided he wanted to help out his fellow thespians by writing a book. His chosen subject was audition tips for actors because he felt that, having attended many Disney actor auditions himself, he wanted to pass on the knowledge he had gained.
As Mike began to research his chosen subject, he found that there were any number of sites on the Internet providing the sort of information he was looking to impart. He saw little or no sense in reinventing the wheel. Therefore, he decided to approach his chosen subject from a different angle. Instead, he set out to target those that were considering entering the world of theatre, film and television, and tell the story of how he became an actor himself. His idea was that many people don’t have a clue where to start.
Michael had embarked on this career when he was in his mid forties with little or no experience, just a desire to do something different and earn money at the same time. He served his “apprenticeship” as an extra. Many people believe extras only work in television and the movies but this is not true. They also work in the world of photography.
Mike got his name registered with a lot of casting agents and bookers, and attended as many open auditions for actors as possible. As his workload picked up, he grew in confidence. He progressed to going for “feature artist” vacancies. This could best be described as halfway between an extra and an actor, a stepping stone if you will.
From here, it was only natural to decide it was time to go for some speaking parts. At this time he also applied for his Equity card, as for many jobs this was a prerequisite. Michael did not rush into putting himself forward for roles beyond his capabilities, but instead opted to try out initially for those with one or two lines of dialogue. In fact, his first speaking part was as a pub landlord in The Bill, where he said “Alright Guvnor.”
That was many years ago, and his parts have increased as have the number of words he gets to speak. He has not had any lead roles to date but he still hopes to break into the big time. So although Mike could not add to the myriad of sites giving audition tips for actors, perhaps his story may motivate others to follow him into the profession.





Maybe your son or daughter displays some talent as an actor. The local school play, gave her chance to shine. Some kids love acting, we are drawn to be someone else, and very often we can have much fun acting out the fantasy. Let’s face it fantasies can be fun. But do you know you far you can really get with an acting career.




