You can’t be an up-and-coming actor and expect to be hired without a reel. Reels let people who may hire you see what you can do. Putting something like that together comes with certain do’s and don’ts, things you should know to create the perfect showcase for yourself.
Los Angeles-based acting coach Amy Lyndon specializes in helping actors create reels and generally do the little things they need to advance their careers. She has plenty of advice for anyone looking for insights into how best to make an acting reel that will catch an agent’s eye.
Key Insights
- The strongest acting reels are built around the types of roles you’re most likely to book, not simply the scenes you enjoy performing.
- Original, professionally produced scenes help actors stand out by showcasing their abilities without inviting comparisons to established performances.
- A successful reel should align with your headshots, resume, and casting type to create a clear and marketable professional package.
Acting Reel vs. Demo Reel: What’s The Difference?
There’s really two kinds of reels actors need to know: There’s the demo reel, a compilation of scenes from work you’ve done, and an acting reel, which might contain fresh scenes you’re shooting for the purposes of showing something specific about yourself and what you can do.
Look At Who Has The Job You Want
Watch TV and find out which actors are doing the kinds of roles that you want to be playing, because you have to know where you fit in the industry.
“Too many people spend money on these demo reels, and they’re not clear on where they fit in the industry, not their branding, but their typing, and there’s a difference,” Lyndon says. “Branding is when somebody sits there and says, ‘Oh, you could play a doctor.’ ‘Oh, you could play a nurse, or somebody’s boyfriend.’” But on what show? Where do you belong?”
You may be a big Aaron Sorkin fan, but he doesn’t tend to cast actors who pass for the blue-collar type. If that’s you, perhaps you should be looking at Law & Order or Mayor of Kingstown, to name two. If you want to be on a medical show, make sure you understand the difference between what’s out there. The Pitt and Grey’s Anatomy are very different in tone and subject matter.
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“I make people put together a whole look-book situation when they do their reels, so they’re very clear on what shows they should be on,” Lyndon says. “And then when you know that you’re clear on what show you should be on, then you should watch a lot of that show. Like, if somebody tells you that you should be on Euphoria, well, which role is it?”
Lyndon’s advice there is to look at the first season, find a scene, and rewrite it into a single page for you and someone else to perform.
Create A Scene That Would Cover Multiple Shows
Find a scene that you believe would also transfer to other shows. Lyndon gives an example of what not to do, something a couple of her students did: they shot something for The Gilded Age, and while it turned out great, it was so specific, the reel was not transferable to another show.
“They rented costumes, they did a whole thing. It was beautiful,” she says. “She just shot it and wrote a one-minute scene with her and somebody else, and went to a professional place to shoot it, but there just aren’t a lot of those kinds of shows on TV.”
Make It Look Good And Pick a Strong Scene Partner
You want people to think you’ve actually done some professional work, so when you shoot your reel, it should look professional, as if you’ve done the kind of show you want to be on. That includes your scene partner, who should be as professional as you are.
“It has to be done right,” Lyndon cautions. “It has to be lit right. You have to be acting with people that are great, just like the material, and it has to have music and atmosphere, just like you would see anywhere else. So, when you look to hire a company, make sure that when you’re watching their work, you say to yourself, ‘Yeah, that reminds me of … fill in the blank TV show.’”
Don’t Use Existing Scenes Performed by Other Actors
If you do, you’re only going to be compared to somebody else, and after all, you only have a few seconds to make an impression. You don’t want those seconds wasted, when the person watching is only thinking about where to place this material.
“They’ll start thinking about how they know these scenes, and compare you to who did it,” Lyndon says. “And that means they’re not going to be with you, and that’s the last thing you want.”
Know How to Sell Yourself
Don’t try to make everything match on your reel. Create strong cuts between characters. Show off different types and different options for someone who might want to hire you. Remember when we pointed out the difference between The Pitt and Grey’s Anatomy? Show off two different scenes that will mark that territory for yourself.
“Whatever’s on your resume, whatever’s on your reel, you have to back it up with what you are selling,” Lyndon says. “A reel has to match your resume, which matches your photos, which matches you, the person, and that’s what makes it a comprehensive package.
“And if you’re not comprehensive, then an agent or manager is going to say, ‘You’re great, but I don’t know what to do with you.’ There are some managers who help you package and market yourself, but they’re few and far between; the ones who will sit down with you and walk you through it.”
When It Comes to Demo Reels, Don’t Make a Movie Out Of It
When a rep looks at a demo reel, they want to see various characters, not some coherent or cohesive story that all these disparate characters are telling.
“You want to excite them for all the different roles that you can play, all the ways that they can make money from you, and all the breakdowns that they’re thinking of as they’re watching your reel,” Lyndon says. “Give me some meat on it. Give me a crying scene. Let me see whether or not you’re funny. Let me see what kind of styles you do.
“They don’t want you to come to them and say, ‘Where do you see me?’ They need you to come to them and say, ‘You know exactly where you’re going to put me by the look of my [entire] package.’”
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