Turning back to acting after nearly three decades away, Steph Jones shares how adapting to new casting technologies, persistence, and the drive to go the extra mile helped her land meaningful roles, including a national commercial for Hilton and a Karol G music video.
The thriving actor shares her journey and offers insight into the evolving audition process, and gives practical advice for navigating today’s competitive industry.
Insights From Steph Jones
- Keep your headshot updated and include detailed skills on your casting profile to increase your chances of matching roles.
- Respond to auditions quickly and follow all submission instructions carefully to stand out to casting directors.
- Create a separate professional social media page to showcase your work and connect casting directors with your best content.
How did you decide to become an actor? What generated that spark?
It was in the ’90s. I knew some people who were in stunts. I thought I was going to get in stunts too, but they were like, “Just go sign up for casting agencies.”
I did [acting] in the ’90s for a little bit, maybe two years. I walked away from it for, gosh, almost 30 years. I came back to it in 2019. I decided I wanted to get back into it and try to get my SAG card, like just full bore.
Once I got [back into acting], I didn’t realize everything had changed. You didn’t have to call anymore. Everything was on your phone. Everything was texting, or they sent you messages back.
How did you discover Casting Networks?
When I met people on set [after I went back into acting], everyone was telling me about different agencies to sign up with. One of them was Casting Networks. I went ahead and signed up and I ended up getting my SAG card through little parts on Casting Networks.
Two major things that happened to me: I did it on my own. I never got an agent. I just kept submitting, submitting, submitting, submitting. Just really pushing forward with it. I did just about everything. I bought wigs. I bought an older truck to use for driving to work. Anything I could possibly do to even the playing field.
You ended up booking your first national commercial through Casting Networks. Tell me a little bit about that experience from audition to set.
I was originally booked for background. I was at the optometrist, and I got a weird call. I don’t normally answer these, but I just so happened to answer, and they said, “Hi, you were booked for background, but we are now going to put you on OCP,” which is on-camera principal.
I did not even know it was a national commercial until after. One of the other actors who was in the show put it on Instagram because we all became friends. I see it come up saying, “I’m so happy I’ve booked my first national commercial.” I’m like, “What?” I had no idea.
It was a night call in LA and we worked from 12:30 [at night] to 11 in the morning. Basically, [in my role], I worked at the Hilton and was greeting these kids. It was actually a national commercial for the Grammys, so it was specific. It wasn’t like a regular commercial that would play for two or three years. It was national, but it was only going to run for that year through social media and [maybe the broadcast].
I didn’t know it was for the Grammys, either. My friend called me very soon after [we shot it]. She goes, “I just saw your commercial.” I just cannot believe that I got a national commercial.
Did you end up getting your SAG card from this gig?
I got my SAG card before that by going to a faraway job. Everyone laughs about this. I took a horse trailer to a job.
They put up “Looking for people with a horse trailer.” I called my sister, who owns a ranch. I go, “Listen, they’re putting up something for a horse trailer, and I was wondering, could I take your horse trailer?” She said yes. They called me and said, “Do you still have that horse trailer? We can offer you a SAG voucher if you can bring it to the set in Chatsworth.” I’m like, “I’m there.”
I seem to always be in the right place at the right time. I got a congratulatory letter from SAG in the mail saying that I was in SAG. I’m like, “How could I possibly be in SAG? I’ve only got two vouchers.” I called SAG because I thought they made a mistake. They looked it up, and … boom! I had one from the ’90s when SAG and AFTRA were separate, and it stayed in the file. I had no idea you kept stuff like that for that long. I just couldn’t believe it.
Were those other SAG jobs through Casting Networks?
Yes. I got a great one recently, I got an on-camera principal for Karol G’s new album. It’s for the video “Latina Foreva.” It just came out. I was on a set with one of the girls, and I got an on-camera principal role in Mammoth.
This is what’s so exciting about this. They actually picked me up at my home in Palmdale and took me to Mammoth. There were three older women in this video. The whole video was of younger girls, but there were two parts in there with the three women. It was the three Latina choir girls, and we had the same dress on. They were very quick spots where we looked out behind a tree, and we did a little shimmy. The end of the video was weird because I stayed on it.
They gave us 10 whole seconds at the end of the video of the three Latina ladies dancing and having fun. Ten seconds. I told my husband, “Do you realize how long 10 seconds is in a video?” If you watch a music video, it’s very fast. Every shot is maybe three, four seconds.
I got that in March. It was three days. It was like six days before my 60th birthday. I was so excited. I got paid well on that one and got a lot of good exposure for my work.
When I saw that submission, they showed a picture of three Latina girls, and they looked like they were kind of from the ’50s. Their hair was matted up, and they had black eyeliner, and I went ahead and matted my own hair up. I parted it on the side. I made it look like the ’50s. I grabbed a nice dress. I looked at their shoes (I have little pointy pumps). I sent in a picture that almost depicted those three girls. I ended up getting the audition.
They wanted to see your full body. They wanted side profiles. They wanted a smile. They wanted a couple of poses. I went ahead and put on almost the same dress, the pumps, the matted hair and the makeup.
Say you get an audition for a waitress and they [don’t] say what [to wear], wear something that looks like [what] a waitress [would wear]. Put a little apron on. If I had just sent in [a photo of myself like this], I don’t think I would have gotten the part.
What would you say helps somebody succeed on Casting Networks?
The first thing is a good headshot. Have one good headshot that you put on your page.
The second thing is to put in as much information as you can. If you play the guitar, if you sing, if you can do accents, put it in there. What can you play? I can play Italian, I can play Hispanic, I can do Lebanese. Any kind of Mediterranean, I can do that. As much information as you can put in there is great.
Casting Networks now has the icon for your Instagram, [YouTube and TikTok]. If you have an Instagram, I would do a separate Instagram from your personal one with all your work. Even if you put your headshots in there — a reel, or any kind of work you’ve done, playing guitar, singing, whatever it is — show it on this page so that casting directors can see your Instagram. If you have an Instagram that’s personal, make a separate one.
Then be on every single day. Every morning, I hear “There are 36 new notifications.” Make sure you’re getting the notifications sent to your email. Make sure you set that up so it comes through to you every morning.
I sit there for a good hour going through what roles they normally send me that fit me. Once you put in all that information, they’re going to say, “Here’s 35 roles that fit.”
Third, when you get an audition, do not procrastinate. Even if they say [it’s due] by Monday, be the first one to put it in because they see a lot of them. Sometimes they won’t wait till Monday. They’ll say Monday, but they might see the first five and say, “We really like her. Let’s just go with her. Let’s get her booked. We’ve got to hurry up and book this.”
I have procrastinated on jobs, and I’m like, “Okay, you’ve got to stop that.” The minute you get an audition, you have to hurry up and try to do that audition. I don’t know how many people are with Casting Networks, but if you’re going to audition, that right there is a very big step. They’re only auditioning so many people. I’m not sure how many people joined Casting Networks, but I do know it’s a lot.
Even if you don’t get cast, it’s still a big deal that you got chosen out of that many people to audition. Just keep going. At first, I’d be like, “I didn’t hear anything.” Just keep pushing forward. Keep submitting, and you’ll get work. I’ve gotten a lot of work through Casting Networks. Those are just two of the really big jobs that I mentioned.
Here’s one thing: you’re never too old. In my family, all the youngsters were like, “What are you doing?” I’m having fun. I love acting.
What audition tips or advice do you have that you could share with your peers?
You really have to pay attention to every single thing that they ask of you at an audition. It could be, “We would like you to just slate your name on a vertical.” When you do your video, make sure your phone’s not horizontal. There are all these little tiny details. Pay attention to that because they want it to be exact. They want you from the shoulder up. Make sure when you get your camera, you’re on from the shoulder up.
When you get an audition, you have to pay attention to every little detail in that audition. Sometimes it could be a lot, but just go for it. Push forward. When you’re auditioning, you’re not [always] auditioning live. You’re sending videos, so you have every opportunity to say, “That’s a good one. I’m going to keep that one.”
Unless you do a Zoom where you’re one-on-one, most of the time it’s an audition at home. You can look and say, “Oh, I look horrible, the lighting is bad,” and do it again. Do it right, and then send it in. You don’t have to be nervous, you’re at home.
Final Takeaways
Getting back into acting after a long break can feel overwhelming, especially with all the new technology and processes. But with persistence and attention to detail, you can find your footing and land meaningful roles. Here are a few simple tips to help new actors navigate today’s casting world.
- Get a strong, professional headshot and keep it updated on your casting profiles.
- Fill out all your skills and experience so casting directors know exactly what you can do.
- Respond to auditions quickly and follow every instruction carefully to make a great impression.
- Use a separate Instagram or social page to showcase your work and help casting directors see your range.
- Don’t give up if you don’t book right away keep submitting and learning from every audition.
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