So you want to be an actor? You heard of the term "shoot", right? Photographers, Directors, Cinematographers, Cowboys – they all use this term. Now, to get the term right, when it comes to acting it means you need to know that without having your head shot in the right way you are D-E-A-D in this town (or any other town, for that matter). I mean, shot like it matters, the actor's attitude matters, their hair and make-up matters, the clothes matter, the colors matter, why even the manner in which you get it to the right agent or manager or casting director MATTERS. Alright, so I had a small head-start, I've had headshots done by four other photographers before and only two out of a million shots were chosen to be what my then agents in Miami thought could actually sell me. After showing my manager out here in LA the headshots that had gotten me decent work over the years on the east coast, he laughed, burped, farted, and then asked me to burn them. Which after much suffering... I did. Suffering from the gaseous response, I mean.

Yeah, so I got my headshots done out here with a photographer named John Corbett, who is buddies with Lawrence Folgo, the head of the Pinnacle Actor's Group, and was included in the fees for our program. But John Corbett didn't know me from a rusty bent nail on the floor about to be stepped on. All he knew was that he was being paid miserly for shooting eight young actors from Miami on a cold and early Tuesday morning as a slight paid favor for an old friend. I saw them afterwards and umm... no, not too impressed with myself or the photographer. I think it lies more on the photographer's end, though, because if he'd taken the time to get to know me, 10 minutes, anything, he would've shot me with the right kind of eye... the well informed eye, the eye that knows the possibilities of the subject. I can also blame myself for how they turned out because maybe I should've been vainer and stuck it out in front of the mirror and made faces to see what I actually look like. But my eye is not a camera, so how do I take this... find another photographer, it's that simple... but wait... they cost money, and like anything else, the better or more reputable the shooter, the more expensive it becomes.

I'd been afforded the opportunity through my program to get what is known out here as a "starter's set". It's basically any halfway decent head shot that can get you through the door (or at least to the assistant) and sell you just long enough for the right person to come along and say, "Hey, I know who you should shoot with..." and then you follow through with that until you've got new headshots, and then again somebody tells you they know who you should shoot with... to tell you the truth... it's like anything else in the life of the actor... don't take advice from other actors... think for yourself, sell yourself in your best light, and let the photographer do the clicking only after you've at least somewhat clicked with them. This guy John Corbett shot me at least 200 Xs, and all my manager said was... "I like these two but..." and now it's back to the drawing board, or the studio, whatever.

All I'm saying is, never be satisfied, never be content with them, because you should always have an extensive amount of experience and headshots to choose from, and you can never count on EVERYBODY loving the same headshots. So keep some options open, keep a few different looks with you, have A LOT of photographers you know and were only mildly satisfied with. In the end, the headshot is EVERYTHING to the actor. It is the way into anything before you have the reputation that precedes you, in which case, you're headshot will cease to be important until you always have a stack of them signed to give out to your fans when you go out in public. Aw f**k! I'm broke and I gotta go find another photographer now...