Your headshot is your calling card. It is your SALES PITCH. It is how you communicate with your audience (casting directors, directors, producers, agents) WHO YOU ARE. It says "This is who I am" or "This is what I can be." Most new actors when they are going for their first photo session commonly make the mistake of thinking that their headshot should say "This is what I look like" or "This is what I can look like." "Being" and "looking like" are two completely different things. You know as well as I do that being sweet and looking sweet are two totally different things.

You do not want a pretty picture of you looking pretty (or handsome, or rugged or sexy or whatever you have been told you are or think you are). You want a picture of YOU. Just YOU. So, you have to BE YOU. Not just look like you, but actually BE YOU. And this is harder than you think.

One of the things that confuses new actors, and some veteran actors too, is when the photographer tells you you get three "looks." Immediately, you start sifting through the clothes in your closet. Most people are unsatisfied with what they come up with, so they head to either a friend's house to sift through their closet (if they are low on cash), or to the mall. Eventually, most people usually come up with the same three looks: 1) If you're young - cute, pretty (or handsome), boy or girl next door - someone can take you home to mom, or if you're older - the mom or dad type 2) Sexy, rugged, "let's show some bod," - someone you can't take home to mom, 3) business man or business woman - usually in a suit.

These are all nice, but they usually won't get you any work because EVERYONE who doesn't know what their headshot should do for them, has these. Once you know that your headshot should communicate WHO YOU ARE, not WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE, then you will finally get a calling card that will work for you.

Take a look at my three most recent headshots below. The first is my primary theatrical headshot. It is the one that I will have in my hand whenever I walk into a theatrical audition. The second is my primary commercial headshot. I will use it only for commercial auditions. The third is also a theatrical headshot, but I will not have it reproduced. It is for electronic submissions only because my primary headshot is the one that captures the largest part of who I am.


Primary Theatrical Headshot
 
 
Primary Commercial Headshot
 
 
Secondary Theatrical Headshot
 
STEP ONE - Know who you are

Now, here is where things get a little tricky and this is why knowing who you are is so crucial to getting a great headshot. Although all three of these headshots are completely different, they are all ME BEING ME. I am not trying to "look" sexy and strong and be "open," in the first headshot. At that moment, I as an actor, allowed myself to BE sexy and strong (and available and approachable etc.). In the second headshot, I felt happy and alive and just glad to be out taking pictures and Carlton and the camera picked up on that. In my third shot, I was relaxed and peaceful; I was in a "good place," as they say.

All of these "looks" are me and at any given moment on any day, I will be any of these people. I may be the sexy Shanda at night and the happy Shanda at noon and then the peaceful Shanda in the evening. Your first job in preparing for your headshot is to figure out who you are selling to your audience. Once you know that, write it down. Remember, you usually only get three "looks" so all you really have to do is list the three most prominent aspects of who you are. And when you write your list, start each description with "I AM..." and fill in the blank.

Once you know what you are selling - different facets of you - and you have made your list, you need to figure out how to pull that part of you up on command. The easiest way to do this is to create a very short inner monologue that can put you in that mindset immediately. Also, you must remember that the camera reads everything and since it's going to read everything going on with you during the shoot, you should give it something interesting to read. Nervousness, blank stares and pretty smiles are boring and if that is all you are able to give to the camera, that is all that will be on your headshot, and that is all the casting director is going to think of you.

Here are a couple of examples of short inner monologues that you can either use or tweak to your own liking. Better yet, create your own that truly brings out WHO YOU ARE.

1) Envision your very first love, whether he or she knew you or not or whether he or she was your "first" -think "I want to make love to you." Seeing someone thinking of their first love and watching them want to connect with that person is WAAAYY more interesting than seeing someone thinking they are sexy and that everyone wants to sleep with them. The first type of sexiness is interesting because it's pure and inviting and rare, because you only get one first love. The second type of sexiness you can find in any bar on any street corner in America.

2) Think of your child or, if you don't have a child, think of your puppy or whatever pet you may have. Remember a time when you either picked them up from school (if it's your child) or when you came home from work (your puppy, not your child) and they were so excited to see you. Now think "Hi baby! Mommy's (or Daddy's) home!" You can't help but smile from inside and that is the genuine joy you need to capture for your headshot.

3) If you really are the rugged type and not just trying to act like a badass, your inner monologue should be something like "I'm going to kick your mutha fuckin' ass." Hear it softly in your head. Do not hear it as a loud yell. You'll be shocked how at how menacing a whisper can be. Do not do anything else just because you think it will look tough - no scowling, no crossing your arms. Do not "indicate" how you feel; just know that you want to kick someone's ass. You will be surprised at how your body will respond and how much the camera will pick up.

So that was all the background work. This should all be done way before you get to the photoshoot so that you can practice being you. Sounds crazy, I know, but since most people either freeze up in front of the camera or only show what they THINK other people want to see, I can assure you that you will thank me for telling you practice being yourself.

STEP TWO - Know who is buying you

You must know who is buying you. Will you be auditioning for a Lifetime Movie of the Week or CSI-Special Victims Unit? Are you going out for Dove or Dell computers commercials? For each "look" you have listed, write who would "buy" you for their film or commercial. Hopefully, you can come up with a few possible employers for each "look." This will give you an idea of how the different parts of you fit into the industry.

A word of caution: If you are new to acting, your very best bet is to go with the look that is you most of the time. Perfect selling that part of you first before you start selling parts of you that you don't live in daily. For example, generally a new actor who is a new mom should not audition as a mom. She hasn't studied acting long enough to play a mom and she hasn't been a mom long enough for it to be automatic. She SHOULD, however, audition for "new mom" roles because it is what she is living right now. Who better to play a new mom than a new mom?

STEP THREE - Keep it alive

Now, on to the day of the shoot.

You've done all your homework and you know what parts of you that you want to come out to play for the camera. You've found outfits that fit the different sides of you. Hair's cut, teeth are bleached (although not too white!) and you've removed or bleached unwanted excess hair on your face and/or arms. Now you are ready to shoot.

The most important thing to remember for your shoot is to live. Do not get stuck in a pose. Once you pose, the life comes out of you and you become a statue. Even if you are only making very small movements, you will stay "alive" and it is this living, breathing YOU that casting directors, directors, producers and agents want to see in your headshot before they take the time to meet you.

In addition to making small movements to keep the life in you, another trick is to close your eyes until the photographer says OK and then open them. When he takes the picture at that moment, your eyes are moving naturally and you won't have that blank stare that a lot of actors have in their headshots.

Hopefully, these suggestions will come in handy. Now, I know no one wants to hear this, but I've got to say it anyway. This is not easy to do and you may not get it right the first time you take headshots. However, you will have to take new headshots about every two or four years anyway because as time passes, your physical look changes and you will need new pictures. All that said, my final suggestion it to choose a professional, well-respected photographer who will help you get to where you need to be to capture who you truly are. And then, be sure YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE and bring it on!

Photo credits: Carlton Mickle - http://carltonmickle.com/