KNOWING YOUR ACTOR TYPE

The importance of knowing your type is key to an actor's success.  Even though I'm sure you are all fabulous actors and could "play" every part,  your looks and/or voice may limit you from playing and attaining particular roles.  It is important to remember that you will not be considered for every role, just like you wouldn't be considered for every job if you didn't have the right credentials.   In the job market, your skills are typically specific, so why not be specific with your actor type?  You can't apply for a job as a plumber if you've never been trained or apprenticed as a plumber.  You can't be a doctor if you have never been to medical school and passed your exams.  Get my point?   It's okay to be stereotyped, put in a box, to have a type and to be specific, so people can cast you.  

So how do you "know your type?"  

1.  Know your age range.
2.  Know your physical characteristics.  Are you fat, skinny, gorgeous, bald, muscular, have tatoos, piercings, Latina, Middle Eastern, etc...?
3.  Know your personality.  What do people think about you?  Are you kind, generous, edgy, flaky, a genius, hyper, daring, quirky, quiet, a brute...?
4.  Know your voice.  Does it have a nasal sound like Fran Drescher's.  Is it deep and booming like James Earl Jones, commanding like a president, nurturing like a mom,  sweet like a Disney princess,  sharp like an evil step-mother?
5.  What types of roles have you played? Describe them.   For example:   I have played:  Lina Lamont in SINGING IN THE RAIN - a glamorous silent screen star who is brash and crass.  She has an annoying voice and is highly comedic. Rhoda in WHITE CHRISTMAS - a great dancer/sassy show girl who is who is not the sharpest tack in the drawer but comedic and a lot of fun.  Judy in a KID LIKE JAKE - a pre-school director who is smart, organized, extroverted, enjoys being the center of attention, well-intentioned but not always insightful.   Carole in A PLACE OF OUR OWN - an introverted well intentioned mom who is caring but sometimes looses sight of her gentleness when trying to parent her gender questioning son and adjusting to the loss of her husband.  Cordelia in FALSETTOS - a caring but sometimes insecure and quirky lesbian lover who lives to make people happy through her cooking.  Shirley in BRIGHTWOOD - an uptight nursing home director with an A-type personality.  She has a false sense of friendliness with a hard exterior, but internally cares for her residents and employees and is secretly concerned about how people view her.
6.  What actors have people compared you to?   People have compared me to Sally Field, Debra Messing, Laura Linney, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
7.  Can you sum up #5 & #6?   Example:   I am often cast to play comedic characters who might be brash, crass, or sassy while others are quirky, nerdy, or saccharinely silly - i.e. funny/frazzled/slightly kooky women. I am also often cast in dramatic roles as characters who have caretaking qualities like a mom, school teacher, nurse, social worker, school &/or medical administrator. These characters have been confident, understanding, nurturing, kind, extroverted, organized, or had administrative qualities.  Other times, I have played insecure people pleasers, introverted caretakers, and even a verbally abusive mother - women who have lost sight of their mission and might not always be gentle, understanding, or secure.  I have also played a gun wielding doctor in a dystopian universe and a hit woman.  People have compared me to Sally Field, Laura Linney, Debra Messing, and Julia Louis Dreyfus.

Other tips to find your type (especially if you are new to acting and don't have a breadth of experience) are:

1.  Name three actors who are stealing your roles or are getting roles you would like.
2.  Name three shows you would like to be on.
3.  Name a part or type of part you would like to have on each of those named shows.
4.  Ask your friends, family, coaches, fellow actors what types of parts they can see you in.

In the end, know yourself, don't try to be something you aren't.  Remember you are you unique and castable in appropriate roles.