What Do Acting Agents Look For? Our Founder Answers
What do acting agents look for? Allied Artists is the acting arm of The Diversity Agency, and both were founded by Marcus Flemmings, who has worked in the industry since 2007. He answers twelve questions about what he checks when someone applies.
Marcus signs actors at Allied Artists and models at The Diversity Agency, and his answers below come from both sides of the business. Where he talks about models, he is talking about the modelling side. The questions are ours; the answers are his own words.
When an application lands, what do you look at first?
I look at a few things. I look at location. I look at age, which is not a good thing or a bad thing, but it helps me work out where the model would sit on our boards.
I look at their looks. Are they going to fit our book? Do they look too similar to anyone we currently have? Or the other way round: do they look similar to someone we have who's getting loads of work at the minute? That's a good thing.
How do you know within a few seconds whether someone has what it takes?
It's very hard to quantify, and I don't want to say it's the X-factor. I think what people mean by the X-factor, especially from my perspective, is that I've worked with so many models over the years.
Currently we have 300 models. If you multiply that by the number of years I've been working in the industry, since 2007, you get a very large number. You'd probably get to around the 3,000 mark, but in reality it's probably around 2,000 models I've worked with.
I know which models are doing well and which models are doing badly. So I know what works, and I know what works for the agency, because I know what kind of models our clients want and I know where the industry is going.
When you meet someone, what are you looking for beyond their pictures?
A great attitude. A willingness to learn, a willingness to listen, a willingness to grow, and a willingness to take on advice and not see criticism as the end point, but as the opening towards something bigger. And someone who is patient.
What gets someone dropped once they're signed?
Typically a lack of communication, a lack of responses, unavailability, a poor attitude, or being consistently late for jobs. For me, if you're late for jobs twice, you're gone.
And it comes down to being someone you enjoy interacting with. That doesn't mean the person needs to be the most charismatic person ever, but you shouldn't feel like, "Oh my God, I'm going to have to talk to that person again today."
What's the most common mistake people make when they apply?
Sending the same picture three times. Or sending pictures that are badly lit, or not following the instructions.
What should the photos you send look like?
A good model digital is shot in good daylight. Stand in front of a window, get your phone, put it on a tripod or a windowsill and self-shoot. That's the best way to do it. Or if you've got a friend or a family member, they can do it.
That's typically how it looks. It doesn't need to be anything particularly special. From there, an agent can make a decision.
Can anyone be a model?
Pretty much. It depends on what kind of modelling it is. If you look at commercials, they have people of all different ages, heights, sizes and genders, and every race. So yes, anyone can be a model.
But when people think of modelling, they typically think of fashion modelling, which is not a field I particularly play in. So in that sense, no. But when it comes to commercial modelling, yes, pretty much.
How tall do you really need to be?
Height is not a massive factor.
Is there an age when it's too late to start?
It's never too late to start. That's a bit of a myth. We have models on our books who are 70 years old, and they do really well. So you don't have to start at a certain age.
Again, fashion modelling is different. If you're a fashion model, the idea is that you start when you're about 16, 17 or 18.
Does your size or shape rule you out?
Shape and size do not rule you out. We have plenty of plus-size models. They are some of the best models on our books, and over the years we've had many plus-size models in many amazing campaigns.
Are tattoos, scars, gappy teeth or skin conditions a problem?
Tattoos are a bit of an issue. A lot of brands don't want tattoos, and they typically cover them up.
Gappy teeth are a good thing.
Skin conditions can be a problem, but they can be an advantage as well. A brand like Charlotte Tilbury, for example, typically always wants people with skin conditions.
What would you say to someone every agency has turned down so far?
A lot of the models on our books have, at one point or another, been turned down, and they've gone on to do great things. There are plenty of models I've turned down who I've later seen on social media, and they've done really well.
So there's no right or wrong. There's only what happens in the moment, and the moment is temporary. There are probably a myriad of reasons why you were rejected in that moment.
We have models who are highly successful on our books right now who applied to other agencies and got rejected. It just depends, really.
What to send an acting agent
Our guides cover each part of an actor's application: actor headshots, your acting CV, a showreel and how to get an acting agent. If you model as well as act, read acting and modelling: can you do both and how to get signed by a model agency in London.
When you are ready, send us your submission.
Watch the full interview
To get a deeper dive into our agent's thoughts on the industry, watch his interview here.
Our write-up of that conversation is what a talent agent does.