When preparing for my upcoming Self Marketing workshop I thought it might be useful to contact some casting directors and agents to see what advice they might have for actors when writing to them, to make them stand out from the crowd. What I got were some examples of how not to do it. Some really quite spectacular examples of how not to do it. So, under no circumstances should you even contemplate doing any of the following –

Filling your letter with glitter stars “Because I want you to think of me as one of these shining stars”. What they’ll think is “What a mess dumped all over my desk by some idiot”

Stapling a tea bag to your letter “So you can have a nice cup of tea while you watch my show reel”. They have teabags of their own, and if they did want yours, the staple right through it could be a problem.

The actor who wanted to be seen by The Globe, so they dipped their CV in tea, and burnt the edges to make it look aged, rolled it up, and had it sealed with a ribbon and wax. They then had it delivered by hand to the casting director, who took one look at it and wrote the actor off as almost cringingly desperate.

The intensely personal “This part means so much to me” letter. As one casting director said to me “Just get to the point, and show me what you’ve done, or can do, that’s relevant to the part in this production. As for the rest, it gets in the way.”

The Curse of the Last Rolo. An actor wrote to a casting director asking to be seen for a part, and included the line” I want this part so much I’m sending you my last Rolo”, and included the Rolo in question in their letter. Quirky? Endearing? Gimmicky?
Given that it was sent through the post in the summer, arriving melted and squashed all over the letter looking like a dirty protest, I'll considered 'bordering on the idiotic.'

As for the rest, including what you should do, come to the workshop...

Paul Cawley
Paul’s twenty-five year career has encompassed a variety of theatre from Greek tragedy and Restoration comedy, to modern classics and new writing in venues as varied as The National, Chichester, The Gate and The Finborough as well as appearances in the West End. On screen he began in Children’s TV and has since appeared in comedies, dramas and soaps, not to mention more than a couple of commercials.

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