Should I Pay To Join an Acting Agency?

The simple answer is NO. 

The simple answer is DON’T. 

Any acting agency worth their salt will not charge you a penny. They make their money by taking a small percentage of your income AFTER they got you the audition and AFTER they negotiated your fee for the project. That’s normal. Making you pay for stuff upfront is NOT. 

But honestly, if you don’t have professional training or experience, I doubt that any decent agency will ask you to join them. It’s almost impossible WITH training and experience, so imagine you are totally new to the game - they just won’t be interested. I know that you believe in yourself, but it just isn’t how this works. 

They simply won’t be interested in someone with no training and experience - because they are already utterly deluged by people with training and experience. 

You don’t get into the industry because you want to join. You earn your place there. It might take a few years, but if you want it badly enough, you will do it. First you earn yourself some experience locally. Maybe Am Dram if you need to. Student Films are also good. Then move onto some professional training. The chances are there are local courses, but there’s a plethora of one year courses now designed to bring you up to a professional level in the shortest time possible.  Then you will have a shot at gaining professional acting experience when you graduate and THAT’s the time to be approaching agents. 

Has anyone ever got an agent without doing that? Yes, they probably have. However, if that’s your plan, then you are counting on luck to do the same for you. And that’s not a plan.

Interested in getting into the industry? We have a one year foundation acting course, 2-year HND in Acting & Performance and an intensive one year professional diploma course at Acting Coach Scotland.