Hi there! My name is Eliza and I’m an actress living in NYC. I’ve been acting since I was a wee lass and still feel like every day is a new adventure. It can be tough at times, especially when you are starting out, and I think it’s important to have some resources out there to help people understand the business and how to go about being part of it.

So here we are! This blog will be a collection of thoughts and advice on everything from headshots and resumes to monologues, auditions and careers. I hope you find it useful. If you have any questions or comments, please post them below!

I also have a bunch of resources on my site for actors starting out, so check that out as well.

It’s hard to be an actor. It’s hard to get good at it and it’s hard to get paid well for it. But if you’re a young actor in Los Angeles, you’ve probably already figured that out. I hope you come away from this blog with some helpful tips, stories, or a better understanding of what it takes to survive as a working actor.

But more than anything, I hope this blog inspires you. If you’re new to acting and looking for guidance or just feeling down about the business, maybe my story will help you feel inspired again.

I’m going to talk about a lot of things here: the audition process, acting classes, headshots and the business side of things. But first I want to tell you my story and how I got here today.

I am an actor. I have been working in the film and television industry for over 20 years. I have been in movies, television shows, commercials and voice overs. I have acted for the stage, worked as a host, a sizzle reel producer and a casting director. In other words, I know my stuff. I am here to teach you how to break into the business of acting, learn the lingo and stay sane while you’re doing it.

The first thing you need is headshots from a professional photographer that specializes in actors’ headshots. There are some photographers who do everything – weddings, bar mitzvahs, family portraits and actors’ headshots. That’s fine if you want wedding pictures or portraits but they aren’t going to give you what casting directors want to see when they are looking at your picture along with hundreds of others right now!

There are different schools when it comes to actors’ headshots. Some photographers will tell you that you should look like everyone else so that there will be no question that you are what we call “type-able”. The purpose of this is so that casting directors will be able to look at your picture and say “Oh yeah, she can play “the mother” or “the wife”

There is a lot of misinformation out there about what it takes to be an actor. Of course, every person’s journey is different, but if you are thinking about pursuing a career in acting and you have no idea how to go about it – or you’re lost in the process – I’m here to tell you that I’ve been there and I can help.

I got my first agent when I was 13 years old. Since then I’ve booked guest-starring roles on hit TV shows like “ER,” “Veronica Mars,” “Drake & Josh,” “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Desperate Housewives.” I’ve had recurring roles on “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Still Standing.” I’ve been in movies like “Knocked Up” and “Superbad.”

I’ve also worked with some of the biggest stars in show business: Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, Keira Knightley, Ian McKellen and Robert Downey Jr., to name a few.

As an actor with nearly 20 years of experience, here are some things I have learned along the way:

1. Go to auditions

2. Get cast in a movie

3. Practice your lines for the movie

4. Show up on set and film your scenes

5. Watch the film and see how you did

Recently I worked on a video where I played a man who’s wife had just died. It was a very emotional scene and most of the day was spent crying. By the end of the day my eyes were so dry that it hurt to blink.

Dry eyes are something that actors have to deal with all the time. Sometimes it’s because they’ve been crying all day, sometimes it’s because they’re on set and it’s windy, or dusty, or there are fake snowflakes in the air; and sometimes it happens during an audition and you don’t know why.

What can you do about dry eyes? Not much, unfortunately. But here are some things you can do to make them feel better:

Use eyedrops as much as you need to

If your eyes get dry from crying, try using artificial tears every 15 minutes to keep them lubricated. If your eyes get dry from being on set, ask your AD if you can take a break outside for a few minutes. Make sure you wear sunglasses if the sun is bright so that your eyes don’t get more irritated than they already are. The goal is to prevent the tear film from evaporating before your next blink lubricates your eyes again.

Don’t wear contacts

Strikingly good-looking, with a chiseled physique and piercing green eyes, the actor and director is one of the few stars today who can match the appeal of his leading ladies. His career has been marked by several high-profile relationships, including a romance with his XXX co-star, Angelina Jolie, who he later married.

Born in Los Angeles to an American mother and British father, Pitt grew up in Springfield, Missouri. After studying journalism at the University of Missouri, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He got his start in television with a regular role on the prime-time soap opera Another World (1964). He then made his feature film debut in No Man’s Land (1987) before winning small roles in Confessions of a Sorority Girl (1994), The Dark Side of Love (1994) and Too Young to Die? (1990).

Over the next few years, Pitt’s profile grew steadily as he took on starring roles in films like Cool World (1992), Kalifornia (1993) and Johnny Suede (1991). He had a small but memorable part as an arrogant baseball player in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It (1992), which made him more famous. That same year