Recently I came across a number of people that posted selfies on public boards as a means to getting acting jobs. This is a big No No!
Why?
The main reason is simple: Using selfies makes you look unprofessional.
“You cannot afford someone to hold the camera and take a picture for you”
There are a lot of other reasons I can list here, but they all come back to one thing: a selfie, even a good one is not professional.
It should be an absolute no no to send selfies to casting directors / agent or post them on public boards, such as, but not only the Actors Association.
It sends a message to everyone: you are not willing to invest even the slightest bit in yourself – like having professional pictures taken, which in Bangkok you can do for free at Mikael Ranta’s Studio. Check out his webpage and get in touch with him here: http://rantaimages.com/
Who wants to hire someone like that?
no selfies please
Compare this to that:
Portraits
A professional headshot shows that you are serious about what you are doing.
I takes time to have a good picture taken. You need to go to a studio, you need to hire a photographer, the pictures need to be edited, all of this takes work. Work that will show in the final product.
A selfie just shows that you are too lazy to do any of that.
But why?
Your face is your first step into the door of castings. If you want to be an actor, get training, if you want to be a stunt man, get training or stay in shape and if you want to enter a highly competitive industry you need to have something to show for. A good picture can open doors, whereas a selfie can close them just as fast.
Even better would be posting a comp card with all relevant information about yourself and maybe a short bio.
You can easily make your own comp card here: http://compcard.actors-thailand.com/
comp card for self promotion
Where is it acceptable to post selfies?
On your private profile / Instagram it may be ok to post some cool looking selfies. And it is a definite yes for self promotion if you get to work with a star or someone who has a big online / social media following.
If you post a reel of your work, or pictures in different characters / costumes to give people an idea of what you can do. That is perfectly acceptable.