I want to start acting in soaps and films... what’s the first step? Collage or..? I know it will take years but?

Start with school plays

Or go to acting school

If you are good they will recommend you to someone who can better your career.

Right, it'll take many years (and a lot of hard work and tons of money). But accept the fact that there's no guarantee you'll ever get a single role. And you cannot limit yourself to soaps and films, you have to be willing to do anything, including TV, commercials, theater, indies and student films, etc.

So first step is to adopt a realistic, mature approach. The reality of acting and pursuing is it VERY different from what people usually imagine and you might be more interested in the fantasy of what you THINK it's like.

For example, 99% of *professional* actors hold a day job or two to be able to support themselves, and they do it while also walking in and out of auditions or between acting gigs, acting classes, shootings, readings, fittings, rehearsals, etc. They're constantly exhausted, live in a small apartment and are hungry for food; they're often lonely, far away from home, and barely have the time to socialize; their talent, looks, and skills are constantly judged and more often than not they're rejected. They make big sacrifices in their life with no guarantees it'll ever pay off...  and they still have to make sure they remain healthy and strong - both physically AND mentally. If you do it for the wrong reasons (like fame, money, fans, a "glamorous" lifestyle) you will fail before you even start. Try only if you NEED to ACT, even if you'll never become famous. Even if that means you'll end up "just" a theater actor.

If you're not okay with any of that, acting as a career is not for you. If you are okay with it, make sure that it's even worth trying before you go and invest so much time, work, and money and make big sacrifices in your life: Get into some acting classes, something low-key just to get a sense of it. Find out A)what acting REALLY is, B)if you're even good at it, C)If you enjoy the *craft* itself, D)if you're even capable of pursuing it on a professional level.

In addition, and just as important, research the business side. That's what it is after all - show BUSINESS. No one's in this to make your dreams come true, they're in this to make money. And running an acting career is like running a business where you are the product to be marketed and sold. Find out about the realities of it. Backstage . com would be a good place to start.

If you find that acting IS for you and you want to pursue it on a professional level, apply to a serious top-quality acting school (where well-known and respected acting teachers teach and successful actors graduated from, not just any acting classes and not just any college). In addition, start building a resume strong enough to impress potential agents: Get yet more training, like workshops and masterclasses and such. And also plenty of low-level experience such as indie and student films. Join and/or audition for community theater. Constantly land leading roles. Win awards for your acting. Do your own projects as well. Take vocal and dance lessons. Study and master different special skills to give your resume a boost (for example: horseback riding, martial arts, acrobatics, dialects, etc.).

Building that kind of resume takes about a decade, give or take. No legit agent will even consider you before that (if they do, or if they ask for money upfront - RUN! They're not legit). You need an agent, you can’t just go to auditions for professional jobs, they are not open to the general public. Agents only consider highly-trained and highly-experienced people because productions invest tons of money and they need to know it's in the hands of people who know what they're doing. So they trust agents to keep out the beginners and amateurs.

Move to LA (or NYC if you're more interested in theater) when you're ready and continue getting experience and training. At some point, someone you've worked with and impressed (like a director, a producer, an acting teacher, or even a fellow actor) may be willing to refer you to an agent. Other ways of landing an agent (like getting spotted at a showcase or cold-querying with your headshots, demo reel, and resume) rarely work. So in addition to all the above you also need to network and make connections who will remember you for your good work.

IF you finally get signed by an agent, the way it works is, when casting for a project begins a casting director is hired. The casting director creates a "character breakdown" of the roles they're looking to fill specifying their age range, looks, special skills, ethnicity, etc. Then they approach the best agents in town - agents they know well and trust. Based on that breakdown, the agents go over their client database and submit to the casting director the resumes, headshots and demo reels of the clients they believe may fit the said role(s). Out of those, the casting director invites to audition only the handful THEY believe may fit the role(s). From there, the agent of those actors gives them the audition info. Those actors will come and audition as many times as needed, competing against other professional actors for the same role, till only 1 gets it. You may be invited to 100 auditions every year or you may never be invited to any auditions. Since *professional* experience is important when casting for serious projects (like national TV shows and movies), most likely it will take a few more years before you get your first serious role - IF you get one at all (again, statistically you won't), let alone a few. Understand that.

Like I said, you can't afford limiting yourself. Agents make money if and when their client books a job. They take %. So they're very selective as to who they take on a as a client as it is. If you limit yourself, you will not land enough auditions (and gigs) for your agent to keep you.

Anyway, please give it some serious consideration.

Good luck!

 COLLAGE?..........College

I was a paid soap extra on Days of Our Lives from 2012 -2014 and portrayed a nurse at the Salem Hospital. I appeared in 16 episodes.  You have to have an agent, or you can contact NBC..and request information on the soap you want to appear in. And yes, it can take years. You have to have acting experience.  Thats the first thing they ask for. And  have proof of where you went to school.  They dont take non-talented people, or non experienced in the industry.  I went to School for the Performing Arts. I have also been in 5 movies, with speaking parts.  That took 2 years for me.