How to Break Into Acting in London (Real Advice from an Actress) with Imogen Eden-Brown

I got the Edinburgh Fringe job through making content and also

being in London. They posted a casting on TikTok.

So many things are getting cast on social media now, like people

are putting out casting calls on Instagram, Twitter.

It's like a new wave of younger people that are just going, OK,

well I'm just going to create my own work because no one's going

to pick up my work. I think it's a great way to

market yourself and also just meet people in the industry,

people that are trying and it's it's reaching a new audience now

where there are people that might not have, you know, the

connections because a lot of it is who you know.

Welcome back to the Take a Chance on You podcast hosted by

me, Alexandra Forsythe. Today I'm so excited to be

passing the mic to Imogen Brown, who's an actress, model and

content creator. Imogen, how are you doing?

I'm good, I'm good. But excited to be here.

I'm kind of nervous because we've been following each other

for a while on social media. That came cross Imogen's profile

on Instagram and you shared a post recently about hospitality.

Going back into that area of work because you're originally

born in a Brighton pub. Right about that because this

hit close to home for me. Yeah, I mean, hospitality is

kind of in my blood, really. I grew up in a pub in Brighton.

My parents owned a pub and my front door was literally going

into the pub and being greeted by every single.

So I think that's where I kind of learned my social skills and

my confidence, which obviously is like a positive.

I do like hospitality, but I don't like having to do it

because it's not what I want to do.

It feels second nature and it's easy to pick up a job and it's

really flexible for if you're wanting to pick up other things.

I I have about 7 jobs it feels like and I had to pick up

another one because being self-employed work doesn't come

as often and some months you might be really busy and other

months you might not be. I was trying to get by on what I

was doing and it just wasn't working.

Living in London, it's tough, so I've got to a point where I was

just like I'm going to have to pick up another job because if I

want to actually experience things when I have the time off

then I'm going to have to make more money because a few months

aren't very busy. And is that in terms of the

content creation? You've already been in the play,

but you're inspiring to be in TV and film, so that's what you

want to do. I mean, it's weird because I

moved to London a year and a half ago now and I honestly, and

I from Brighton, from Brighton, yeah.

I don't, I don't give myself enough credit because I'm just

like, Oh yeah, well, this is just kind of meant to happen,

but I don't go imagine you literally moved to a big city by

yourself and became self-employed at the same time.

So that's like a huge job I did. Two of the biggest small phones

in. Line.

I know I really like to keep myself on my toes clearly.

But yeah, it's when I moved to London, I was getting like loads

of jobs and I was really excited because I was busy.

I was like booking jobs. I was meeting people like it was

like the rush and then I knew it wasn't going to last.

But obviously you can never really prepare yourself for when

it just really dips down. It was kind of tough to be like,

OK, so this work isn't going to come around as often as I'd like

it to. The industry's kind of always

changing and. You have to adapt.

As well. Exactly.

You represented by kind of talent agent.

Yeah, so I have a acting agent. OK.

And what's it looking like now in terms of the industry?

It's weird actually, because after Christmas I was expecting

a really slow January, February, and I was getting seen for

really, really big things. And I was thinking, obviously I

was so grateful. These aren't even like day

player roles or, you know, supporting roles that these are

like main characters for series. So obviously I was so excited

and it was like the most auditions I'd had in a month.

And I was like, OK, if we keep going on this trajectory, I'm

going to be really, really happy with how this is going.

And then March came and it just fell completely flat again.

It's kind of like pilot season, isn't there, where you go for

audition after audition and then you wait to see if you've gotten

anything. Is it like that now?

January, February? What's the turn around lie?

It's so hard to say because some of the jobs are like really

quick turnarounds and it's really sad, but I'm used to just

not hearing anything. So if I haven't heard anything

within a week, two weeks, I'd just go, yeah, I haven't got it.

Sounds like a job interview. We get the same sometimes it's

very minimal feedback. It's quite naughty really.

But you have obviously debuted at Edinburgh Fringe.

Yeah. I want to talk about this

because I think in terms of the listeners, we have a broad range

demographic wise. Medium age is 25 to 45 now goes

right down to 17 out to 60. We have so many people tuning

in, gender split as well as there.

Anybody out there listening, what do you think you'd

recommend? Persistence, resilience.

Be prepared. London is a fantastic city to be

and it is. It's the capital.

We're here for opportunity, but be prepared that it might not be

plain sailing. Oh.

Yeah, 100%. I kind of knew when moving to

London that it wasn't going to be like all, you know, sunshines

and rainbows an amazing time. But the amount of times like I

have monthly kind of breakdowns about my career and I'm just

like, is this what I want to do? And I think every kind of person

in. The industry.

Can understand that and. Every day.

I had it this morning. So you're just walking around.

Especially when it's summer or it's spring now and it's getting

warmer. People are getting a bit more

fruitful out and about. You put your sunglasses on and

you think, oh, maybe I should just go on a retreat.

Yeah, yeah. Well, I just just move away and

yeah, and it is tough, but I think I think London has kind of

been like a blessing and a curse to me because I've absolutely

loved it. But it's been so tough and it

has really tested me. But the amount of opportunities

and people that I've met through it have got the Edinburgh Fringe

job through making content and being in London and.

Did you go networking for that so they.

Posted a casting on TikTok and it's crazy now because so many

things are getting cast on social media now.

People are putting out casting calls on Instagram, Twitter,

really. Interesting how that's

happening. It's new.

It's like a new wave of younger people that are just going, OK,

well, I'm just going to create my own work because now it's

going to pick up my work. I was just about to say, I

think, do you think it's a combination of wanting to

broaden horizons and meet new people, say casting directors,

potentially talent agents as well out there, wanting to see a

different flavour? I think as an individual and

then autonomy is huge now. People do really want to take

back ownership of their careers. I'm saying that a lot. 100%

although people are like, oh, social media, it's really,

really bad. I think it's a great way to

market yourself and also just meet people in the industry and

people that are trying. And it's just, it's reaching a

new audience now where there are people that might not have, you

know, the connections because a lot of it is who you know.

So what's good is that if you're getting, you know, engagement

and putting out casting calls, it's crazy.

For the fringe play that I was in, they had over 1000

submissions through social media as well as Spotlight, which is

the main casting profile. They didn't think they were

going to get that reception. It's crazy how things can kind

of work out like that. So you saw it on social media,

TikTok applied and then went for the audition.

It was an online audition and I had about 3 rounds of auditions

and then I remember I was with my friends in Brighton and I got

the call and I was like Oh my God, how excited because I've

got the play and I've never been to Edinburgh before.

I've always wanted to go to the Fringe.

It was a really emotional moment for me because it's something

I've always wanted to do and to finally get my hard work

recognised was so rewarding. It is.

It's a moment. I got chills when I said that.

It must be such a feeling to finally say I've.

I've had another actress on the podcast in Season 1, Dixie, and

she's doing fantastic work, and she said exactly the same.

It comes a time where you do have that moment.

Oh yeah, it feels like it's all worth it.

And then you go back to. It I know, and it feels like

you're on a bit of a hamster. We yeah, I do think for actors

and actresses, people that work in entertainment and industries

like this, you do have such thick skin.

You are really determined. So for any listeners out there,

if you want it, you can have it, but it's you've just got to be

in it for the long haul. Funny enough, I saw this post

yesterday on my Instagram and it came up at like a perfect time.

It's basically saying that if you have a passion for something

and you're on the cusp of giving up, once you take yourself away

from it, you have closed that door.

Whereas the more and more you show up hard as it seems, and

that you know, you can't see like anything for it, you feel

like you're not getting anything out of it.

You are working towards something amazing and you will

get there. The more opportunities you

create, the closer you're getting to your your dream.

If I was told that I would get 50 no's before I get a yes, you

would keep going through those no's.

I'm just there like with this imaginary number in my head of

how many no's I'm going to get before I get my yeah.

And you have to be, you have to be delusionally optimistic

because otherwise this your, your expectations are you have

to keep them high because then you work harder.

That's how I believe manifestation kind of works.

The harder you work, the more positive your life will come up.

Yeah, going back to Edinburgh Fringe, what happened after

that? So you did Edinburgh Fringe?

Yeah, So was hoping that something would come out of it.

I did. I mean, obviously I did gain a

fantastic experience and I met some incredible people and it

was great. But not all shows get picked up.

And we were kind of looking to bring it back to London but

nothing really ever came of it, which I was a bit upset about.

But it I kind of thought, OK, well it's not meant to be.

And I definitely, definitely had a come down.

I had the post work Blues and it was really, really tough to get

back into London and back into the working life.

And it is hard because you go from being on such a high and

doing something that you love so much and you're so passionate

about. So then just going back to your

Muggle job? Back to reality.

Back to reality, yeah. I feel like talking to you,

you're on the cusp. I do feel that.

And I'm sure there's a lot of people out there watching that

probably thinks the same and watching somebody who will be

picked up this year in possibly ATV series or a film.

Judging by what you've already mentioned about January,

February, things look like they're moving.

You're in flow on the back end, as you say, you've picked up

another rose. That's your 7th job.

What kind of roles are you doing?

I know waitressing's one and listeners out there.

I went back into waitressing over Christmas.

I don't mind talking about waitressing is very similar to

Imogen Waitress Author University in my younger years,

one of my first roles. Confidence, collaboration,

communication. If you want to build those types

of skills it would really recommend a hands on role.

It doesn't have to be hospitality, but it could be a

sales advisor role. I worked in retail as well for a

number of years, so it really does build that camaraderie with

the team. I think I would like to hear it

as a listener. I think it's not spoken about

enough. Everything that you see on

social media, doing self tapes, having some incredible

opportunities through making content, meeting incredible

people. But obviously I'm never going to

show my day-to-day life and how I'm working in Central one day

doing events and then I've got an hour to get to my next job

which is in a pub. There's nothing romantic about

it. It is, it is literally what it

is and I've had to swallow my pride really and realise that

was the move that I had to make in order to live a bit more

comfortably in London and be a bit more realistic about

finances and things like that because it is tough, like you're

not going to get work all the time.

I was so reluctant to pick up another job because I really

didn't want to have to deal with another stress.

God, this is just embarrassing because I'm feel like I'm just

kind of taking 2 steps back and getting further away from my

goal. But you know Imogen, you've now

got more money to do things and have more opportunities.

You're less stressed about your finances which is such a huge

thing, especially when you're living in London.

I think a lot of people struggle with it and it's not spoken

about enough because you see everything at face value on

social media. How are these people living so

comfortably and spending three grand on rent a month?

It's like crazy, like it's unattainable.

There are people that work 8 jobs and make it work and that's

what I'm trying to do. And if talking about it like

this helps people feel a bit more like it can be done, that

it's not realistic to have one job and live comfortably, then

hopefully I'm glad I could be that person to make people feel

better about it. It's not forever.

I always do emphasise that I've had to pick up odd jobs.

Things are picking up for me now.

It's been about, it's been 12 months of a real grind and I'm

starting to see some fruits of my labour.

It's been a really push and pull.

I've had days the same as Imogen Wear.

You do really start to reevaluate, well, is this worth

it? You just got to keep pushing and

knowing that picking up those two or three roles is not

forever. It's a moment in time, it's a

season. Did you have your acting agent

when you came to London? Did you pick them up here?

And any recommendations, because I meet people across industry

model modelling, for example, in fashion, and they're looking for

representation, but that's hard. Yeah, it is really, really

difficult. I was fortunate enough, like

I've been with my agent about four years now, so I had them

before I moved to London. I'm finding a lot of people are

actually finding work, not being represented if you have the

hunger for it. And there are so many casting

calls that come up now. There are pages on Instagram,

Facebook, TikTok, There are lots of short films or music videos

or social media ads and campaigns.

You can just find the work, especially if you're starting

out. The main thing is experience and

meeting people, networking, working with on a short film and

meeting the director and potentially working with them

again because they want to work with you.

And then how you get more work and then you build up your

portfolio, your show reel and then you can kind of approach

agents, but it is hard. A few of my friends have emailed

loads and not got any responses. They're looking for a specific

type of person that aren't on their books.

But then also they want a specific like if you see similar

people on those books, then you should apply for them.

And it's just. It feels very contradicting if

you're. Starting out possibly for the

1st 12 months having a look on social media network, go to your

community. Loved what you mentioned about

portfolio as well. Show real that's a combination

of different clips from film or maybe yourself tape.

Don't underestimate setting up a website, having all of your

links on there. So if you are approaching an

agent, you can say here's the link, everything's on display.

Social media is great. I also wouldn't get too bogged

down by social media either. Instagram is having a bit of a

funny moment with the algorithm. LinkedIn is fantastic.

I do recommend, even though it's business, get your content out

there, start talking about your projects and what you're up to.

Never underestimate that platform because it could be a

great connector for hiring managers and in the

entertainment space. I know a lot of people are on

there as well. Going back to being in my

position now, I always say to people when they're going for

interviews with agents, it's a little bit different.

You want them to represent you, but you also want to be

represented by them. So you're scouting them as much

as they're scouting. You, isn't it so?

Even if it's one of the biggest agencies in the world and I have

my eye on one. I've also done my due diligence

as well. Do I think they can fit into my

world? In terms of the podcast digital,

I would say spend a little bit of time, approach different

agents, but spend that time just researching what do you need,

what do you want, and then going from there.

And it might not be the right fit.

And that's just reality. That's the way the world works.

It's the same when you get a job and it might not work out.

So I'd say don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

It's fantastic to have representation, but there are

other ways like you've mentioned, networking,

community, building that portfolio, doing as much as you

can. I'm working with a lot of

creatives, young people, they're just trying to get a look in and

they're struggling so much. It's hard to get in the room.

You say will surround yourself by the right types of people and

they say, well, where am I going?

And then I sit back and think, that's such a good question.

I think networking is really great and London's great for it

as well. There are a lot of networking

communities for creatives that you can go and meet people or to

make some friends that are like minded and understand how hard

the industry is. And it's refreshing because you

realise that you're you're not the only one and people are in

the same boat as you, so. You can feel a little bit

isolating it. Yeah, it can literally be like

the loneliest thing. But if you put yourself out

there, I've cleared to myself 2026 of the year being bold.

I've had moments where I've just gone, you know what, I'm going

to e-mail my favourite casting director.

If they don't reply, they don't reply.

But at least I've tried. I remember there was this

audition that I had and I really wanted it, but I didn't to get

my hopes up. I hadn't heard back.

And so again, I just kind of assumed I hadn't got it.

But then I got a text saying they're pushing back the dates.

They're wondering if you're still free.

So I'm thinking, OK, they still are interested in me.

And I was like, your hand free. I'll make myself free.

I didn't hear. Anything.

I could never imagine you turning anything down.

And they could. I didn't hear anything and then

got back to me and they were like, oh, they haven't chosen

anyone yet as they're still casting for your role.

And they said that I did a really good tape.

I kind of saw that as a positive.

I mean, in my delusion, I was like, OK, well, they haven't

cast the role yet. And also they said that my, my

tape was really, really good. So I'm going to e-mail myself.

Thank you so, so much for the opportunity.

So glad you enjoyed my tape. And I heard you hadn't cast for

it. I'm wondering if there was an

opportunity to tape again for you because I just thought, why

not? Like if they say no, they say

no, but I think I'd have beaten myself up if I hadn't asked.

They came back to me and they said that they had ended up

casting for the role, but they really appreciated me emailing

and really enjoyed my tape and they'd keep me in mind for

future opportunities. So I did feel that's really kind

of them to get back to me and give me feedback and.

It can be a bit of hope. Putting yourself out there like

that, it will not be forgotten. They will remember.

Never underestimate that. It's a fantastic recommendation

for you. List us out there, show your

appreciation, follow up, say thank you.

I'm with a few agents and bureaus for the public speaking.

I update all the time as soon as I've done a project and I've got

photos and I've got descriptions of the topics I've spoken about.

Send the emails straight away. Just constantly keep them in the

loop because it is really competitive.

We know this. If you want to be at the front

the list, make sure you're following out.

Also, I learned that your credits, they feel like they

look more impressive by how many you have.

But actually if you're looking to branch into the a more

focused part of the industry, whether it's just musical

theatre or just singing or acting, dancing, whatever, your

credits should kind of tailor to that.

And I went through my profile and I just went, yeah, quantity.

But realistically, this just makes me look like a musical

theatre performer, which I was trained in.

But if I'm looking to do more TV and film, they're going to see

me as a performer and they're not going to really give me the

time of day. So I I basically just went

through and stripped it all back and was like, right, what are

the main jobs that I've done within straight theatre, TV and

film? I got my head shots updated and

I went through my spotlight and hit to every little things like

can I do? This musical theatre, that's

what you're trained in. Did you find it hard to pivot in

terms of looking at your experience?

Because of pivoting, we don't talk about it enough.

In my mind, yes, I trained in musical theatre, but I was

always just like an actor at heart.

I think I always wanted to do TV and film.

It was, it was difficult because I realised all the auditions I

was getting were performers based jobs trying to push

towards, you know, commercials or screen work.

Basically. I put up a couple of monologues,

use that as a foundation and that became more screen work,

Tailored my CV to more screen or straight theatre kind of stuff

and got head shots that also, you can't look pretty in head

shots. There is this massive thing.

I'm going to obviously go on a tangent here, but when you get

head shots, don't pick the ones that you think you look pretty

in or the best in. I've learned that because my

last ones they were great, but it's because I liked how I

looked in them. They didn't show what I could

look like on TV. They weren't really

characterised. When I got my most recent

headshots I was like right, I want character in these.

I went to this place called VRC Studios.

I was lucky enough because of doing acting content that I was

invited by them to do a one hour shoot with them.

After that experience, definitely would pay to go with

them again because they had like a little mirror set up with

anything that you needed, a hair brush or like makeup wipes.

They had a hanging station for your clothes and they were just

so personable and welcoming. And Jay, the guy who did my

shoot, he was talking to me whilst he was taking photos and

he was getting me to say things to bring out the bring out the

character. I had such a great time with

them. So 100% would recommend VRC

Studios. Alongside that, the career edit.

Yeah I noticed this on your Instagram.

It's a networking community without the ick.

Love the tagline. Talk to listeners about them.

With a careers edit, I actually was invited as a content creator

to one of their events and it was International Women's Day

and it was a fantastic event. It was recently, it was last

year. Last year we went to this

fitness class and then afterwards we drank wine and

spoke to each other and networked again and it was

really, really good fun. I don't have to be here to meet

people to further my career. It was just, it felt like you

were just chatting to people. I started following them.

Oliver, the founder got in touch with me and he was like, I know

that you're an actress. I wondered if you wanted any

like flexible work just to help with content.

It's really great because I get to go along to these fantastic

events, Young professionals, CE OS founders that have built

their careers. I've met so many people through

it and it's been really, really fantastic experience.

We've actually got a pop up happening in May in borough and

it's going to be really exciting because we're going to have a

few sponsors, few speakers and it'll be really good.

Amazing Borough Market, great location.

May the weather's lovely in London today as we're filming.

So yeah, definitely look out for that because I'm intrigued by

the career ideas and I hadn't heard of it until I popped onto

your profile. So I'll, yeah, definitely link

that again, coming on to your TikTok, which I think is really

interesting. So I was looking at this this

morning and last week I was walking around today, just had

you open on my own British gangster film.

Yeah. It's niche for sure.

Yeah. It's really odd.

I don't honestly, I think. I feel like TikTok you can just

do anything. I do.

I really do. I started just making voice over

kind of things or lip syncs during COVID because.

Gosh, quite a long time again. Yeah, I.

Think everyone kind of was like oh God, right, Well if I'm stuck

in, let's make some tick tock. If you weren't making banana

bread, what are you doing exactly?

I was really. I was not.

I was just. Locked in, I sat.

Thinking what? What am I going to do?

I just finished my master's as well.

I mean, it was bad. See, I was at drama school for

two of those years and it was really, really tough.

So I was like, right, OK, well, what's going to be my outlet to

keep me acting and just having a bit of fun?

I was doing them and nothing really came of it.

And then it wasn't until. If we look at some of the

creators now, yeah, I know. Really.

COVID? That's where.

They am, yeah. And it wasn't until 2023 that I

posted this like kind of like point of view video.

And it was the audio of the Cray twins from the film Legend with

Tom Hardy. And yeah, I just posted it.

And I remember posting it just before I went to bed.

And I said to my sister, this is going to go viral.

She's laughing at me because I was so confident, not thinking

anything of it. And I wake up and I've got like

3 and a half million views. My followers are just going up.

My phone is just crazy. Those are people commenting.

How does Tom Hardy's face like voice suit your face when people

were going, Oh my gosh, can you do this film?

Can you do this film? And can you Peaky Blinders, can

you do Guy Ritchie stuff and then build a following from

that? OK, It's.

Really interesting because it wouldn't obviously put British

gangster impressions to your face perhaps.

And I think also. Find what works for you though.

I mean, if it resonates, it resonates but.

This is the thing. Also what was helpful is that I

was kind of getting type casted for roles that were just girl

next door or the mean girl, things like that.

Favourite film or genre? That's a really, really tough

question. I love the gentleman the movie.

OK. I also like snatch lock, stock

and T smoking barrels. Just all Guy Ritchie films

really. Doing the TikTok has definitely

hopefully shown more versatility.

Personality. And personality within my acting

so that hopefully I get cast for comedy roles or crime drama, but

have the the sharp wit, the the British sarcasm, the dry humour.

It's not trying to be funny, but it's just so spot on with

delivery and things like. That do you have any stories

from behind the. Scenes, I think it's definitely

the experiences have taught me to be myself and keep sweet.

Don't succumb to any drama, don't get involved and just do

your job, work hard and come away from it and as long as the

people that need to notice, notice, you're sweet.

Just remember that you have to put the effort in to make it

happen. My last question, I love talking

about breaking down barriers, building that portfolio website,

going networking. I will link the career edit, I

will link the studio for the headshots.

Follow along with Imogen online on Instagram, Tiktok.

I think if you really, really have a passion for it, stick at

it because otherwise you'll always wonder what if, what if

it happens? And in any industry, I think you

should have the passion, you should work really hard for it.

And it is hard. It doesn't feel like it's paying

off. And especially this last year,

I've had to learn how to speak kind to myself because I'm so

focused on the goal that I'm wanting to reach.

I forget to appreciate the goals that I have achieved or that me

two years ago would be kicking myself.

How have you managed to experience this?

How it's crazy this is where you wanted to be.

So I think just things rounded, staying humble, working hard,

being grateful for opportunities that you have had and meeting

people, just being a nice person, nice to work with and it

should get you further. For sure, because people

remember that e-mail that you sent and going back to that.

I think it's a fantastic example, but suddenly being

great for saying thank you, it goes a long way.

You'd never know when it's going to come back around.

You never know when you're going to see that person again.

So never leave thing, never burn bridges, never leave things on a

sour note if you can, and it will happen in such a fantastic

episode. I think you share brilliant

strategies and recommendations for the listeners.

That was Imogen joining me on Take a Chance on You and I will

speak to you all very, very soon.

Bye. Thank you so much.

Game Plan