# How to Find Acting Auditions as a Beginner > Where beginner acting auditions are actually posted: community theaters, student films, casting sites and theater boards, and union calls. Plus a weekly routine for checking them, how to spot a fake listing, and what to have ready before you find one. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-find-acting-auditions - Published: 2026-10-18 - Last updated: 2026-10-18 You've decided you want to act. You've taken a class, or done a school play, or you've just been thinking about it for a long time. So you search "acting auditions near me" and get a page of results that all say the same thing: be persistent, network, put yourself out there. None of that tells you where the auditions are. They exist, and plenty of them are open to beginners. They're just spread across theater websites, film school boards, casting sites, and mailing lists that nobody hands you a map to. The short version: start where beginners actually get cast, which is community theater, student films, and local productions. Find every place near you that posts those calls, check them all on the same day every week, and skip any listing that asks you for money. Have a headshot, a one-page resume, and one monologue ready before you start, so you can say yes the week a call fits. ## Start where beginners actually get cast A beginner's first credits rarely come from a big casting office. They come from productions that need actors, have no budget for an agent's clients, and are glad to see new faces. Three kinds of work fit that description almost everywhere. - Community theater: local companies that put on a season of plays and musicals with volunteer casts, often holding open auditions for their shows. - Student films: short films made by film school and university students, who need actors for class projects every term. - Local and independent productions: small theater companies, web series, and short films from local filmmakers, often posted on casting sites and in regional groups. Much of this work is unpaid, and that's normal at this stage. What you're collecting is time in front of an audience or a camera, people who've seen you work, and lines for your resume. A student film can also give you footage for a reel, if the filmmaker agrees to share it. Treat these as real jobs anyway. The director of a community production or a student short may be casting something bigger in five years, and they remember who showed up prepared. ## Find the community theaters near you Many community theaters post their auditions on their own websites. Search your town and the next few towns over with "community theater" or "community theatre" (both spellings are used), and make a list of every company you find. On each theater's site, look for an "Auditions" or "Get Involved" page and the season announcement. A season tells you months ahead which shows are coming, so you can read the plays and pick the ones with roles you could play. Then join each theater's mailing list, since many send their audition notices there too. Read each notice closely. It will usually say what to prepare (a short monologue, a song, or nothing because you'll read from the script), the dates of the audition and any callbacks, and the rehearsal schedule. Check the rehearsal schedule before you go: if you can't make most rehearsals, you can't take the part. Some theaters also hold general auditions once a year, where you're seen for the whole season at once. Those are worth going to even if no single show feels like a fit, because one audition puts you in front of the people casting the whole season. ## Go to the film schools for student films Film students need actors every term, and some schools give them a place to post casting calls. At the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, for example, [Cast It!](https://www.uncsa.edu/filmmaking/casting-calls/) is a student-run platform for casting calls in the School of Filmmaking, covering second- to fourth-year projects. Other schools use a bulletin board, a department email list, or a social media group. To find them, list the colleges and universities within reach that teach film, then look on each department's website for "casting" or "actors." If nothing is posted, a common approach is to email the department and ask how actors can hear about student casting calls. Be brief and polite, and attach your headshot. A good student casting call reads like a professional one. UNCSA's [casting process guide](https://www.uncsa.edu/filmmaking/casting-calls/casting-process-guide.aspx) lists what a call should include: the characters, age ranges and descriptions, the deadline to respond, filming dates and location, who to contact, and whether the project is union or non-union and paid or unpaid. If a call leaves most of that out, ask before you commit a weekend to it. ## Use casting sites and theater boards, with filters Casting sites collect listings from many productions in one place. Many let you filter by location and union status. They're where you'll find local independent films, commercials, and theater companies that don't have big mailing lists. Our [casting site comparison](https://www.offbook.com/blog/best-casting-sites-for-actors) judges the main ones on the same questions, including what you can do on each without paying. The trick is to filter hard. Set your location, choose non-union if you aren't in a union, and turn on alerts where a site offers them. Then read each listing like a breakdown: who the character is, what they want from you, and when they need it. Our guide on [how to read a casting breakdown](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-read-a-casting-breakdown) walks through what each line means. ### Union auditions when you're not in the union You'll also see union theater auditions, and some are open to non-members. This [guide to getting seen at Equity auditions](https://www.actoraesthetic.com/blog/getting-seen-at-equity-auditions) explains that non-Equity actors may attend principal auditions as guests if the casting team is willing to see them, with no guarantee they will be. Members are seen first, and non-members are often seen only if time allows. Rules change, so check the current notice before you go. Two changes are worth knowing. Equity made its [Open Access](https://www.actorsequity.org/news/PR/OpenAccessPermanently/) membership permanent, so anyone who can show professional work as an actor or stage manager in its jurisdiction can join. And under Equity's [phase-out of the candidate program](https://actorsequity.org/join/OA-EMC-FAQ), since May 8, 2026, Equity Membership Candidates (EMCs) no longer get priority at auditions and are seen like any other non-Equity actor. If you go to an open call, our [open call guide](https://www.offbook.com/blog/open-call-audition) covers sign-up lists and the wait. ## Check the same places on the same day every week Most beginners don't miss auditions because there aren't any. They miss them because they look once, get discouraged, and forget to look again until the deadline has passed. A short routine fixes that. - Keep one list of your sources: every community theater near you, every film program you've found, the casting sites you use, and any local actors' groups. - Pick one day a week, and on that day open every source on the list and every saved search. - Write down each call that fits you, with its deadline, what it asks you to prepare, and how to submit. - Submit to the ones you can do well that same day, while the call is fresh, using the basics in "Have the basics ready" below. - Once a month, add new sources: a theater you heard about, a festival, a filmmaker who posted in a local group. Keep that list and your submissions in one place, so you can see what's working. Our free [audition tracker](https://www.offbook.com/tools/audition-tracker) does that in your browser, and the guide on [how to track auditions](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-track-auditions) explains which columns are worth keeping. ## Skip any listing that asks you for money Audition scams are common enough that the FTC and SAG-AFTRA have both warned about them. The Federal Trade Commission's [alert on virtual casting call scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/12/lights-camera-scam-spot-virtual-casting-call-scams) describes texts from a "talent scout" inviting people to a virtual open call for a well-known show, which turns into a pitch for photo shoots or acting classes. Its rule is short: "Paying to get a job is always a sign of a scam." SAG-AFTRA's New Orleans Local president gave the same warning. That [message to members](https://sagaftra.org/message-new-orleans-local-president-6) described a rise in local casting scams and said performers should not pay to audition or work, and should never front money on a promise that it will be paid back. It also warned against handing out your Social Security number or date of birth too readily. Real representation works the other way round. The FTC's guidance on [modeling and talent scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/modeling-scams) says legitimate agencies get paid when you get paid, and advises getting in writing what they'll do for you. California goes further: a 2009 state law [bars advance-fee talent services](https://sagaftra.org/aftra-praises-california-law-regulating-advance-fee-talent-services) from charging up front and then trying to find you work. So before you reply to any listing, check three things. Can you find the production, theater, or filmmaker outside the listing itself? Does anyone ask for money, bank details, or ID before you've been cast? And did the offer arrive out of nowhere, by text, for a role you never applied for? Search the name with words like "scam" or "review," as the FTC suggests, and walk away from anything that fails. ## Have the basics ready before you find a call The worst time to put together your materials is the night before a deadline. Get these ready first, and every call you find becomes a quick yes or no. - A headshot that looks like you today. A clear, well-lit photo against a plain wall is enough to start. - A one-page resume. Our guide to [an acting resume with no experience](https://www.offbook.com/blog/acting-resume-no-experience) shows what to list when you have no credits yet. - One contemporary monologue you know cold, about a minute long, and ideally a classical piece that contrasts with it. Our [monologue library](https://www.offbook.com/monologues) lists classical speeches with their run times. - A simple self-tape setup: a phone at eye level, light on your face, and a plain background, for calls that ask for video first. Then there's the part that decides how the audition goes: the material. When a theater sends sides or a film sends a scene, you may have only a few days to learn it, and you may have nobody to read the other part. That's where Offbook helps. Upload the sides as a PDF, pick your role, and realistic voices read every other character; Offbook listens while you say your lines and plays the next cue when you finish. Hide your lines, or switch to first-letter cues, so you walk into the room off book. If you just want to try running lines first, the free [run lines online](https://www.offbook.com/tools/run-lines-online) tool rehearses classic scenes in Offbook's voices without an account. ## Questions actors ask ### Can I get acting auditions with no experience at all? Yes. Community theaters and student films regularly cast people with no credits. Go to auditions that ask for little preparation first, such as readings from the script, and build from there. ### Do I need an agent to find auditions? Not for the work most beginners start with. Community theater, student films, and most local independent projects cast directly through their own notices and casting sites. Agents tend to come later, once you have credits and footage to show them. ### How many auditions should a beginner go to? There's no right number, and it depends on where you live. A steady pace beats a burst: check your sources every week and submit to every call you genuinely fit. In a small town, community theater may be most of what there is, and that's a fine place to start. ### Should I go to auditions for roles I'm not right for? Usually not. Your time is better spent on calls where you match the character's age range and description. The exception is a general audition or an open call that asks to see everyone, where the point is to meet the directors.