Everybody wants new head shots!

Everybody wants new head shots! Everybody wants new head shots! Every time I sign with a new agent,  manager, commercial agent, etc; the first thing they want me to do is get new head shots. Is there some secret commission being passed around under the table here between industry people and photographers? I can't take it!

In New York I spent a good chunk of money getting new pictures from three different photographers. Then last year when I moved to LA,  I'm asked to get even newer pictures. Honestly, people, black don't crack and asian don't change. I don't look that much different; maybe a little wisdom carved into my pearl creamed skin and some hard knocks of life etched into my palms. 

And maybe I don't look like this black and white ingenue here anymore, but I still get carded and hit on by college frat boys; even though I'm old enough now to have been there babysitter.
 

 

It's such a dichotomy how people see you versus how you see yourself, especially in the acting world. In Los  Angeles, your first audition is your picture; whether or not the casting director can tell at first, just from your picture, if you're the right 'type' for the role.

There's just too many to shuffle through and not enough time for imagination. Therefore, it's really important that your 'essence' is captured in your photo. But what if you're just one of those people that has many different looks! How do you pick just one essence?

My LA reps don't like the pictures I used in New York. My New York reps think I look 'mean' in the pictures I am using in LA. My distant friends don't think the pictures my New York reps like even look like me. And my close friends can't decide which ones are the best. "Knock Knock, Who's/Hu's there?" I have no bleeping clue.

I guess I have to decide what look I want to project to get seen for the roles that I"m right for. And would that be the asian/ethnic roles? Gee, I wonder how I do that. Somebody please, pass me a ground breaker!

Of course there are different types of Asian looks/roles; there's the 'Asian lawyer', the 'Asian Assassin', the 'Asian girlfriend', the 'Asian girl next door', the 'doctor who is usually Asian', the 'Asian nail technician', the 'Asian waitress', the 'Asian stripper/hooker', the 'Asian single mom', the 'Asian married mom'; let's not forget the 'Asian power mom with a husband, two kids and a full time job at a Fortune 500 company' and the authentic Asian Asian who is not Asian-American, but need we say it 'fresh off the boat'. I might be way too sarcastic to look right for that role. 

My new commercial agents here want me to get new pictures too. It would be nice though if I could book a commercial first so that I would then have money to spend on new pictures. Don't worry Big Dog Agency, it will get done, I am committed! But in order to get into those auditions, I need to...which came first the head shot or the audition?  

So here they are, sans sunglasses, every head shot I've ever used since I was a wee baby dumpling fresh out of New York University. You pick. You tell me. Just not the black and white ones.

(head shots taken by Arthur Cohen, Deborah Lopez, Trevor Oswalt and Keo Woolford)

Yours Truly -- Ann Hu

Comments

[stacey jackson]

Well, I can't tell you which headshots to pick, but I can say that I hear your pain! Remember the days when actors had one headshot? Maybe two? They were black and white and that was all we needed. Now, since everything is digital, it seems like reps want a picture of every role you will ever play and there isn't much room for imagination. I always feel like I'm "missing" a picture/character when I already have a crap-load of pictures that are perfectly fine. It can definitely be maddening.

[Justine]

I hear ya. I kept my 2nd set of headshots for a reallllllllly long time. Because they were good pictures, and they still looked like me. I just seem to age at a really slow rate (this is based on what other people have told me), and I’m not black or Asian btw, but I just haven’t changed much over the years.

I finally got new headshots when I needed color ones, and I hated to "let go" of my black-and-whites.

Based on what someone else advised me recently, it’s often good to have 3 or 4 good current headshots that you can use for different types of castings and different types of roles.

Out of the pictures you’ve posted here, my favorites are:

The one that pops up as "Ann Hu Ret 91" (V-neck, turquoise-blue shirt)
And the one that pops up as "397-ret2-crop72" (close-up smiling shot)

[the DOPETRESS]

Girl I FEEL YOU!-
THe blue shirt one is totally your personality. Leaves you guessing. THe tank top one is charactery..and not really you.
THe smiley one is cute but doesn't really look like you. Looks exactly like another girl i know. ( I thought you posted her shot.)
The smiley red tank makes you look chunky and you are far from that and it makes you look older than you are.
The last one makes me laugh cause it looks like you are trying to be hard core sexy. Its ok though, not my fav. But it will get you in the door.
WHen you get the cash, have fun with your shots and you will get a lot from them!
I love that fact that Asian don't change....i am so using that!

[Richard Complainary]

May I suggest that the call for fresh head shots might be another way of saying "were not interested in you". I am sure when you return with fresh head shots the door still remains closed.
Richard Complainary, Publisher
http://www.complainary.com/