Rewriting My Fairytale....: Heads You Win - a guide to getting headshots

Yesterday I drove around the M25 looking like Ena Sharples with a head full of rollers to the great delight of many a van driver in the perpetual traffic. You see, I was getting new headshots done and my hair is lanky mc’drab so I was just making the most of the journey time!

Headshots are a stressful part of being an actor, for some of us anyway. Many enjoy to pout at the lens whilst an Austin Powers style character barks ‘work it baby, work it’ but I find it uncomfortable. Suddenly I am terribly aware of my wonky eyes, arched eyebrows, Jimmy Hill jaw, swimmers’ shoulders.....ah man the list is endless and so I tense up as if my head is literally about to be ‘shot at’ instead of photographed.

Here are some thoughts on headshots-

· Keep them recent

“Ah look that actor playing Mr Brown has his son in the cast too “ says audience member as she flicks through the programme squinting in the dimmed house lights, “Oh no, that’s actually him! Goodness, how OLD is that photo?”

We’ve all done it; spent a few moments double checking that the broad-waisted baritone on stage really is the same hot young matinee idol as the programme photo suggests.

Worse still, if a casting director is scanning Spotlight.com and on seeing your headshot calls you in, only to be confronted by a wrinkly, one dress size larger version of the photo. You’ve wasted their time by not truly being what they are after. Like that advert says “It does what it says on the tin” you’ve gotta really look like the outside of your tin or you are committing some kind of theatrical fraud. It’s the headshot equivalent of keeping the size 8 jeans you wore aged 21 in the belief that one day you will diet your way back into them. Let them go and make sure you look like your current self in your headshot.

· Have different looks

You are told to take a selection of tops to help you achieve different looks in your 2 hour session. Here’s a few helpful hints to get you started!

White shirt and serious face = “I am assertive and ballsy yet still attractive” in the olden days this would have been your one for The Bill, but it now covers all kinds of hospital/law dramas

Cheesy musical theatre big grin = “look how happy I can be for 8 shows a week and belt out a pop song mid jazz pirouette” (you may want to add an extra coat of mascara for this one.)

Black top and big eyes = “I am classical actress because I wear black and can be demure yet strong with the ability to learn lots of text”

White vest top, messy hair, steely face = “I could live on a council estate and bash your face in” This also applies to men with stubble and low lighting

High necked tops and period hair style (men will have shaved by now in the photographers downstairs loo) = “I can be in a period drama, please oh please let me be inDownton Abbey, upstairs or downstairs or in the dog basket I don’t care, but please see my period style hair and think I’d be perfect for Downton.” (nb. Downton is probably heading for the 1940s now so I’d recommend Victory Rolls and red lips!)

· Find a photographer that works for you

Just like finding the right agent, boyfriend or mascara you need to feel comfortable with a photographer. If your eyes are the windows to the soul then you need to trust the person staring into your soul for £300. The right photographer will create a comfortable atmosphere where you feel safe to pout, stare and smile. It is a very personal thing; some actors like to be told technically what to do and others respond to emotions and feelings.

Like many a young woman I had to go through a few until I found my Prince Charming of photographers. My first experience was under a bush in a garden in Surrey sat on a bin bag, changing outfits whilst the photographers Dad mowed the lawn. You’ll find many 2003 shots of actors surrounded by leaves whilst their heads seem to be at a weird angle from their torso.

Another encounter saw me in another garden where I had to spin around and respond to the emotion that the photographer said to me. By the time I had got through “joy”, “worry”, “sexy” and “peace” I had a crick in my neck and most of the final prints had “f*$k off” behind my eyes!

My Prince Charming photographer has down my last 3 sets of photos, no bushes or feelings he just said to me that someone with my face shape shouldn’t be shot straight on (Jimmy Hill chin, remember?) and that I should keep my chin low. Hooray! A photo that looks like me but on an exceptionally good day.

· You get what you pay for

Headshots, GOOD headshots will cost you. It is an expense that an actor has to undergo but remember it can be taken off your tax! It may be tempting to go to a cheap photographer when jobs are scarce and funds are low, but remember that these photos are going to represent you in the industry. You don’t need to spend a fortune as there are many mid-price, well-established photographers so don’t go for the bargain option; you may as well get your 3 year old nephew to take a snap on your grainy iPhone. There are certain things in life that an actor cannot scrimp on – repertoire, headshots and loo roll.

And if I seem to really know what I am talking about...here are some dodgy ones from the Daniella Gibb album. Happy headshotting everyone!