A while ago we received an email from a new writer asking an interesting question regarding how to break in. The Email was sent to me to respond to as I have had some experience with the "breaking in" process. The folks here at Screenplay.com liked my advice and thought that there might be other new writers out there who would find this advice useful.

This writer had written a script with a particular actor in mind. The writer wanted to know how to go about getting the script to this actor. What I am about to explain is in part fact, in some ways "conventional industry wisdom," and a little personal experience. I have removed the actor's name, because it really doesn't matter. The advice is the same regardless of the name you insert. What follows is, for the most part, my response to this new writer:

First, it is generally considered a bad move to write a role specifically for one person. The exception to this rule is if the actor has committed to the project and the picture is "green lighted." The reason for this is that (and this is the simple truth) whomever your wrote the role for may never see the script, or if they do may not share your opinion of the script and turn it down. A script is always more marketable, and attractive to a producer or director, if ANYBODY could play the part. Some producers may not want to work with the actor you have in mind. Some may not like him or her. Others may simply have another actor that they like to work with. If your script can be filled with a variety of actors in any of the roles you are much more likely to sell the script.

Secondly, the actor you have in mind is very marketable right now. This means you must have an agent. An agent gives you some legitimacy. Even if you have an agent, this actor's agent may never pass the script on to the actor. The actor's agent isn't going to take a risk on somebody without a track record. Again, this is industry wisdom. But in my experience it has been the case.

Third, the actor you wrote this script for has (for a few years) worked himself to a position whereby he can come up with an idea, write it himself (sometimes with a writing partner) and get it produced. This means the likelihood of this actor working on a project that he didn't write is slim. And why should he? He is getting paid to write the script himself (generally for more than a million dollars) then he is getting paid to be one of the producers (generally for a couple of million dollars) then he gets his salary as an actor (I believe his last movie brought him $15-$20 million - just for the acting). And since people flock to his movies and the studios make tons of cash letting him do all this, there seems little motivation for him to change this.

Let me give an example of a real world experience a friend of mine had. This guy has been writing for a while and has done very well for himself. He co-wrote a major blockbuster film and was getting asked to write a number of projects. Well, there happened to be a comic book character that a very big name action star wanted to play. But there was a catch, twenty two if you will. This actor would not commit to the project until he had seen a script. But, no producer would pay a writer to do the script unless the actor would commit to the project.

So in steps my friend's agent. Proving that a good agent will find a good writer work where there may be none, his agent got both parties to agree to let my friend write the script. My friend and the actor had worked together on a project before so he felt comfortable saying that he would be more likely to commit if my friend wrote the script.

So, the script is written and the producer who had agreed to pay my friend decided when it was all done to give it to another actor that he preferred to work with. This actor too was a big-time action star, but had a very different action charisma and personality. Since from the beginning it was understood that the first actor was going to play the lead, it was written for him with his personality in mind. Needless to say there were some major rewrites to tailor it to the star who did commit.

So the lesson here is even if it seems like an actor is going to play a part it may not be the best idea to write a part specifically for that actor. It may not, in the end, be played by that actor. It will create a lot of work for you the writer in the long run. Besides, if the actor has even the slightest ability, he or she will be able to make the part their own in any case.

I hope this helps. And keep in mind, all of this is just advice. As that writer friend of mine once told me "it's only worth what you paid." But the best advice I can give is keep writing.

Jason M. Eng is an Advertising Coordinator for Screenplay Systems, Inc. and a regular contributor to the Scoop, the monthly newsletter of Screenplay.com. He has written over fifteen scripts, two of them having been optioned. He is currently developing a film for independent production.

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