Actor-agent relationships need clarity and respect – this week in Your Views

As someone who has worked in this industry from multiple angles – first as an actor with leading roles in drama, then as a writer-director with feature and theatrical credits, and now as founder of an actors’ academy – I read 11 things your agent won’t tell you, but wishes you knew with genuine interest.

I understand the pressures on both sides of the actor-agent relationship. And it’s precisely because of that understanding that I’d like to offer a different perspective.

While I believe the intention behind the article may have been to help actors, the tone lands differently. It reads less like guidance and more like a list of frustrations – almost a public airing of grievances. That matters because most actors operate in a vulnerable, uncertain environment where they rely heavily on communication and clarity from their representatives.

It’s also important to acknowledge the position of power agents hold. Actors move through an industry in which access and opportunity often flow through their representative. That creates an inherent imbalance. With that comes a responsibility: to communicate with care, to recognise how messages land and to avoid framing an actor’s behaviour as problematic or ‘toxic’. Guidance should support actors and help them grow, not make them feel smaller.

Every agent-actor relationship is unique. Some actors need structure, some need reassurance, some need strategy. A healthy partnership adapts to those differences rather than generalising them. I’m the first to tell actors: don’t wait around. Treat your career like a business, take initiative and don’t put your entire future in the hands of your agent.

If we want to genuinely improve communication, the message should sound like: “Here’s how we can work better together,” not: “Here’s what you’re doing that frustrates me.” The latter only serves to tell actors off. It feels like a scolding and, ultimately, it’s counterproductive.

Actors don’t need public correction. They need clarity, respect and partnership.

Scott Vickers
Founder, Interact Screen Actors Academy
Email address supplied

Well said, Mildred. I think agents are hugely undervalued and have a really tough job being stuck between actors and casting directors.

Simone Pereira Hind
Via thestage.co.uk

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