Ask this question of any agent, acting coach or casting director in the Pacific Northwest and they’ll generally say the same thing:

“You need a great commercial headshot because 90% of the work in the PNW is commercial business.”

In other words: if you want to book jobs where the business is happening, you need to craft your marketing materials (your headshots) to fit the opportunities that are available. 

If you ask an actor if doing public service videos for government agencies was their goal when they started acting, you’ll likely hear a resounding “no.” Most actors do what they do because they were bitten by the acting bug as children, because they were attracted to the acting community as teenagers or they find acting fulfilling as adults. Seldom was the idea of doing commercials high on their list of acting goals.

But the plain and simple truth is that doing commercial work is often the path to scoring those dramatic roles actors dream about. Why? Because commercial work is how your team — your agent, the local casting community, the producers and directors who work on commercial and industrial projects — make their living.

If you do good commercial work (i.e., make money), your agent is more likely to go to bat for you on a theatrical project. Casting directors who know and trust you and the quality of your work will be in your corner. Producers and directors (who almost always have theatrical projects happening on the side) will keep you in mind for a role in their next film.

In other words, when you take care of your team — you kill it work doing commercial work that helps them support their families — your team will take care of you.

The moral of the story: approach every audition — especially the commercial ones — like they’re a lead in the next Marvel movie. And when you submit, make sure you have an awesome commercial headshot in your package.

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Michael Verity is a Portland-based photographer specializing in acting and business headshots, modeling portfolios and fashion editorial photography. The husband of an acting coach and father of two young adult actors, he’s been photographing successful actors for more than a decade.