# ATHENS acting



## katsk27 (Sep 30, 2009)

Hi I am new to Athens and I am wondering if anybody can tell me what it is like for an actor from britain to get workhere? television or commercial? Acting agents etc?

Ive emailed a few agencies I managed to find on here but in England they also have a newspaper called the Stage, do they have an equivelent here for casting and things?

Best wishes
Kate:clap2:


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## katsk27 (Sep 30, 2009)

Hi I am new to Athens and I am wondering if anybody can tell me what it is like for an actor from britain to get workhere? television or commercials? Acting agents etc?
also does anyone know if they have acting groups for english here?

Ive emailed a few agencies I managed to find on here but in England they also have a newspaper called the Stage, do they have an equivelent here for casting and things?

Best wishes
Kate:clap2:[/QUOTE]


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## Jaxxfunk (Feb 11, 2010)

Hi Kate,

Not wanting to scare you but my Greek Girlfriend did acting classes and thoroughly enjoyed acting and is also good at it, however she was not willing to undergo the constant sexual pressure and inappropriate advances made at any good looking female in this industry here in Greece. In the end she gave up on her dream as she had too many shocking experiences.

She is not the only person I have met during my time in Greece who has been turned off by the Greek acting or modelling industry. Most foreign girls I’ve met over the years in these occupations have a hard time in Greece.

As you will be seen as a foreigner, unscrupulous Greek men will treat you even worse as your family is not close at hand to back you up.

If you are of a sufficient level in Martial arts that no man intimidates you, give it a try. If not don’t bother and save yourself a lot of time and effort.

There really is a distinct cultural difference between contemporary British and Greek culture concerning the behaviour and perceptions of Men towards Women you wont truly understand till you experience it.


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## wka (Sep 18, 2009)

Hi Kate, 
Welcome to Athens! I hope you are acclimating nicely to this wonderful city  I don't know anything about the issues that Jaxxfunk posted about, as my own knowledge of acting in Greece is only by way of men (my fiance very involved in theater in Greece, both as an actor and as an orchestra conductor for musical theater) but: while the Greeks LOVE theater, it is a very difficult field to get into ... not even starting to talk about television acting, but theater actors have diplomas (do you have one? We don't even use the word "actor" in Greek to refer to an actor w/o such a diploma - of course there are exceptions!) and while there are plenty of smaller theater companies that are much more open to newer people, actually making money is extremely difficult! 

If I misunderstood your post and you are looking to act for your own pleasure rather than as a paying job, there are many many theater groups both in Athens and outside, and they tend to be very welcoming. 

Do you speak Greek? Although many Greeks do speak some or even very good English, there is practically no long-term market (beyond the single role here and there) for non-Greek-speaking actors in Greece. If you don't speak Greek, you will be extremely limited in the number of roles available to you. In fact, I would think it would be completely impossible to get by. I don't *know* this, but from my peripheral involvement in the Greek theater scene, that is my understanding.

Anyway, I know that this is not very encouraging, but I would just advise you to find a day job, pursue acting through local theater companies (non-paid) and work your way up.... A friend of mine who struggled for years to break into the theater scene managed to make a name for himself by getting into more extreme things like acrobatics, and that kind of specialized thing will always help.

(Incidentally, the Greek cinema industry is absolutely brilliant despite being completely financially destroyed, I highly doubt one could find actual work there, but in case you are not familiar with it, it would surely be of interest to you to find out about!)

Again, welcome to Athens... I hope you are enjoying our gorgeous weather today!


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