If you are going to an audition for a specific character or role, you should look like your type. If going to an interview or general audition, you should look your best.

Does your hairstyle look good on you? If not, find a hairstyle that flatters you and that fits your type - see our ideas in HEADSHOTS: Hair & Makeup.

Many people have asked me over the years if I think they should lose weight, or get a nose job, or have other cosmetic work done in order to make them more marketable. I say that these are personal matters, and no one should tell you to lose weight or have surgery performed just because it might make you more marketable.

Here are some guidelines on this subject:

WEIGHT - I am a firm believer that if you are comfortable with yourself at a particular weight (I don't care how big you are), you will find work. The key is being comfortable. Most people may say they are comfortable but further exploring will prove they are not. You do need a certain amount of insight to answer that question. I have had many actors tell me they feel comfortable with their weight, and before I know it they have lost 40 lbs. That's great - BUT now they need new pictures because they don't look anything like their headshots.

I also have sold them as "heavy character actors" and that is how the casting directors remember them. It is difficult to go back to the same casting directors and convince them to see my client as a different "type". Why should they? They really don't need to; this business has a revolving door of new actors all the time, and there is no shortage of "type", so to rethink my client is too much work because right behind him is someone new who fits the bill.

It is possible to be remarketed as a different "size type", but if we can avoid it then we avoid it. Lose the weight first, and then it is a non-issue.

TEETH - Yes, please have them, ALL of them. If you are not playing a thug or villain or downright scary person then I suggest white straight teeth (as best as you can). I'm not talking perfect toothpaste commercial teeth - just plain normal white is good - we don't want teeth so white they border on blue white.

SCARS / MOLES / BEAUTY MARKS - My feeling here is the same as it is about weight. If you are comfortable with the mole, the scar or beauty mark, then keep it and make it work for you. Consider the exquisite Sarah Jessica Parker and the mole on her chin (she recently had it removed). Although it was a very noticeable feature on her face, she didn't apologize for it because Miss Parker was totally comfortable with it. How about Seal, an incredible performer and singer who has scars on his face? It's possible to get work with a scar, mole, or beauty mark, but you just have to embrace it as part of who you are.