Philadelphia's Vast Talent Pool of Actors

   
by KYW's Hadas Kuznits

Not all actors leave Philadelphia for greener pastures. And there's a lot of talent right here in the City of Brotherly Love.

Kathy Wickline of Wickline Casting says there's a lot of fresh, homegrown talent here in Philadelphia:

"They're called 'background artists,' and what we do is we look for talent that are just starting out. A lot of the work in Philadelphia is commercials and corporate training films, and that's generally where the actors get their start."

Actress Elizabeth Jennings (top right) warns that there's a lot of rejection at the start:

"You know, when you're an actor, you're not really an actor -- you're an auditioner. That's what you do for a living: you audition. And you can't give up."

Actor Vince Valentine (bottom right) agrees:

"Getting an acting job, it's like trying to date someone in high school. You have to ask them out every week, until finally she just goes, you know what? all right, I'll go to the movies with you. And then you wind up being the best date she ever had."

(Jennings:)  "It's all about tenacity -- because I tried and tried and tried, and eventually in 2004 I was picked to be a guest host for a cleaning company."

(Valentine:)  "If you have a niche and you're good, you can work a lot of here in Philly."

(Wickline:)  "In Philadelphia, it's a pretty small community of actors. You see a lot of the same people, it's a great place to network and get started and break into the business for sure."

Wickline says a lot of the work goes to character actors. And she says that in Philadelphia there are roles for what she calls "real people," not just young models. 
  
Meanwhile, Valentine says, it's just great to perform for his family here:

(Kuznits:)  "What's the best part about being an actor in Philadelphia?"

"Oh, my gosh, the audiences."

(Top photo of background actors awaiting the "Action!" call during a shoot for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" by KYW's Ed Fischer)