Photoplayer Hater

Most actors are waiting for a role to appear. They do work on their skills, but the only thing most do is look for auditions, show up for auditions, and do their best to impress. Unfortunately there are types of actors in the world that have significantly fewer opportunities for work and will set themselves up for a lot of disappointment if they don't produce material for themselves to act in.

People of Color

Wishing it otherwise will not make it so, most roles are for white men or young white women. There are roles for minorities of all kinds but they are much fewer then those for caucasians. The USA is still majority white so it makes sense but still sucks. Even if you do get a role as a person of color you will likely be playing a stereotype: something that the majority of white people in the country can understand. There are white people in the world that rarely come across anyone other than the occasional black person. Though actors are mostly on the ethnically-diverse coasts, the experience of Middle America is much more homogenized.

Older Women

Lots of women don't age well and that sucks, too. Film and TV are a visual media, there is a premium on looks for most productions. If you are pretty you are in, if you aren't pretty anymore you are out. Aside from looks there is a cultural assumption that once women reach a certain age they all become mommies. So the lady who had dynamic interesting go-getter roles in her 20s finds herself at 40 being the mom or wife. This is based in reality but it doesn't bode well for women who aren't like that. There are indeed plenty of interesting women in the world that do things other than just have babies but the audience for these portrayals seems to be small. Since most women become mommies, they want mommy movies. Either way it truly is, older women will find interesting roles dwindle as they age.

Handicaps, Deformities

There are the occasional movies about a handicapped person. You get "Elephant Man" type movies every so often. Sadly John Hurt played the Elephant Man and the handicapped people are usually played by able bodies actors. If you have a handicap you are probably not going to be the guy cast for the guy in the wheelchair just because you are in one. There are lots of stories about the lives of people with disabilities but it seems most writers don't have any experience with it so they don't write about them. The disabled population has a lot to say but they just aren't in the movie business in numbers so their stories don't get told much.

Non-Star Types That Want To Star

There's a formula for what the stars will look like in most movies. The girl will be slim, cute and young and the guy will have chiseled features and piercing eyes. Producers have a bias toward the stereotypes of what a hero or heroine looks like for good reason: movies don't have much time to explain things so they do it with looks. That doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be the star of a film, it just means they aren't going to let you do it on their dime. If you feel you need to be doing this type of work you ought take some initiative and make these films happen on your own.

Ugly Or Fat People

There is always the occasional fat guy on the TV show "Lost" or fat lawyer on "The Practice", but mostly these people are excluded from film productions. Producers seem intent on hedging any bets they have on film productions by filling them with beautiful women and handsome men. The problem is that producers confuse compelling with attractive: an ugly person can be as interesting to watch as the pretty new thing this month. Regardless, there aren't as many roles for the non-pretty and non-skinny of this earth. These people have stories to tell but Hollywood will not be telling them. "Carrie" and her mother, in the novel, were both fat. Twiggy Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie plays them in the movie.

This may be a non-starter for many actors who aren't willing to do much else then get into SAG and audition till luck swings their way. I want to make it known there are other things a person can do when faced with unlikely success in movies and TV. Don't leave any stone unturned, leave no corridor unexplored, and spare no energy or expense to get where you want to be in acting. If you receive enough no's hopefully it won't make you quit but rather make you quit complaining and do something about it.