HOW I BROUGHT MY AGENT A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR SERIES REGULAR CONTRACT ON ABC
The decision to enrol in acting classes on the Gold Coast was the start of a 20-year odyssey for Kym Jackson, culminating in booking a lead role in one of US studio ABC’s biggest-ever pilots. Here, she takes us on her long and eventful journey from Queensland to Hollywood.
So, booking a series reg on a HUGE network pilot was easy… All it took was one self-tape and a call back.
Oh… plus guidance and help from some incredible humans.
A few key decisions throughout a decade or two.
And a whole lot of luck:
1999. I’m at the mechanic in Logan City with my bestie, Kat. She sees an ad for acting classes at the Gold Coast in a magazine that talks about ‘Hollywood being on the Gold Coast’. Rips it out for me (thanks Kat!).
Decision: Move to the Gold Coast and take classes with Tom McSweeney.
CUT TO: 2002. I’m driving to Sydney monthly for auditions saying I “want to move where the work is one day”. A friend tells me if I don’t set a date I’ll never move.
Decision: Open my year planner on a random page and write ‘MOVE TO SYDNEY’. Then move on that day.
CUT TO: 2004. I’m bartending in Sydney. I hear Cannes is the place to meet filmmakers.
Decision: Spend all my savings and borrow money (thanks Mum!) to share a hotel room with a rando I’ve never met before at Cannes Film Festival.
I end up meeting a filmmaker who promises to hire me to work for him in LA. He refuses to take my calls.
Decision: Call him pretending to be a distributor wanting to buy his film and get past his receptionist. Send a six-page business proposal on why he should hire me.
He hires me as a PA and flies me to Hollywood (thanks for convincing him, Jenna!).
CUT TO: 2006. Living in LA. No agent, but I’m arriving at an audition I self-submitted for.
I pass actors in the lobby running lines and ask “Is this an acting class?”.
“Better — it’s a casting workshop — you should join!” replies the loveliest lady ever, Lynn Milano (RIP) (thanks Lynn!).
Decision: YES.
CUT TO: 2008. I’ve gone to three-five casting workshops almost every week for two years. Over 250 of them now.
Three of those workshops were taught by a CD, Jeremy Gordon…he is rad and super lovely.
CUT TO: 2009. I’m at home deciding whether to play beach volleyball or be lazy.
Decision: Get off the couch.
One of the guys at the beach looks familiar and lo and behold: it’s Jeremy!
We get along like a house on fire and become friends.
CUT TO: 2012. He asks me to help him check for ‘authentic Aussie accents’ at a feature film casting session where they’re looking for real Aussies.
I end up booking the fourth lead role opposite the legendary Bernie Curry shooting in Cape Town!
I ask Jeremy to write the foreword for my textbook The Hollywood Survival Guide For Actors.
We do birthdays and parties…lunches and screenings.
End up becoming very good mates.
CUT TO: 2017. Tom McSweeney invites me to audition for a role as the leader of a tribe in Tidelands (thanks Tom!). Elsa Pataky books it.
Decision: Analyse her performance to see why her choices for the character were substantially more powerful than mine.
CUT TO: 2019. I’m walking down the hallway at a casting workshop when I hear “Kym Jackson?!”.
I look up to find my dear friend — Jeremy Gordon. It’s been a while.
He’s teaching in one of the other rooms.
Decision: As I’m leaving the workshop, I call him “Are you still around? Let’s get food!”
He’s not, he says “But actually, there’s a role that’s perfect for you in a show I’m working on. It’s casting through the Aussie CDs but I’ll send your stuff to them. She’s the Queen of the Vikings”.
It takes me days to put the tape down because my brain tells me “it’s a waste of time — they’re going to give this to a name and they’ll never cast a series reg from a self-tape”
Thanks brain.
Decision: Shut up and start doing heavier weights to get stronger.
Decision: Use what I learned from Elsa’s Tidelands performance. Do VERY LITTLE. Hold my power.
Decision: Wear my Burning Man jacket and tribal clothing so I look undeniable as a Viking Queen.
I send my audition from LA to Australia.
I’m one of the top picks in Australia (thanks Kirsty and Stevie!) and my tape is sent back to the USA casting office.
I’m one of the top picks from the USA casting office sent to producers (thanks Kamala, Gary, and Jeremy!).
Decision: Post a ‘viking style’ headshot on my instagram.
There’s no Network test but they want to see me in person on the lot at Disney. I’m warned there will be celebrities reading for my role that day. There are.
I arrive early and walk past two girls who look like me leaving the audition on my way in — they’re both wearing black pants and tanks.
I’m in a massive fur coat, braids and Viking pants, covered in leather.
I feel both empowered and ridiculous. But mostly awesome.
I look like the Queen of the Vikings. They look like actresses.
The CD, Kamala, comes out. They’re ready.
I explain that I’m not. I came early so I can run the scene once with Andrew (who I’ve smuggled onto the Disney Studio lot with me — thanks honey!) in the waiting room.
They wait.
I take my time. Get prepared. Run it.
Ok, so I didn’t actually know there were eight VIPs waiting for me in that room…
But still… it was my moment — and I’m glad I took it.
I’m the ONLY choice the producers send to the Network for approval (thanks Jon, Sonny, Jen and McG!).
I book it! My reps are thrilled!
A multi-million dollar TV pilot — one of the biggest US network ABC has ever done.
The offer comes through for more money than I’ve ever earned.
A six year multi-million-dollar contract.
My agent wants to counter at an 80% increase. My manager wants to double it.
I want to scream “JUST TAKE ANYTHING!”
My agent, Courtney, calls “Kym, I promise I am not going to lose you this job”.
The negotiations begin. We go back asking for double.
She spends the whole weekend negotiating while I spend it under the covers on my bed trying to remember how to breathe (thanks Courtney!).
The final offer comes in — a 50% increase per episode. Plus merch.
So, that’s it.
I book one of the 12 lead roles in one of the biggest TV pilots ever made (thanks again, Jeremy!).
I was: “Kym Jackson — the not-famous 37-year-old with a bunch of guest spots on TV”
I’m now: “Neela, Queen of the Vikings”. Soon to be a huge celebrity in Triangle.
A month later, I’m filming in New Zealand.
One self-tape, one live audition.
Easy, right?
Now… here’s the kicker:
The show didn’t get picked up (yay, Hollywood!).
My second not-picked-up pilot that was ‘definitely going to go’.
But it just as easily could have.
And it was one of the best experiences of my life.
Plus, it’s proof that any one of us can book a career-making role at any stage of our career.
And at any age.
And you know what’s funny? The same week I read for Triangle, I also auditioned for a two-line co-star in a sitcom.
And I didn’t book it.
So, now I know for sure… There is no ‘co-star’ actors vs ‘guest star’ actors vs ‘series regular’ actors.
There are just actors who are either bad, good, or great at acting, and either right for the role or not.
Who either surrounded themselves with experienced, supportive people…or didn’t.
And who either made the hard decisions that gave them a chance of being in the right places at the right time…
Or didn’t.
Kym Jackson has booked 60+ feature films and TV episodes. She teaches for SAG-AFTRA, MEAA, WIFT, Spotlight UK, and Stage 32. In her hotel suite while shooting Triangle, she created the Secret Actor Society − an online community and career education program that helps you become a working actor. Kym would love to share her free class with you, “How To Revitalize Your Acting Career”, at: https://secretactorsociety.com/become
