July 30, 2014
It is important to always have your materials up-to-date, and passports have become one of the most common materials requested of a talent. We are seeing more and more auditions that are filming out of the country and even having some of their final callbacks out there. That means, if you want the job then you need to have a valid passport. It is as simple as that! Casting will always choose the actor with a valid passport.
Many production companies are now shooting outside of the U.S. due to the film commissions/tax incentives/etc. and it is important that talent are prepared to work internationally. More than 30 foreign countries now offer tax incentives. Canada, one of the very first countries to offer a tax incentive, is a very popular destination among production companies because location scouters find that it can double as the U.S.
Our talent have booked overseas (i.e. cruise line commercials, airlines, vacation resorts, feature films, national/international tours, etc.) These jobs are lucrative, and require actors to have passports. This does not mean that you can go and get a passport last minute, but rather it means you must have a passport before even auditioning. A passport can take up to 6 weeks to obtain and casting cannot wait or they risk delaying the production.
Agencies are going to start requiring their actors to have passports. Apply for your passport/renew it here: http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english.html