Written by Annie Wood
Auditions. We just don’t know.
That’s one of the most frustrating bits about this biz of ours, isn’t it? We get an audition – yay! But when we are asked, “How did it go?” – we rarely know. Well, we think we know. We say, “it was awesome!” Then, when we don’t hear back, we say, “It sucked!” But then we get a callback. In those cases we may end up confused. Confused but happy. The thing is, we just don’t know.
If you didn’t get that callback why didn’t you? You were prepared. You look the part. They laughed in the room and they seemed to like you just fine. You leave the audition so confident that you are certain that your agent will call you before you pull your car into your driveway.
But your agent doesn’t call.
You never hear about that particular role again.
What went wrong?
Most likely, nothing. Or one of these things…
- You just “weren’t what they were looking for.” Which can mean anything. Maybe they saw someone with a spiky hair cut and tattoos and realized that the original breakdown was all wrong and this is now the way the character should look.
- They found someone whose voice sounds exactly the way they heard it in their head when they first read the script.
- You remind the producer so much of his ex, and that didn’t end well.
- They decided to give it to an extra who will just nod their head in response to a question the star asks which will save the network a ton of money.
- They decided to scrap the role altogether.
It could be all of the above or none of the above. And, one more time, all together know,… we just don’t know.
Unless you really blew it at an audition, which happens. If it does… we need to find ways to let that go as well, but let’s say for now, this time, you did a great job. What do you do? What you do is continue to do that great job until all things line up and you are the person they’ve always imagined for the role. Or you become that person. The bummer is, there’s no secret, magic potion to all of this. There’s just…
Keep Creating. Keep Positive. Keep Showing Up.
You may have seen me posting this motto of mine everywhere. I tweet it, I Facebook it and i Instagram it constantly. It’s to remind myself, and my fellow creatives, to do the above daily.
Each audition, and its preparation, is part of you creating. And just by virtue of you going to that audition, you showed up! If you don’t remain positive it could stink up that room and you don’t want that. You will have more opportunities and if you don’t remain positive you may miss them. I just read about an experiment where a group of people were showed a magazine and asked to count how many photos were in it. They separated the groups by self-professed negative thinkers who believe they are “unlucky” and positive thinkers who believe they are “lucky.” On one of the pages of the magazine was a note that read, “Stop counting. Tell the focus group leader that there are 42 pictures in this magazine and collect your $200.” Several of the people in the positive thinking “lucky” group found the note and collected the money. Not one found it from the negative “unlucky” group! We prime ourselves for success by what we expect. We expect better for ourselves when we believe. We believe when we are positive.
So the next time you get an audition think, “Yes! Congrats to me! I have another opportunity!” Then have your positive self do the work and show up.
The rest is out of your hands.
If you are looking for a coach to mentor you through the ups and downs of the business, Annie is now offering “Skype With Annie!” affordable coaching for creative people. For testimonials and all the details please visit:
Annie Wood is a Hollywood native, lifelong actress and writer. She had her own show in her 20s (“BZZZ”) which she also co-produced. She was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and has appeared on several TV shows and features. www.anniewood.com
twitter – @anniewood
