You get booked for an audition and you KNOW that you are PERFECT for this role. You receive your sides and get straight to work. You are not going to let this opportunity pass you by. You are going to give it 100%.
You carefully prepare your role to the best of your ability and you plan every detail. You are confident that you are the best person for this role and hope the casting director will see that.
You go to the audition and it goes without a hitch. Your preparation payed off and you delivered perfectly. Not only that but you were full of confidence all the way through and had great answers prepared for everything they asked. They look happy. You did exactly what they were wanted, you just know it. You are buzzing for the rest of the day and go to the pub to celebrate- even if you don’t get it, you know you did your best, and that’s awesome, right?
You don’t get a call back.
Why not?
It could be because:
- Someone else was just more suited to it.
- You didn’t quite have the look that they were after (review your headshot regularly to make sure it still looks like you.)
- You didn’t quite match the others they were casting for other roles e.g. Not a believable family member etc.
- Maybe they didn’t like your delivery. But why? You’d spent so long preparing it and working on it until it was perfect, right?
Maybe that was why. Because it was perfect. Your responses were carefully planned, every line delivered flawlessly, every pause meticulously timed and you played it just as the casting director was hoping for… Just like the other 30-40 actors they were seeing that day.
It’s great that you put the effort in.
It’s great that you prepared your role in detail.
It’s great that you had confidence in the audition.
But what did you bring that sets you apart? What did you do differently to everyone else who walked into the audition room that day?
DON’T DO WHAT YOU THINK THE CASTING DIRECTOR WANTS – DO SOMETHING THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED!
Be bold. Follow your instincts and act on them. Make yourself memorable. Go against the grain and take risks!
Instead of planning your responses, allow yourself to connect naturally and act instinctively.
Show some personality in the room, the casting directors want you to be at your best, they are not against you, they brought you in because they like something about you- show them who you are. You’re not a robot…You are an incredible individual who is full of creativity and passion. Just be yourself!
Think of one thing you can bring to every audition piece that nobody else will have thought of.
Remember always that the things we regret the most are the chances we did not take. Actors constantly tell me their audition went well but “I could have done more.”
I don’t want to hear that again.
I want you to go in to every single audition bringing something unique to the role and doing everything you can to show what you have to offer. After all, by holding back, you are not only doing yourself a disservice but you are doing the casting directors, everyone involved in the production and the audience of the show a disservice if you were the best for that role but didn’t allow yourself to shine.
You weren’t born to be ordinary.
You weren’t born to blend in.
You were born to stand out.
You were born to shine!
By Eirian Cohen, founder of Northern Star Acting and co-producer ESG Media.
