6 Things To Do, Before Going on Another Audition!

You ever walk into the casting office, feeling good and prepared from all the work and rehearsal you put into the night before.

You’re focused, going over your lines to make sure you have them down, you’re confident. Then, the casting assistant call’s your name and BOOM, you forget everything, your heart races, your palms sweaty, panic sets in.

So what do you do, you run to the script going over it again as you make that long short walk into the audition room. Doubt hits. You think to yourself, “What if I forget?”, “What if they don’t like me?”, and on and on.

First thing to know. Auditioning is one of the most unnatural exercise a person could do. If the rest of the world had to go to their jobs on a daily basis and stand before a panel of people, they wouldn’t do to well either.

Most of the time the room isn’t comfortable, the room is full of a bunch of people who are either staring at you like you’re in a line up, and you just might be, and the others aren’t paying attention at all, they are typing on their computer’s, talking to one another, or ordering lunch. How can this be a healthy environment for an artist?

Honestly, most of the time it’s not. But the reality is, you have to do your job. But by now you are so thrown off that you don’t do your best work and when you realize that, the mental avalanche happen’s so you compensate by trying to please them, get them to like you, so that you’re memorable. But now you’re just oozing neediness, and you’re probably not going to get cast, because who really wants to date the person that says “Please like me.”, “Please love me!”. No one! It’s not attractive.

You go to your car, you cry, you yell, you give the perfect “car audition” and you go on about your day.

The good news is there is hope, a way to turn the odds in your favor for having amazing auditions from here on, so when you walk away you leave empowered.

Here are some steps to take before walking through that door.

1. Accept the Nerves. One of the worst things you can do is try to get rid of your nerves, because what you’re actually doing is focusing more energy into them, it’s like trying to swim upstream, you’ll wear yourself out. Instead acknowledge the nerves and ask, “Why would I be nervous in this scene?” Well maybe it’s because you have to break up with your boyfriend, or because you are about to confront a killer. Make it part of the scene and now the current is taking you and you’re just along for the ride.
2. Don’t worry about the words. Actors talk about Rachel McAdams audition for ‘The Notebook‘, how powerful it was and raw, and it was. She left it all out there, didn’t worry about the words, if she got them perfect or not. This allowed her to be in the moment present to receive what was being given to her, which is why she was memorable. You know what they call it when someone messes up on set? TAKE 2!
3. Worry about the Relationships. I can highlight words on my computer and have the computer read the words back to me, but what a computer doesn’t have, that you have is Life! How you connect to the characters you’re talking to in the scene, how you feel about them and the things you are talking about, that is what matters. If everything you say is honest, truthful and means something to you, they wont care if you mess up a line, because they will be so wrapped up in the emotion of it.
4. Rehearse the Relationship, Not Words. As I explained above the difference, when you have gone over the lines and know them, before you go through that door, don’t just keep reading them over and over again, rehearse the Relationships, to go a corner, or a hallway and talk to the characters in the script. Tell them out loud how you feel and watch how your heart connects to them. Now your “Pilot Light” is lit and once fuel is thrown on it, it will just explode.
5. Own the Room. I mean this in the most respectful way, but you have to remember that you have worked to get to this point, if there wasn’t something about you that intrigued them, you wouldn’t be there. They invited you! This is your time, don’t apologize or give up your power, be bold. If you mess up, if you forget a line so what! Keep moving forward and do it with confidence, because they are looking to cast someone that isn’t only talented and has the look, but someone who is confident in themselves and their choices. Act like a movie star and they will believe you are one. Remember, they need you more than you need them, if they don’t cast the role, they don’t go home. You don’t book the role, you go to the next audition.
6. Have fun. For the love of god, enjoy the process. There is a great quote, “You can not have a unhappy ending to an Unhappy Journey.” Play like you would if you were a kid going out to the playground during recess. We take acting WAY to seriously! I’m not saying don’t be professional and focused, I’m saying stop being so hard on yourself and trying to be perfect, your imperfections are what make you special and memorable, so go in and don’t worry about booking the job, worry about having the most fun you can in that period of time.