|
It’s true that you can be a magnificent actor and horrible at auditioning. It’s also true that some people thrive in audition conditions (this isn’t as common) and fall apart on set. Some casting directors and agents (not all) want you to think you can’t act if you aren’t good at auditioning, but they do that because it’s so important to them for you to be able to shine in an audition without understanding that pressuring you to be good at it probably won’t work. Most of them also don’t understand what it feels like to go to an audition. The bottom line is that more often than not, brilliant actors don’t always shine in audition situations. If you’re someone who studies the art of acting by taking acting (and ideally even voice, dance, and movement) classes, who impresses fellow actors with your skills regularly, but clams up or gets the shakes when it comes time to audition, there are a few things you can do to help you succeed in your auditions more frequently.
Firstly and most importantly, you have to put in the work. That means as soon as you are informed of an audition, everything else in your life should take second shelf in your list of priorities. Find out everything you can about the project. If you can get hold of the script or the play do so immediately and sit down and read it. If you have time to read it twice, absolutely do that before you do anything else. Try to understand the story and where your character fits into it. Then analyze the scene you’ve been given. Run it over and over, preferably with someone else reading the other lines – play with it and get creative – make sure you understand why your character says and does everything he or she says or does. If you feel yourself falling into a rut with it, read it in different voices and/or accents, or read the whole thing monotone, sing it, or put an odd rhythm to the lines for a while. If it’s a commercial audition, find out about the product and look at some of the other advertising the company has done. The better prepared you are ahead of time, the less nervous you will be when you go into the audition, and the more confident you will be when you leave the audition, regardless of your experience in the room.
Booking an audition should never be your goal. Booking it is out of your hands. You have absolutely no control over that, regardless of your connections or how much the producers loved your performance when you were in the room. All you can do is to give them everything you’re able to give them – do the best you can, and your audition will be a successful one. Lastly, when you walk out of an audition, let it go. Period. It’s done. Pat yourself on the back, consider it a success, and move on to the next thing. Go back to class. Get back to life until the next call. Then do it all again, because you’re compelled to keep on trying, and because you know how good you are!
|
