How to prepare for your first audition

There is nothing more exciting than when you get your first audition. People, they get so excited sometimes with a little bit of fear and dread and trepidition. I've got an audition. Help. Oh, it's wonderful. Congratulations. You've got that audition. [gasps] Now, what do you do? Now, what do you do? Well, you're going to read it. Read that audition. Try to read it without any preconceived notions. I always like to read it before I even see what the breakdown is, any of the other information. That's good information to have. And if there's any director or casting director notes, absolutely. But I like to read it first without any of that input just so that doesn't color my initial impression of it. When I work with you as an actor, let's say you ask me to to do a coaching with you on this audition, I just have us read it out loud back and forth so you can hear the dialogue. You don't have to push with your acting. You don't have to try to make something happen because oftentimes in a realm within that window of just a simple read is probably where your audition's going to live, right? We want to we're so excited. We've got that audition. We want to show every emotion we've ever had. We want to really put everything into that audition. But remember, your job as an actor is not to show emotion. It's not to entertain. It's just to create truth and believability. Let's do that with your audition. So, read it. Read it all the way through. Then go back, see what the if there's any casting notes, anything like that. The portion of the script that they give you for an audition are called sides. And most of the time the sides are from the project. Sometimes they'll give you dummy sides. They'll make something up or they might even give you sides from another project. I've been I have a very high-profile project that is casting right now and so everybody's been coming with these dummy sides from big movies that have already been released. So that tells me a little bit what they're looking for. They're looking for a little action and they're looking for some romance. Those are the for the male and female characters for this particular project. The action should really make sure that you're committing to the action in those sides because you know that there this is an action film as well as in the scene that has the romance in it. Oh, okay. They want to see that young first love. Great. If there's a lot of the scene that is xed out, they might do that when it's other people's dialogue. But when it's you're not speaking, but they haven't crossed out the other dialogue, they haven't gotten lazy. Trust me, they just they want to see what you're going to do during that time. Are you listening? Listening is so important in acting. But sometimes your character might not be actively listening. Maybe they are preoccupied. Maybe there's something else going on. Maybe there's some action that's happening that you're focused on while somebody else is talking. So, don't automatically only pay attention to what lines you have in the scene. Something else that's really wonderful, if you've got the first line in your audition, you've got an opportunity to do something at the beginning. If you don't like it, you can cut it. Especially with if it's a self tape, right? You don't have to send it. But sometimes it's a real opportunity to not jump right in, but to show a little bit of the life of the character prior to your first line. And for a very what might feel like a short audition or an audition where you don't have a lot to do, there's an opportunity for you. Also, if you're reading with somebody and they have the first line and you want a beat or two off the top, do that as well. Ask the person that you're reading for. I do that quite a bit. I'm like, "Oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna hold my line. I want to see what's happening with you at the top here. So, you don't have to rush in. It's not about getting one. A mistake that a lot of actors make is that you rush you rush through your audition. I don't think you should drag it out. I I think you should just be aware that sometimes nerves and excitement might get you to be moving a little too fast through your audition. So, you've got the script. You're reading it over. You're getting familiar with the lines. Do not Are you listening? Do not start with memorization. Do not start with memorization. I promise you that will lock in your performance and not give you anywhere to go or change or open it up. Start with who are you and what is it that you need? any of the work that you're going to do for your for a scene class or when you're actually shooting the project, that's the work you want to start on. You just don't have as much time. I like to say if you're thinking of the scene as a painting, the audition is a sketch. It's not you're not maybe interacting with the other person. You're interacting with your reader, but you give them an idea of what it's going to look like. You can have your sides. You should know know it, but it doesn't need to be worried about memorization. Not for the audition. So, if you need to look down at your sides and pick up the line before you respond, that's fine. A lot of times when an actor has their sides available to them, I see that they become a crutch. rather than just really listening. They'll look, double check, and then come back. Uh, only look when you absolutely need to. So, a lot of times I'll have my actors get rid of them. Just listen. Just listen to what I'm saying. If I'm reading with them, you don't have to be memorized. And they'll say that most of the time now, especially if you've got less time with the with the sides, they might change. So, I know. I know. Don't worry about memorization, but you should really know the scene. Be more than familiar with it. Really understand the scene, who you are in it, and what it is that you're trying to get. Making sure that you've got a good reader. I'm a great reader, but so are all the other people in your acting class or your friends or um I have some clients who have working actors and directors as their parents. So, their auditions are fantastic when they're able to work with their parents. So having somebody that you can trust when you're running lines with them that you can talk and listen and laugh and have something unexpected happen. Just because you forget your line for a moment doesn't mean that the audition isn't good. Almost all auditions nowadays are self tapes followed by a Zoom session for even for chemistry reads. Every once in a while, you might have an in-person audition. Don't stress about that. Make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to Make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to park, to get there, to not be worried. Same thing with a Zoom session. Make sure that you log on early, that you're wearing something that will be flattering to you in that Zoom room. Being able to not be distracted by roommates or people coming or going into your environment to do everything that you can to set yourself up for success and to have a good time. If acting is torture for you, that's not a fun job to have. Enjoy it. Enjoy the being creative. And that's going to be infectious. I promise. A lot of times people like to do what they call a button at the end of a scene. I'm not a huge fan of that, but I am. And what that means is you give yourself the last line that maybe was not written. You add a little something at the end. Not a huge fan of that. However, if something comes naturally, if somebody something the other actor says and you just feel an impulse to say something, go for it because you can cut that off. You don't have to leave that in the audition if you don't like it. [gasps] However, don't microedit your auditions. I have seen ones where people's edit almost every other line and that becomes distracting and they're wondering why you can't get through one take [gasps] without editing. And when you're selecting a take to send in, I always say choose the one where you're the strongest at the beginning because even if the end is really strong, they might not make it that far. So choose the stronger beginning. It's what I always suggest because you can really tell from the very beginning of an audition whether you need to do it all. An audition is your opportunity to have that part. That's your opportunity to show what you're going to do with the character. And I sure I have said this before on a video. I know that I've said it relentlessly in class. Don't try to give them what you think they want. Stop that. Give them what you want. If you are at all what they're interested in for the character and you did not give them what they want, they will tell you what they want. But don't try to second guessess. Don't try to read into the stage directions or any of the prompts. Do what you want. That's what they are hiring you for. That's what they're seeing. If you want AI actors to take your jobs, try to give them what you think they want. That's not what they want. They want you to bring that special something that you bring to it. So, not where we're seeing an actor trying to really behave and be an automaton. They want to see you as that character. They want to see you reacting and listening and not reciting memorized lines. So, don't try to give them what they want. Give them what you want, what you think the character wants in this. It sounds um that you might not trust it, but really what you want to do is have some fun with it. Even if it's an audition where your character's in a lot of pain, commit to it. If it's an audition that you're not interested in, this is your chance to act an audition and nobody's charging you for it. So, bring your secret sauce. Bring your natural ability. Bring the fun that you want to do. Take those risks in those self tapes. Take the risk to follow the impulse that you have. I'm telling you, you stop yourself all the time going, "Well, I don't think that that's what they want." They're not hiring you to see what it is that they want. They want to see what you bring to it. And that said, if they ask you to retape, if it's a great sign, if they give you direction, a lot of times they will give you direction, but it doesn't mean that they didn't like what they did, what you did, right? Oh, I played it really sweet and then they gave me direction to be a little edgier with it, so I made the wrong choice. No, that's not necessarily the case. They just want to make sure you can take direction. They just want to see what it is that you can do. I always think, especially if you're going to go in in person, that you take a look at other ways the scene could be played just in case they say, "Great, can we see in another way?" and you give it to them the exact same way, then they realize, oh, you're kind of locked into the performance. Might be a good performance, might not cost you the job, but to give them something else that makes sense, that's grounded, that's different. Wow, look at that. Oh, we're going to have some fun on set. So, congratulations on your audition. Don't be scared. Remember that they're calling you in and they want you to succeed. Everybody wants you to succeed. There is not this judgment that we're all so afraid of. So go in, do your preparation, have some fun, and then the hardest part, I know, let it go. Let it go. Don't start thinking, "Oh, it shoots in three days. Why haven't they called me?" Let it go. Know that you did the best you could. You did your job. And they might have cut the character. They might have gone a completely different way. Trust me. Getting the audition is the big win. So, congratulations. When you are ready to do what you came here for, in person or online, I hope to see you at the studio.