Get Ready for In-Person Auditions

Most auditions are online but I have gotten a few in the past week that are in-person. Many of us fall into the trap of overthinking the audition and becoming a bundle of nerves. Here's a few tips from my professors at USC:

The most important part of an in-person audition is your entrance.

The moment you walk in the door, the casting directors are already making decisions purely based on how you look and how you present yourself. Like it or hate it- it’s the nature of the business. In previous newsletters I mentioned that I was taught to think of auditions more as “interviews,” instead of some unknown phenomenon of which the outcome surely will be negative. Of course, you have to put in the work to be prepared for the scene- lines, making strong acting choices, and the like- but if you are so nervous during your audition, you don’t give yourself the opportunity to make use of your preparation. If you approach the audition as a conversation, your choices and interaction with casting will be more natural.

When you get to the heart of it, most scenes in films are two people in a room having a conversation.

In general, it is better to make larger choices in a scene (assuming that your choices are justified in the scene); a director can always ask you to scale down but it is harder to work with what you are doing if you aren’t doing anything in the first place. Conclusively, make choices and be aware of camera framing.

Stay tuned for my newsletter next Thursday!