Actor Fact - Audition Success Linked to 5 Critical Steps
In fact, there are 5 specific critical steps that directly contribute to an actor’s ability to consistently win auditions. Unfortunately, most actors make common mistakes that kill their chances of being considered for the role.
Mistake #1: Seek Approval
Most actors will try-out for anything and everything, and accept every scrap of role thrown at them. They assume that the more they audition, the better their odds of landing the job. This go-for-it-all approach can lead to burn-out, frustration and mediocre auditions.
Critical Step #1: Define and Design Your Success
The most successful actors are those who know what they want to achieve in the short- and the
long-term, and have a pretty good idea of what it will take to get there. By design, these actors pick auditions that contribute to reaching their goals. They know their strengths and leverage their best abilities in the audition.
Mistake #2: Select Inappropriate Pieces
You’ve picked a great climactic monologue from the play sure to knock the socks off the casting director! Or maybe you decide on that comedic Shakespeare piece to impress them — even though
you’re auditioning for a light contemporary season. Perhaps you’re tired of playing those comedic roles you can get so easily, so you decide to stretch yourself by auditioning for the dramatic lead.
Do any of these approaches sound familiar? Many actors are not sure how to pick audition pieces that show off their strengths.
Critical Step #2: Select Pieces that Work
You’ll put yourself into the top 10% of all the other actors when you
Follow the posted audition rules
Select pieces relevant to the play or theatre season
Pick monologues that you can identify with
Choose pieces that show your strengths (see Step #1)
Generally avoid monologues from climactic moments.
Mistake #3: Memorize then Go!
Do you put off the pain of monologue hunting as long as you can, only to burden yourself with last-minute preparation? Ever have to mutter the words, “Can I start again?” in the middle of your audition? Ever sing 16 measures of a song just “so they can hear if you can sing”?
Critical Step #3: Craft Your Monologue with Depth and Dynamics
The actor who wins the role is the one who does more than memorize the words and decide which generalized emotion to play.
There are 7 specific techniques guaranteed to bring out the greatest depth possible when exploring your pieces. The purpose is to stretch yourself into unexpected realizations that pay-off big in terms of rapid memorization and character development.
Make sure the character experiences growth or change during the monologue.
Choose specific, active and powerful intentions, not emotions.
Rehearse the piece completely out of context.
Play the opposite intention called for in the monologue, song or scene.
Perform an unrelated physical activity while practicing.
Find and exaggerate vocal and speech patterns.
Speed up the pace, but keep the clarity; slow it down to a snail’s pace, but keep the truth and intensity.
Mistake #4: Apologize for Being Alive
Although most try-outs allow for 60 seconds or more to show your stuff, the casting decisions are actually made within the first 7 to 15 seconds of the audition. And that includes the seconds BEFORE you start speaking. There’s no one starting the time clock on first impressions. Most actors fail not because of lack of talent, but lack of ownership. Actors who are ill prepared, who make poor selections, who feel like they are at the mercy of the process, all end up as audition casualties — no matter how good their acting abilities are.
Critical Step #4: Own the Space
There are 3 key ingredients necessary for dynamic stage presence:
Powerful, specific character intentions
High energy
100% commitment with bold choices
When your intentions are specific, urgent and important enough, your energy level will be automatically boosted. Having that kind of confidence in yourself and your well-prepared pieces allows you to commit vocally and physically to the audition in a way that resonates with strength. And that’s the kind of actor casting directors want to hire.
Mistake #5: It’s Just A Try-Out
No matter how good of an actor you are, if you haven’t prepared, you become a victim of the audition process, rather than a creative designer in a performance event. You simply must know how to transform your nerves into useful energy, be able focus on a moment’s notice, and plug into your monologue or song in only seconds.
Critical Step #5: Consider Your Audition A Performance
Like any good story, your audition has a beginning, middle and end, and you must treat it as a performance. You must craft your introduction, your transitions into and between your pieces, and your wrap-up. Such preparation will allow you to lead with your strengths and infuse you with confidence.
Know what YOU want to get from the audition, from your talent, from your life.
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