Typical Crazy Day

Whew. It's been an intense week of auditions culminating in a crazy day today:

10am Print Casting for major magazine
Noon Callback for a lead role in an off broadway musical
12:45 Voice-over casting for McDonalds
2:30 Audition for lead role in a play at a major regional theater
4:30 Voice-over casting for Saturn cars
5:30pm Commercial casting for a health care company

To prepare for the day I started looking over the material for the musical and play auditions a few days ago--my theory on auditioning now is that you want to prepare but don't want to overprepare. Of course I read the scripts for both, then worked on the songs/sides. Thankfully I have a reader 'on-call' at home whenever I want... my wife :) But she had a really rough day at work yesterday so last night she fell asleep as she read the audition material with me! We got through it though (barely).

After a night of tossing and turning, it's up 2 hours before the first audition--8am. Steam shower to moisturize the voice. Off to the closet where I try and figure out the least amount of clothes I need to drag with me all day to dress right for the different characters I'll be auditioning for. Today's lineup: A Joe-Average office guy, a young Dad, a rocker/musician, and a rich preppy type. Nice Jeans, a few different shirts and lots of deodorant should do the job.

Then I warm up my body with some light yoga/alexander technique before I eat a hearty breakfast. Since I'll be out pounding the pavement for 8 hours, and on days like this lunch isn't always an option, I find a great healthy breakfast helps.

Then I pack my bag (headshot/resumes, print cards, modeling book, audition song book, and some hair stuff and powder (it's summer), and we're off!

The print casting went well. PRINT CASTINGS are kind of a joke. Actors and models spend all this money for photo shoots and reproductions of professional headshots and modelling cards only to spend an hour of our time heading to some office where we walk in have our picture taken with a polaroid or digital camera a few times and leave. If you or anyone you know has ever taken an attractive picture with a polaroid--please let me know. I wish they could just use our headshots/cards right? But that's not how it works. So anyway I showed up, waited in a line of 50 models ahead of me for 20 minutes, handed in my card, and had my picture taken for 15 seconds. Done. $150.00 payday on the line. FYI with print castings, editorial magazines don't pay much (Vogue, NY Magazine, Men's Health etc; usually $150-450 for the day) whereas commercial print shoots pay much more ($1500-3000/day).

Then it's off the musical audition. I was nervous as hell. I hate auditioning! I'd have thought I'd have built up an immunity to audition nerves by now but NOPE! It's exhausting...calming myself down. To my surprise, every other actor was nervous as hell too. One guy was a pretty famous movie actor and he was pacing all over the place. He caught me staring and said, "Well this never gets easier does it? No matter what, you always start at the bottom with these things." So very true my man.

In my opinion, walking into a room of people you don't know and putting your talent on display with a job on the line is ususally pretty terrifying. Sometimes they're friendly and smiley and responsive, and the director works with you--then it's fun. But so many times they're tired, patronizing, and hard to read--the director says nothing and you feel as if the role is already cast and you're wasting your time. As actors we have to just take it all in and do our thing no matter what. It's so weird and difficult.

Anyway, the accompanist was decent so the songs went well, and then the reader was good and actually of the same sex of the character I was supposed to be reading opposite from! And that's a rarity! After a little adjustment from the director, I was happy with the audition.

Both voice-over auditions were fun. At the first I was paired up with this girl--she couldn't have been more than 19. But then she opened her mouth and this 35 yr. old raspy, sexy voice came out. It was hilarious. At the second audition I was paired up with a guy. We got into the booth and I quickly learned he couldn't read. That's right--he literally couldn't read the copy. I was amazed. With all the competition out there, some agent is sending out an actor who can't even read copy. I was pretty ticked off, but I didn't let it affect my read (you can't because most of the time the casting director running the booth gives you 1 shot at it and you're done).

Then there was the play audition. After preparing 15 pages of sides, I was ready. I went into the room. Played off the reader, tried to affect him, had fun and finished the first scene. Silence. The director said nothing. I was right for the character so I was hoping for an adjustment and we talk a little, whatever. But nothing. He asks me to read the second scene and before i know it I'm saying 'thank-you' and walking out the door. It's a sad feeling. To feel connected to the material, do good work, have a good audition in the room, but get nothing from the director--no sign of good or bad (which usually means they're going another way). It's frustrating as hell. If I spend the time on the material, and I'm right for the role, and I'm giving a good audition--work with me here! Just give me an adjustment, let me show you I can take direction and what else I can bring to the table. I mean it's hours and hours of preparation, thought, body work, and stress for 5 minutes in and out. But that's the reality of it.

The final walk in the hot sun led me to the commercial audition. They were running ahead of schedule so I was able to get right in. It was the most humiliating audition experience I've ever had:

The producer was in the room watching us on screen. I had one line, "Hanging out with an old friend." See, in my little vignette I was supposed to be playing with an imaginary dog, look to the camera, smile, and say my line. So I played with the imaginary dog, looked up, said the line and was done. I figured I'd get one or two more shots at it to loosen up and try some different things. Well, one or two turned into 30! The producer felt I wasn't giving him what he wanted from the line, "Can you try it smoother....can you do it again but this time vary the pitch...can you do it with no breaks?...can you play with the dog differently?... AND THE CAPPER: on the 28th time he says to me, "You've almost got it Ok? Just warmer. I need it warmer. But you're so close." At this point I wanted to kill him. I should have walked out after 5-10 times. How dare he sit there and put an actor through his power trip. It was unreal. I almost cracked up laughing it was such a circus. I mean it's ONE LINE! Any actor could do it. And that's why auditioning for commercials is like auditioning for print jobs--talent feels practically irrelevant.

2 more tomorrow and that's it for the week--a SAG experimental film and another voice-over.
Onward!