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Welcome to my new newsletter! The world is a mixed up crazy place where the artist has the duty to inject beauty for the minds, the souls and the bodies of their culture. It’s an effective and powerful counter to the cooky things we see going on. This newsletter is designed to assist you in the mission.

ACTOR CHALLENGES
No Feedback and No Bookings - What to do?

Actors never know when that next role will come. Often it comes when you least expect it, when there isn’t any mental anguish being added into their work.

The worst part for sure is that you pretty much never hear back after you audition unless you book the role.

Should you laugh or cry? Or maybe do a bit of both? This common and overused symbol for acting and the theatre truly does reflect the highs an actor gets when they book a role and the lows they get when nothing seems to be happening.

Whether you are new actor or seasoned veteran, your state of mind has a lot to do with your bookings. If you are willing to book the role and willing to not book the role, you are in the best frame of mind for getting that role. That does not mean you will automatically get it. You just need to maintain that equilibrium of being satisfied with either outcome.

This releases a lot of tension from you and your work. It’s funny but I know many actors who booked jobs because they really didn’t have any sort of “I must get this role!” In fact, in some instances, they were just auditioning for practice or because they hanppened to tag along with a friend to casting call.

Sometimes the “I must get this role!” gets so strong that the actor tries to overcompensate and trick themselves with statements like “I’ll never get it.” or “I didn’t like the scene.” while deep down there is anguish churning that keeps them awake at night they want it so badly.

If they don’t book the role, that intense desire to get the role now turns back in on themselves. And because there is no stated reason as to why about 95% of the time, this can’t get quite self abasing. They turn inward and think they are an imposter or fake or not talented enough or don’t know how to act. This is dangerous to you and your career.

I have cast many hundreds of actors. I can assure you that if you are getting audition requests from reputable casting directors who are working on reputable productions, it is most likely not about your acting. You probably were just not right for the role.

“Not right for the role” can have many factors that vary from role to role. And this is one of the reasons you don’t hear back. Casting is one of those items on a producer’s checklist that needs to get done. It is a process that is critical to the director’s success and any compromises can jeopardize the overall quality of the film. The factors can be infinite really. From “too tall”, to “too expensive”, to “it doesn’t ‘feel’ right”, to “they were the best actor but I just don’t see them as (character name)” or “that actor comes across as too soft.” etc. Honestly, this list could go on and on ad infinitum.

Because you don’t hear back, you will never, ever figure it out. Don’t even try. What you can do is control your preparation time and process and how you execute your self-taped auditions.

New actors need lots of guidance from an experienced actor or teacher on how to prepare. I remember when I first started acting the first thing I latched onto was, “Okay, I have to memorize my lines. That is the key to success because that is what actors do.” From a laymen’s point of view looking in from the outside, this probably seems like the difficult part and a new actor is just crossing that threshold from outside to inside.

I found out quick that even though I focused on that for my very first audition, I couldn’t even do that right. I have since learned and taught many actors what to focus on. And the number one item is not memorizing.

The more experience an actor gets, the more training they get, the more they develop their own process for preparing to audition and to work on set. It’s usually their own concoction of various methods they have learned along the way with one in particular they hold dear.

The other aspect they can control is their self-taping equipment set up and implementing various tricks of the trade that put them in a good light with casting - literally.

Good lighting makes a difference. Good sound is a must. A distraction free background is a sign of a professional and a quality reader in the room is a big bonus. Knowing where to look when can make a huge difference since casting is always wanting to see what is happening in your eyes, yet you have to do the audition as if you were in the scene.

Getting your basic preparation steps in place and your self-taping production line established sends a loud message that you are a professional. I mean, who wants to hire an amateur? This is especially true if you are very new but it does hold true at every level.

When you do a minimum of one self taped audition a week, even if it is just for practice, you are moving step-by-step toward a confidence level of a pro. Your focus is on the work you have to do as an actor not on the ups and downs of booking a job. Your mind is on the right things. When an audition comes in for a large part opposite a star, you take in stride. You do your thing, submit it and move on to the next.

This can smooth out the ups and downs you’ve been going through and keep you sane.

I have two new short courses that a guaranteed to improve your prep work and your self-taped auditions at a very affordable price. The fist is called Acting Isn’t Memorizing. See the link below.