Auditions. A.K.A: Delicious Torture

So I’ll post some juicy stories on past auditions in a bit – but for now just wanted to write some general thoughts about the process.

Auditions are evil.  And amazing.  And frustrating, scary, thrilling etc. They are a bit like gambling, or playing the lottery as they are 5 minutes that can change your life.  They are also terribly pedestrian. You walk into a room. You say some stuff.  You walk out.   But what you say and how you say it – both on script and in general – can completely change your future. There is a lot riding on what happens in that 5 minutes.

Every time I book a job, I am astounded by how easy it is.  Wait, that 5 minutes was it? That was all it took? And every time I don’t book a job that I wanted, I endlessly runimate on why not. What could I have done differently? What did I do wrong – or not as right as someone else?  It’s the same 5 minutes.  Even though those 5 minutes are ‘all about you’…the  reason you do or do not book a job is often not about you at all. There are so many things that go into the equation – that you have no control over. So you have to walk in, kill it…and then let it go.  That is hard to do.  You do your damndest not to get your hopes up – but you can’t help it. You do your damndest to not feel like dirt when you are convinced it went poorly…but you can’t help it.
So…its about jedi mind tricking yourself. You must invest enough in the material to give 100% to the moment…but find a way to ‘not care’ enough to let go of it entirely the moment you leave the room. This is something I’m still trying to master.

4 thoughts on “Auditions. A.K.A: Delicious Torture

  1. The trick is balancing the “knowing what you want” bit with “knowing what others want of you”. Which is rarely easy to discern and totally applies to any job interview scenario, really. But keep fighting! And don’t be too shy to drop a well-intentioned death threat where applicable.

  2. The trick is to balance the “knowing what you want” bit with “knowing what exactly others want from you”. Which is rarely easy to discern but applies to any job interview scenario. But keep fighting!
    And don’t be too shy to drop a well-intentioned death threat if need be.

  3. As you may know: Bruce Campbell gives aspiring actors this advice: “Be original. It’s a longer, lonelier road, but a happier ride.” Groovy.

  4. As you may know, Bruce Campbell gives this advice to aspiring actors: “Be original. It’s a longer, lonelier road, but a happier ride.” Groovy. (BTW Please delete my previous reply. My knowledge of English grammar … could be better.)

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