Auditions… What are they like? Do I get nervous? How long do they take? The answer is: they vary, no, and about two- and one-half to three minutes max!
Before COVID most auditions were held in person at a casting directors studio. This meant traveling all over the place: Manhattan, Rochester and Buffalo when in New York, or Tampa, Orlando and Miami here in Florida for three minutes in front of the camera if I was lucky. Since COVID, that has changed quite a bit and now most auditions are filmed off my cell phone and submitted in the form of a MOV4 clip.
Early in my career I was a bit nervous as I was trying to figure it all out, but I am now more confident and relaxed. I also realize that there are many in the decision -making process (casting director, marketing rep, director, client, and the like) all of which have their own ideas on who and what a character should look like which can make for a very subjective experience. Pleasing them all is next to impossible so I prep as best as I can given the directions provided to me and hope for the best.
Many times, landing or not landing a role is as simple as my having the “right” or “wrong” look. I have been told I am too old, not old enough, too fair skinned, too bald, not bald enough, too tall, too heavy…well…you get the idea, but most of the time I get no feedback as to why I did or didn’t get the job, and of course, you do need to have some acting ability. For sure, it is not a career for those with thin skin! One thing I know for sure though is that if you aren’t submitted and then asked to audition, you won’t get the role so you “need to be in it to win it!”
Here is one of my favorite auditions for the role of The Nervous Dental Patient in a TV commercial. There was no script. The directions were to ad-lib for 2:30-3:00 minutes as a “nervous dental patient.” Although selected, the shoot date conflicted with another commercial I was committed to, so I had to decline the role which I think would have been a fun shoot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7PDxyAInXE
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