Moved to tears.

I’m the kind of girl who cries at pretty much anything. Those animal cruelty commercials with Sarah McLachlan, THE NOTEBOOK, and don’t even get me started about the last HARRY POTTER film. That being said, I rarely cry during auditions. I guess I watch them with a bit of professional detachment.

However, about four years ago I cast a little indie film called POWDER BLUE. It had the hardest role I’ve ever had to cast: a transgender prostitute who could hold her own in some very emotional scenes opposite Forest Whitaker. We auditioned hundreds of actors for this role. Male, female, and transgender, we didn’t discriminate. We may or may not have even read one young A-lister (in drag) who went on to headline a very popular *sparkly* franchise. Sorry, I don’t have pictures.

But the thing I’m probably most proud of in my 12+ years of doing this, is finding the actor we cast in the role. He came in during a very strange (and scary at times) meet-and-greet open call. He was new to Los Angeles, didn't have an agent, and wasn't even in SAG, but he had the right look so we gave him a callback.

When he did the scene in the callback, something happened… I was sucked into another dimension where this character lived. The actor wasn’t there anymore. In his place was this tragic transgender prostitute weighing her options with a rather heartbreaking outcome. By the end of the scene I was bawling. When the actor left the room I jumped up and followed him out. I couldn’t let him leave without telling him that he was the first person to make me cry in an audition. (I wasn’t the only one in the room crying either). He got the role and his performance held up in the final product. But sometimes I pull up that audition video on my laptop just to remember what magic actors are capable of, and how awesome my job is.

When an actor does something inappropriate in an audition...

(like this)

i'm like... THIS

Unwelcome Houseguests

It bugs me when actors bring friends along to auditions. This might just be a personal thing for me, but I pretty much always feel like the friend (9 times out of 10, also an actor) is tagging along in the hopes that we will have a role they’re perfect for and beg them to audition for us as well. I've even had an actor ask if their friend could audition for the same role. 

Perhaps you feel obligated to allow the friend to tag along because you don’t have a car or your car’s in the shop and they gave you a ride (mighty nice of them). But by all means, please tell that friend that you would like to be alone to prepare before you go in and put it all on the line. Auditioning is hard, guys! If they’re truly your friend, they will understand.

I also know an actor who brings his wife with him because she’s his good luck charm (I asked). She’s not in the business and she just sits in the waiting room and reads. She doesn't bother anyone, but I still think it’s a little unprofessional. Especially for a network test. Plus the waiting room is usually pretty full and it’s hard to concentrate when a friend/family member is there with you.

And then there's children. Look, sometimes babysitters fall through, and I totally get that, and if you don’t make a habit of it, I won’t even mind. But please, for the love of God, don’t bring the child into the audition room to breastfeed! You'd think this should go without saying but... (see previous post here )

Inappropriate.

I really don’t understand it, but sometimes actors like to bring friends/boyfriends/wives/children to auditions with them. In fact, I know one actor who swears his wife is good luck and refuses to read unless she’s allowed in the waiting room. True story. But the most bizarre experience of my career happened when I was working as an associate on a comedy pilot.

An actress brought her husband and small child with her to the audition. After she read, (and did a nice job) the director gave her a few notes. But she was distracted. The baby was screaming in the waiting room. She explained that the child was going through a separation anxiety phase and excused herself to ask her husband to take the child elsewhere. The producer then suggested that it was okay if she brought the child into the room with us while they gave her notes. So in came husband and child. The child ran up to his mother and buried himself in her armpit and the crying stopped. The producers and director cooed at how he just wanted his mother and proceeded to give her notes. 

Then everything sort of went into slow motion for me as the child reached down, pulled up the actress's shirt, and began to breastfeed. I froze. The casting director froze. The producers and the director froze. The actress, not batting an eye, continued the conversation like everything was normal. She was ready to give the material a try. The producer motioned for me to commence recording the audition, and she did the scene with the child still feeding away. I politely framed the shot so that the child could not be seen.

When she left the room, the producer asked if we thought she was any good because he just couldn’t tell. We couldn’t either.

LESSON: There’s a time and place ...

Careful the things you say...

http://levycasting.tumblr.com/post/9117246169/carefulthethingsyousay

I shouldn’t have to remind people of this, but…

It pretty much goes without saying that you should always be nice to everyone, right? Especially in this business. You never know who’s cousin or sister that assistant or PA is, or what they’re going to become in the next five or ten years. So why not just be nice to everyone? Trust me, it’s for your own good. You’d be amazed how many actors seem to forget this. Amazed! If you’re not nice to the intern or assistant, they will tell us. We will ask them. We want to know. It shows us what you’ll be like on set. So, lighten up. This should be fun!

“It too late to apologize. It’s too late.” (Thank you One Republic)

Throughout my career, I have encountered many, many lovely actors. Of course I get to meet them when they’re usually on their best behavior. However, occasionally, there are a few that are, shall we say… not so lovely. I encountered most of those back in my earlier days, when I was an assistant. 

My first encounter like this was with an actor who thought he was a bigger deal than he was. He tried to tell me that he shouldn’t have to wait like everyone else, that he should get special treatment. I told him that I that I would poke my head into the audition room and confirm this with my boss. This made him angry so he started making jokes at my expense. The other actors in the waiting room were uncomfortable, but he thought he was pretty funny. I didn’t let him go in before everyone else, but I did tell my boss (in front of the Producers) what he had done. He didn’t get the role. And not because he wasn’t good. Because the producers didn’t want him acting like a jerk to someone else on the set. 

My boss shared his behavior with his agent and he ended up sending me flowers to apologize. A nice thought, but the damage had already been done. I begrudgingly continue to bring him in to this day and have even hired him, but every time I see him I remember that first encounter and it sours my taste.

LESSON: Be nice to everyone! And not just because you never know who they know or where they’ll end up, but because it just plain ol’ common decency.

When you don't get the role...

http://levycasting.tumblr.com/post/8816549085/mourning

It’s not personal.

It’s really not personal. This is a business. I know most actors know this and/or hear this advice all the time, and it’s hard not to take it personally when you put yourself out there over and over and nine out of ten times meet rejection. My advice is to take ten minutes, or an hour, or a day or two, if you need it, and mourn the loss of that role, and then move on to the next. Remind yourself that there are a million reasons you may not have booked this particular role and it might not even have anything to do with how your audition went at all. The only thing you can control is how prepared you are. That’s all. So move on to the next one, give that one all of your focus and maybe that’ll be the one. If not… On to the next.

Awesome contest for those who love to read!

http://stiryourtea.blogspot.com/2011/08/win-lola-boy-next-door-crossed-shatter.html

478 reasons you didn't get the role. (And most of them aren't even about your talent!)

She’s too pretty. He’s too tall. He has weird hands. She reminds me of my sister-in-law. She has the same nose as my ex. She’s too thin (Seriously! I know, right?!). I prefer men with blue eyes. I prefer blondes. My ex was a blonde; therefore all blonde women are bitches. I don’t like guys with curly hair. I don’t like guys with straight hair. I don’t like her voice. And on. And on. And on. 

LESSON: Some things are simply beyond your control.

When an actor mispronounces a word...

http://levycasting.tumblr.com/post/8506279089/mispronunciation

LOOK IT UP!

Don’t understand a word? LOOK IT UP! Don’t know how to pronounce a word? LOOK IT UP! There are many, many resources out there on the interwebs to help you pronounce and understand words you don't know. There’s really no excuse in this day and age. It’s just pure laziness. It only makes you look bad. And sometimes one little mispronunciation could cost you the role. No matter how much I might argue in your favor. (see previous post)


Oh, and if I see one more guy come in and mispronounce the word “chic” ...  (It's not pronounced chick, people!)

Two Stinkin' Words

A well-known actress (again, I’ll never give names and you can’t make me!) auditioned for me a while back and butchered a few words so badly that I simply could not convince the director to hire her no matter how hard I tried. And I TRIED! Other than mispronouncing "irate" (she said “a-rat”) and "heirloom" (she pronounced the “H”), she gave a fantastic reading. She was, in every other way, completely and totally perfect for the role. But at that point it didn’t matter. The director (also the writer) had always imagined this character to be cunning and he now only saw this poor actress as, well, not-so-cunning. Now, this girl is NOT an idiot, I had her come back in for the director after coaching her, and we chatted and she’s not dumb, but the damage had been done. The director couldn’t see anything else. Even when she gave a stellar reading at the callback (and pronounced everything right). It broke my heart. Alas, I am happy with the actress that we cast, but I will always wonder what might have been.

LESSON: Do your homework!