Happy Halloween

Headshots: What not to do. Another lesson from Tobias. (click here!)

Please save the costumes for Halloween.

It’s All About Me

Sometimes you come into a casting room and the producer/director/casting director’s attention is not entirely on you. Please remember not to take it personally! You never know what might be going on in the producer/director/casting director’s head. They might be having personal problems or production problems that have absolutely nothing to do with you. All you can control is how you handle the situation.

You can choose to be angry at that person for not giving you their attention, or you can make light of it and try to win them back. It is your time to shine!

There’s a delicate way of getting the focus back on you without being obnoxious and I’m not sure I will entirely be able to explain this here.

Let me try with examples:

After our session gets backed up for reasons beyond our control, Actor 1 comes in and tries to hide his frustration with silence. The director has to finish checking an email message before getting down to business. I try making idle chitchat but Actor 1 is having none of it. He answers my questions with short one-word answers then when we finally do the scene his anger shows through.

Actor 2 comes in and makes a crack about the nice long nap he was able to fit in while we made him wait so long. He tells us he was having a great time watching the different personalities melt down in the waiting room from the wait. The director tells him to hold on one more minute while checking a text and the actor pulls out his phone and says he needs to check a text as well. But all of this is done in a fun way that keeps our attention on him. It’s an art, I tell you.

Now, we remember both of these actors equally but which one do you think we’d rather hire?

“Well, that sucked.”

It makes me sad when an actor doesn’t feel like they’re giving a good audition and they just kind of give up somewhere in the middle of the scene. They let it show all over their face and sometimes they even tell us how bad they thought it was after they finish. Maybe we thought it was a great audition, but now you’ve told us it was bad and we believe you.

If you’re not connecting with the scene, I would MUCH rather you stop and let me know this, and then take a moment to collect yourself and go again. I won’t hold it against you (unless you stop and start forty times). You guys! We actually want you to do well! We are on your side! I promise!

If you just have to say that it sucked out loud, please wait until you get to your car. Besides, you aren’t always the best judge of yourself. How many times have you thought you sucked and then you got the part? Right?

Essence of Casting (surprisingly, not a perfume)

When I try to explain how my casting brain works to people, I might as well be trying to explain the intricacies of a nuclear reactor. It’s hard to put into words how I “feel” one particular actor in a role and not another. For me, (I don’t speak for other casting directors) it comes down to an actor’s essence. I shall now try to describe what I mean by citing last week’s episode of Glee. (the one where “Rachel” and “Mercedes” are both trying to get the role of “Maria” in West Side Story)

Now, this is my opinion and my opinion alone. My casting partner and I differ on this particular reference but that’s okay because she’s wrong. *grins at partner*

“Rachel Berry” and “Mercedes Jones” (NOT the actors that play the roles but the characters themselves) are forces to be reckoned with. Both of them are incredibly talented singers. Both of them are Divas. Both of them know how to act the crap out of a song.  However, both of them are not right for the role of “Maria”. And it has absolutely nothing to do with physical appearances. I repeat, NOTHING!!! They do not have the same essence. 

“Rachel” is a passive aggressive character and “Mercedes” is an assertive character. “Rachel” can tone down her chutzpah, where “Mercedes” cannot. Just picture "Maria" saying “hell to the no!” and you’ll understand what I mean.

I would cast “Rachel” as “Maria” and “Mercedes” would be my obvious choice for “Anita.” (which I think is actually the better role – she has the better songs!)

I get what the writers were doing with the drama of it all, but I just found it interesting that the very thing I’ve tried so many times to explain, was right there in front of me, frustrating the hell out of me as a casting director as I watched.

Celebrate!

In light of the big Arrested Development news, today I shall share my delight with all you nice people in the form of...
Acting Tips From Tobias! (link)

You're welcome.