3 Reasons Your Audition Ended Quickly
The speediness of the audition may have nothing at all to do with the actor’s performance in the audition room
(by Jim Webb)
(Photo: Mason Kimbarovsky | Unsplash)
That sinking feeling you get when you’ve prepared all night for your audition, you entered the audition room ready to show and prove that you are an amazing actor, and after one quick read you are told, “We got it. Thanks for coming.” TF!
It can be more than a little disconcerting when the audition you expected to be lengthy is over in a flash. It usually provokes a profound sense of self-doubt in most actors.
Questions begin to emerge in your head:
“Did I just bomb my audition?”
“Did I make the wrong character choices?”
“Did I make a big mistake?”
“Do I still have a serious chance of booking this role?”
Or, in an extreme case:
“Am I really as good an actor as I thought I was?”
These types of reactions are common. But often they are not reactions at all. They are overreactions. Auditions routinely end faster than an actor expects. But the speediness of the audition may have nothing at all to do with the actor’s performance in the audition room.
Here are three reasons why an audition might end early, regardless of the actor’s performance:
#1: They Liked What They Saw
Just because your audition ended quickly doesn’t mean it went badly. In fact, it might mean your audition was great! It might mean that it was so good that they don’t need to see any more.
They already know you’re a keeper; they already know you’ll be brought back in for callbacks. Your type fits well with what they and the decision-makers are looking for. They already believed as much from your headshot and reel and now your appearance in the room has confirmed what they already suspected about your fitness for the role.
So, why waste any more time with you? You’re already in the mix. Better to save time by moving on to the next actor.
#2: They Didn’t Like What They Saw
They liked your headshot, they liked your demo reel or self-tape, but seeing you in-person, they can tell so much more. The casting director can see that you’re not quite right for this role.
Perhaps you’re too tall. Perhaps you’re a bit too short. Perhaps you look too much like one of the cast members or one of the other roles that were recently cast.
The point is, casting already knows you’re not the guy (or gal). You’re simply not the right person for the role and now it’s time to move on to the next actor.
Of course, this had nothing to do with your acting performance. Your performance might have been terrific. But as most actors understand, there are many factors beyond an actor’s performance that determine who gets cast.
#3: There Isn’t Enough Time
Many actors believe that the more time a casting director spends with them in the audition room, the more interest the casting director has in them as an actor. While this is true in some cases, it’s not true in other cases. Time spent in the audition room does not always indicate interest level.
Time is a finite resource in the casting world. There isn’t always enough time to spend with each actor. There may not be enough time for do-overs and adjustments. There are deadlines to keep, lots of roles to be cast, lots of actors to see.
Your performance, good or bad, may have nothing at all to do with the length of time a casting director spends with you. It may simply be the result of the amount of time the casting director has to spread out among all the other actors he or she must see throughout the course of the day.
Audition with confidence!
(Photo: GR Stocks | Unsplash)
The bottom line is to be confident in your audition. Always! Don’t worry about how much time or how little time you spend in the audition room. Don’t become insecure when you see other actors spend more time with the casting director than you.
Be confident in your abilities before your audition. And be confident in your performance after your audition, regardless of how you think it went.
Confidence is quite an infectious thing. And it is the key to auditioning at a high level, audition after audition after audition.
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