Image via Flickr by jronaldlee
This week, we've got a reader question. (I LOVE reader questions, so if you have one, ask away!)
(Also, big bonus points for anyone who gets the reference in the image to the left.)
"So - last 2 TV auditions - I read, the CD says perfect, we smile I leave, crickets.
What happens between perfect and crickets?"
Is there anyone out there who hasn't had this experience?
Didn't think so.
There are several possible answers:
- The script/role changed. It may be because the writer(s) got a note from from the network/studio that caused the scene(s) to be rewritten, and no one told casting until after you came in. It may be because they just cast someone with a similar physical description in another role and don't want two people with curly hair. It may be that the've decided they want more (or less) of a "name." It may be because someone in the writers' room had bad tacos at lunch and was in a rotten mood when they came back and decided to scrap the character because it reminds them of their least favorite cousin. Whatever the reason, it happens ALL. THE. TIME.
(Another thing that happens all the time, especially for guest star roles and up, is that you're reading for a role that has already been offered to someone else, and they're looking for backups in case the deal falls through. In that case, your perfect performance will likely never be seen by anyone but the person operating the camera.)
It hurts that there are so many other things more important than your great performance, but that's the way it is. Casting is not a merit-based system. Doing a great job in the room is (usually) necessary to get the part, but it's not enough. You also need a whole bunch of things you have no control over to go your way. And that's why judging the success or failure of an audition on whether you get a callback or booking makes as much sense as believing you're a bad driver because you got stuck in traffic. If you did what you intended do to in the room, if you showed casting (and/or the producers/writers/director) that you can deliver, the audition was a success. Everything else is out of your hands.
- Their "perfect" means something different than your "perfect." When a casting director says your work was "perfect" (or pays you any other compliment), it can mean a lot of things. Usually, it means your read is among those they would consider bookable. It can also mean they just found out the role has changed, but wanted to see your work anyway so they can consider you for future roles, or that they don't have time to give you notes for a second take. One thing it NEVER means is "you are definitely getting a callback/booking the role," because that's not within casting's control. (See #1.)
Sometimes "perfect" is a good omen, sometimes it isn't, and you don't get to know which is which. The only thing you can know for sure is whether you did what you wanted to do in the room. Beyond that, take a few deep breaths and let go of your attachment to the result.
- You WERE perfect — and you didn't get it. Sometimes the script stays the same, and when they said "perfect," they meant "perfect" — and you still don't get the callback/job. Casting's job is to find several "perfect" options. They may have seen ten different versions of "perfect," but they only had time to show the producers seven, and you did't make the cut. Maybe you did make the cut, and you just didn't get picked. You may have been casting's #1 choice, they may have put a big "we love her" post-it on your headshot — and the director disagreed. Any number of things could happen, and as always, you don't get to know.
So what does that all boil down to?
You already know what I'm going to say.
Being perfect will not get you the part, and wondering why you didn't get the part will make you crazy.
This is why being an actor is so hard. The people who make it are not the best actors. The people who make it are the ones who find a way to accept that they have no control over who gets the job, and to find fulfillment in the simple act of doing their best work, no matter what comes of it.
Here's the good news. Once you embrace that approach, there is a whole world of possibility on the other side. When you let go of the result, you are free to explore, and experiment, and enjoy showing the decision-makers what you, and only you, can bring to the role. You'll show up to auditions in WILDLY different wardrobe than everyone else (as I did two days ago), and instead of panicking, you'll burst out laughing. You'll see looks of surprise on the faces of the people you're reading for as you make a choice no one else has made, because instead of being perfect, you're being YOU, in all of your wonderfully flawed deliciousness.
And wouldn't you know it, flawed deliciousness is what books jobs.