Top Tips: After the Audition

If you have been lucky enough to be asked back for a recall, make sure you return with the same amount of focus and energy that you did before, if not more. A recall is not an indication that you have actually got the part, but that there are a few of you being shortlisted and going for the same role. The casting panel may include the actual director of the play, film or commercial at this point, so you may have to impress them all at an even higher level.

If you are lucky enough to get a recall for a TV, film or commercial casting but then don’t actually get the role, you can sometimes claim a recall fee. Ask your agent to check whether a recall fee is on offer and get them to claim for it. It will at least cover your travelling costs.

One of the best tips is to try and get some feedback from the casting director if at all possible. Get your agent to do this if they can. Any constructive criticism is so useful, especially if it comes from casting professionals. You can learn from this criticism and improve any faults and then be much better next time you see them.

Some casting directors may keep calling you back time after time. They usually add your name to their own files if they like you and your work. But it’s important to keep your energy and enthusiasm the same as if its the first time you are auditioning for them. If you start getting relaxed and overly confident with them, chances are the casting director will stop seeing you. They want to see that you improve more and more every time they see you.

Make a note of the names of any casting directors, directors or writers that you may meet at an audition. You may be seen them by them again in the future and it’s good to remember how that particular casting director works.

It may also be a nice gesture to send a thank you note or email to the casting director, especially if it was your first meeting with them. Like actors, casting agents have a job to do, and also appreciate praise and good manners. They will remember the good, pleasant actors and avoid the bad, rude ones!

Ah, the audition rejection is something you have to get used to I’m afraid. Casting agents only contact your agent if you are ‘pencilled’ for, or have actually got the part. Very rarely do they call to tell you that you were unsuccessful. You actually get used to rejections after a time in the industry. We’ve all been there, waiting for the phone to ring. Try and forget about it. Though there are times when it really does get to you, especially if it was a part you really wanted. But it’s part of the business so you have to just get used to it. There are also parts that you get which never actually materialise. Some small parts in feature films get cut at the last minute or the scene that you filmed and worked so hard on may end up on the cutting room floor. Don’t let any of it get you down, just remember to learn from every experience good or bad.

As actors we are learning all the time, and the audition process is a huge learning curve and the getting the best audition technique is a hard nut to crack. Some actors are never out of work and unfortunately the rest of us are. So it’s a good idea to use all this as on going experience, what breaks us makes us stronger.