Professional actors can’t help but feel a little powerless when it comes to the process of auditioning to book a job. For actors new to the industry, an audition can be a stressful experience, full of fear and judgment, which in turn causes audition mistakes. Here are some of the common mistakes that newcomers make during the audition season.
So it’s imperative to learn how to be sanguine and optimistic during the audition and be fully engaged when performing. Take the time to do your work during the preparation phase, so that you can have an air of assurance around you when you initiate your performance.
Mistake 1: Getting ready for an audition and rehearsing is something you have to do for the rest of your acting career. Not being prepared beforehand is one of the most common mistakes of amateur, upcoming actors who want to make it big. So, ensure that you have your lines well-memorized when you enter the audition.
Mistake 2: Overacting. Of course, you have been called for an audition to display your acting skills but don’t go overboard and give more than what’s needed from you. Some of the best actors use subtle emotions to convey what the character wants to say.
Mistake 3: Not being punctual. As the saying goes, ‘The first impression is the best impression’. So, make it a point to get into the good books of the casting director right at the beginning of the auditions. Getting to the set late could annoy the casting director, who meets 100s of applicants per day and has multiple assignments to cater to.
Mistake 4: Don’t request for a second chance. Reserve this option for absolute emergencies and don’t resort to this unnecessarily. Only if the casting director really asks for a reenactment should you go ahead and perform again. Until then, try your best in the first attempt and if you stumble or mess up in any way, brush yourself and just hope that the director overlooks or ignores it or the rest of your performance compensates for your inadvertent lapses.
Mistake 5: Attending auditions for characters that you know won’t fit you. It’s another common mistake made by hopeful actors and actresses in desperation but regardless of how renowned and established the production house is, and how famous the lead actors and actresses are, if you feel that you don’t like the prospect of playing a particular character, avoid attending the auditions for that part. In fact, don’t even bother applying for it. It is indeed your desperation that’s pushing you into accepting it. Still, without an emotional and empathetical connection with the role, you can’t perform to your fullest potential, and you will most likely deliver a half-baked performance. Instead, be patient and search for more opportunities.
Mistake 6: Lying about your abilities. You must list only those languages that you are really fluent in. Just knowing a few words doesn’t translate to understanding the language. Similarly, list only those abilities that you really possess and are proficient in.
Mistake 7: Assuming what the casting director wants. Even if you try your best to be prescient about the idea that a casting director has about a character, it would be virtually impossible to entirely sure. Also, letting these preconceptions, that aren’t buttressed by convincing facts, could stifle your expressions and your delivery. Don’t restrict yourself to a generic box that you conjure up out of nowhere. You couldn’t also be utterly unshaken in your belief even if you wanted to. So, instead, just play the version of the character that you believe is best suitable for the situation.
Mistake 8: Stopping in between by assuming the end. Don’t jump the gun and stop prematurely, believing that you have given what is expected of you. Remain in your character as long as possible, and stop only when the casting director asks you to do so.
Mistake 9: Gel well with your co-actors. If someone else is involved in the scene along with you, gel well with them and use them to delve further into the scene. A scene usually has multiple characters involved and an elaborate sequence with the fates of those characters getting intertwined, and they become inseparable. So, close your eyes, visualize the other person as the character that he/she is supposed to play, and then get into the groove. This will have a positive effect on your performance too.
Mistake 10: Conforming to the expectations. It’s important to not get limited by the generic stereotypes and expectations associated with a specific character. Bring in the wonder factor and spring a surprise on the casting director by treating your character with a unique interpretation.
Mistake 11: Getting put off by slating. Slating is something that the actors have to do before the audition. It’s nothing but just plainly saying your name and talking a bit about your background, hobbies, your multifarious skill set, etc. What happens here is that you sometimes shift out of character for a few moments, which could severely cripple your performance. Most of the time, actors try their best to get into the skin of the character that they wish to play even before the auditions. Slating forces them to briefly get back into their original selves, and that could hamper their chances of fully returning to the character’s shoes. So, during slating, just put the character in your pocket and retrieve him/her again after slating is done.
Mistake 12: Getting affected by a failure. Failures do happen to the best of us, and the factor that distinguishes successful people from the unsuccessful ones is that way in which they react to the failures. Slouching and becoming despondent offers no solution to the problems. It’s all about introspecting what could have gone wrong and coming up with novel methods to combat such mistakes so that they don’t become recurring impediments in your progress as an actor. This mistake isn’t restricted to acting in any way, but it has the potential to affect actors the most.
