Audition with Confidence

Auditions can be nerve-wrecking and stressful. As the day gets closer, you grow more and more nervous and afraid. Don't be! Start with step one for some tips on auditioning with confidence.

Steps

  1. Prepare your audition pieces. Rehearse them as you would rehearse a play. Work on them with a coach, director or other knowledgeable colleague. Be as confident with the piece as you would a role you were performing. Work on them outside of the context of an upcoming audition. Work on them in front of people. Don't wait until the night before your audition to search for, memorize and rehearse an audition piece! Practice, practice, practice!
  2. Search audition books! Finding the perfect audition piece is probably the most difficult task of all. Take the time to find a piece that speaks to you; that you like and identify with. (see #5 below), ask fellow actors and directors their opinions, if you have any playwright friends ask them if they have anything you might use! Gather two to five possibilities and ask friends and colleagues what they think.
  3. Pick monologues from plays. It is perfectly okay to use a new play or something the auditors have not heard before, but pick a piece from an actual play and read the play in its entirety, not just the scene or the monologue.When rehearsing your piece, make one to three clear, distinct acting choices and commit to them fully. When in doubt, simplify.
  4. Keep the blocking in your piece simple as well. Choose one to three clear, precise movements or crosses. When in doubt, simplify. Show the auditors what they ask for. If they ask for two monologue pieces and a song, prepare that. If they ask for two contrasting pieces, that means they want one contemporary piece and one classical, one of which is serious and the other funny. Classical pieces generally mean language verse pieces- Shakespeare or his contemporaries, The Greeks, Moliere or the like. When using a translated piece like Moliere, make sure the translations are in verse as well. The auditors want to see how you handle poetic and metered language. If the auditors give you a choice of presenting one or two pieces, choose to do one and do the funny one. Give that one piece the same amount of preparation you would give two pieces.
  5. Work to keep your audition pieces at one minute long. Usually the audition will have a time limit. Do not go over that limit. It's best to keep your audition a couple minutes long if they don't specify the limit. 2-3 minutes long is long enough for a complete audition and short enough to keep it interesting. Remember not to go to far under or over the time limit.
  6. Enter the room with confidence. If hands are offered, shake them. Look the auditors in the eyes during introductions if there are any. Introduce yourself and let them know what piece you are doing and who the authors are. Then let them know which of the pieces you will be performing first. Remember to smile and show off your confidence.
  7. Pause, glance at something other than the auditors or other people. (glance at wall, empty chair, etc.) Try not to stare down the floor. Take a second (one second) to take a breath, focus your thoughts and communicate to the auditors that you are beginning. Jump into your character with all your ability and passion. Transform into the character in a heartbeat. Commit one hundred percent. This is the most important half second in your audition. Practice it. If you want to be impressive, be impressive here. If you're role doesn't specifically call for you to address the audience, pretend they are invisible. Don't make eye contact and speak directly to them if your role doesn't call for it. Even if you are addressing the WHOLE audience, don't make direct eye contact. Continue with confidence if you make a mistake. All actors stumble once in a while. Pause if you have to, but do not berate yourself, or stomp your foot or leave character. Do not break character.
  8. Pause for a beat if you have to go back. Go back and continue like nothing happened. Take a short beat in the characters final moment when the piece is finished. Then, drop character, return to neutral, and say "Thank you." Do not expect the auditors to applaud for you, if they do, make sure to smile and at least nod.
  9. Do not ever take it personally if you are not casted or called back. They may not have been looking for someone who looks like you, talks like you, or perhaps acts like you. There are some people who don't fit in certain parts. (Example: Orlando Bloom would not fit as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings.) No one can read a casting director's mind.
  10. Congratulate yourself on every audition you do, successful or not. It is the most difficult part of the job, and actors who do it, and who are good at it, work the most. The more you audition the closer you are to landing the part.
  11. Be polite and understanding to the auditors and act the part and like yourself as well! Wish your fellow auditioners good luck, but don't forget yourself. Make friends with the other actors and applaud your fellow actors

Tips

  • Auditioning is a skill completely separate from Acting. It requires a practice and discipline all its own. Audition every chance you get. Even if you don't think you will ever in a million years get the part. It will thicken your actor skin and give you the best kind of experience. Also, it is the only thing that will make you better at auditioning.
  • Don't be too hard on yourself. If you don't get the show, or the part you wanted, be a good sport.
  • Sometimes an actor who gives the audition of his/her life does not get the part while the actor who gives what he/she thinks is a terrible audition gets called back. It happens all the time.
  • If there is a piano accompanist or a CD payer available, use one instead of going A Capella, as they show off your voice more. Some places will not accept CD tracks, so be sure to check with the theater beforehand to see if it's okay. Also, make sure to use a piece from a musical; many casting directors will get exasperated at people who use pop songs for auditions.
  • If you can't be confident, just fake it till you make it. Just acting confident will make you more confident, even if you're nervous.
  • Remember it is perfectly normal to be nervous.
  • If you forget your lines, it is best not to stop and ask if you can go back. Pause if you have to, and then skip to the next part of the monologue that you remember. Do not apologize to the auditors or berate yourself in front of them. Remember not to break character. The best live theatre actors cover their mistakes and you may never notice. One got a fellow character's name wrong, and carried on, never pausing.
  • Right after the perfect actor for a role walking into their audition, the one thing a director or producer likes best is an actor who delivers a clear, clean, concise and professional audition.
  • The piece you pick should be a character you would actually have a chance being cast as. As a twenty year old female actor, showing the auditors that you can play an 80 year old man isn't going to help them in most cases. If you aren't sure, choose one and mention you would fit in any character the director thinks you fit into.
  • Show your emotions. It's very important to do so when acting a character, meaning, you need to step in the shoes of the character and act as if you’re really them. During my auditions, this was the most important thing of all and it was what the actors did to get decent parts. When the character has just received 1,000,000 dollars, how are they going to react? How will they react when another insults them? How will this specific character react to a friend's death? Just keep these reactions and character in mind even when the act itself is different.
  • If you want to be given the part of the actor, then you can't just go and show that yourself.

A characteristic disguise can do it, and show that you can be the character using your skills in acting.

  • Make sure you are ready for the audition. This will make you feel more confident as you know you are prepared.

Warnings

  • Remember don't apologize and say something degrading about yourself to the directors. Confidence in yourself, in your acting. If you've never acted before, mention it but don't say something like "I don't think I can do it. I've never done this before."
  • Don't lie on your resume or misrepresent yourself or your experience. In other words, don't say you've been in a play you weren't in, or say you took a class or a workshop you didn't take. The theater community is small, even in big cities, and the chances of you being discovered are very high. And you don't need to occupy your mind with that. What is on your resume isn't nearly as important as what you show the auditors. And don't forget...smile!

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