Dear Jackie:
I recently auditioned for what I thought was a low-budget independent SAG film. I drove all the way to the director's house -- which was about an hour from Los Angeles -- to read for a small role. After I did the sides, the director told me he thought I'd be great for another, bigger part in the film but that the role -- a stripper -- required nudity. There was another actor reading for the role too, and the director asked us to dance to this techno music and strip. Obviously the actor who plays the part would have to be naked in the film, so the director suggested we needed to show him we were comfortable with that. He acted like it was no big deal. The other actor did it, but I felt really funny about it so I ended up just sort of pretending to strip by taking off my coat. Was that the right thing to do?
After the dancing, the director told me he wanted to consider photographing me for a book of nude portraits he was working on. He showed me his pictures, and they were really good and very artistic, so I told him I'd think about it. He seemed pleased and then invited me to stick around and join him and some of the other actors that had auditioned for a beer. The actor that had stripped decided to stay, and there were a few other actors still hanging around, but I left, even though it probably would have been better to stay and network.
When I got home, I called SAG and found out that the project's SAG contract had expired a few years ago. A few days later, I got a call from the director offering me a callback, but when I asked about the film's SAG status, he got sort of irritated and told me it was nonunion. I checked the original casting notice and saw it requested submissions from SAG talent only but didn't say it was a SAG film.
Can nonunion films advertise for and cast SAG talent? If I took a role in the film, would I be breaking Global Rule One? Should I go to my callback or just say I can't because I got another job?
-- Ellen
via the Internet
Dear Ellen:
Wow. The director's house, the nudity, the photo book, the SAG contract, the beer -- there are just so many things to address here, I don't know where to start. Cue my melancholy sigh, bemoaning the overall yuckiness of your situation.
Let's begin at the beginning. Never, ever, ever audition for a project at a stranger's house. A director who asks talent to drive an hour outside of the city to read in his home, whether in the living room or "home office" or whatever he wants to call it, is not someone you should waste your time dealing with. It would have cost this guy less than a hundred bucks to rent a theatre or rehearsal studio for a day. You need to ask yourself why he wouldn't take that small, easy step toward legitimacy.
Auditioning at someone's home is dangerous, foolhardy, and at best a waste of time because anyone who can't manage to rent a rehearsal studio for an audition is not likely to be capable of producing a film. I can think of about two exceptions to this rule: 1) the director is a close friend of yours, or 2) an eccentric A-list director invites you, your agent, your publicist, your manager, and your lawyer to his mansion to read.
Reputable casting sites such as BackStage.com require producers and casting directors to indicate in the casting notice whether a role requires nudity. Calling an actor in for a non-nudity role and then suggesting he or she read for a role that requires nudity reeks of bait and switch. Yes, I know there are times when casting personnel realize that an actor would be good for a role he or she wasn't originally called in for, but when nudity is involved, such a situation should be broached with tact and sensitivity. Suggesting an actor strip on the spur of the moment is unprofessional.
SAG rules stipulate that actors can never be required to remove their clothing at auditions, although they are permitted to undress to the bare minimum of a G-string and pasties if they're comfortable with that. Even so, why would such a reveal be necessary in the beginning of the casting process? Such a delicate issue should at the very least be explained and agreed upon before a callback. It is always a "big deal."
What would you do if some guy on the street approached you and asked you to strip? Slap him? Walk away fast? Just because the request comes from a director doesn't mean you should cross your personal and professional boundaries. If he is working on a photography book of nudes, he should do a specific casting call for models for that project. He should not try to recruit actors angling for roles in a live-action project. I am truly sorry the other actor at your audition took her clothes off and danced for this creep.
You were right to call SAG to verify the guild status of this project. It's not a shock that the project is nonunion, and it's even less surprising that the director was irked at your look into its status. To answer your question, nonunion projects cannot advertise for or use SAG talent. Appearing in any nonunion project does violate Global Rule One. SAG was created partly to keep you from doing projects like this one, in which your craft and possibly your person could be misused. While it's sometimes hard to know where to draw our own professional lines, the guild's mission is to standardize otherwise messy situations for our benefit. Sometimes, ironically, we need protection from ourselves.
Don't think for one more minute about attending a callback for this director's project. Don't make excuses about another job. Just decline. If he presses you for a reason or tries to convince you to come back out to his place, take that as proof of his lack of merit. How many legitimate casting people beg actors to return?
As for "sticking around for a beer," I can hardly bear it. The obvious, cheesy, frightening whole of it makes me shudder. Casting calls are not social events. No matter how nice the director or producer seems, no matter how comfy he or she makes you feel or how much you could use a drink, keep your priorities straight. Your safety should outweigh flimsy excuses for networking every time.
Don't think it's about safety? Google "Kristine Johnson murder victim" to read about the aspiring Los Angeles actor who was killed in 2003 after being lured to a fake audition.
Jackie Apodaca can be reached at TheWorkingActor@gmail.com.