Whether you've taken a few commercial classes or graduated from Juilliard, plenty of lessons probably weren't in your curriculum. I asked a few actor friends to expound on the subject.
Commercial
- Advice
- Advice
If you've never experienced a waiting room jam-packed with children being coached by mom (or dad) for their commercial audition, you've missed a riveting sociological process.
- Advice
When I moved to the big city, it took me a few years to figure out that my theater training was not useful for acting in commercials.
- Advice
How do you handle embarrassing, insulting, or just plain odd direction? Do you do it, however unlikely the commercial will be shot that way? Or do you think, "I'm not playing along with this crap!" and refuse?
- Advice
What actors fail to understand is how vital it is for them to read the room. An actor should be able to tell when the session director is about to have a breakdown.
- Advice
Starting with the slate, keep it straightforward and simple. That's the advice of Kevin Smith of Backyard Productions in Venice, Calif., about commercial callbacks.
- Advice
"I feel that 60 to 70 percent of the actors who audition for commercials have no idea what to do in the audition room."
- Advice
At commercial auditions, it's common to be asked to read a part several times. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be ready to switch it up on your own when given the opportunity to read again.
- Advice
What happens when you feel no chemistry with the person who's supposed to be your loving spouse or you can't stand the actor who's playing your best friend?
- Advice
5 Hip-Pocket Tricks for a Successful Commercial Audition
When you have only 30 to 60 seconds at a commercial audition, you really need what some hip-pocket tricks: easy, quick, powerful tools to create excitement, leave a memory, or paint a picture in the minds of the "they" who could grant you a gig.
