You did a great audition. You killed it. The casting office “pinned” you and called your agent to let them know you’re one of the finalists. They asked about any conflicts with the project’s scheduling. Your hopes are up. But then you don’t hear anything for a while. You get “unpinned.” You didn’t get the role. You ask yourself, “Why? What did I do wrong? What does the other guy have that I don’t?”
I’m here to tell you not to do that to yourself. Don’t go down the rabbit hole on this issue. I had this very thing happen last week on the film I’m casting. We had a final two actors and chose one. The actor who didn’t get the role had his agent email to ask why. My response was this: “Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason. When putting together a family, we have to think of all the moving pieces (the wife, the kids), and the overall vibe for the cast. Your guy was great. He did everything right. The actor we chose fit better with our existing family.”
In this business—and in life, actually—there are so many elements out of your control. You don’t look right with our lead. You look too much like the writer’s ex-wife. You’re too tall, too short…. You get the picture. The one thing you are in control of is your perspective. You get to choose how you’re going to respond to not getting the role. No one can take that from you.
READ: “Don’t Make This Major Audition Mistake”
Are you going to kick yourself time and time again after each audition because you didn’t do what you wanted to do? Or are you going to learn from it, specifically learn from what went wrong or what sent you off the rails? Are you going to continue to listen to that voice inside your head that says, “I’m not right for this. I always screw up in comedy. I’m no good,” or are you going to master that voice and banish it not only from the room, but from your head, forever? You have this choice. Stop thinking, I’ve got to get this role, and make it your mission to walk into every room being uber-prepared to do what you went there to do.
Make a subtle shift in your mindset so that your goal isn’t to get the job, but to consistently come into every audition, knock it out of the park, and build relationships for the future. You want casting directors to bring you back multiple times on all of their projects because we know we can trust you.
Remember that we’ve considered thousands for the role, narrowed it down to auditioning about 30 actors (sometimes hundreds, depending on the role), and if you were chosen as one of the final two, you’ve already won. I know it may not feel that way, but that’s where your perspective comes in.
Ready to put your perspective to the test? Check out our film audition listings!
Known for her work in film and television, producer and casting director Marci Liroff has worked with some of the most successful directors in the world such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Mark Waters, Christopher Nolan, Brad Bird, and Herbert Ross. While working at Fenton-Feinberg Casting, she, along with Mike Fenton, cast such films as “A Christmas Story,” “Poltergeist,” “E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and “Blade Runner.” After establishing her own casting company in 1983, Liroff cast “Footloose,” “St. Elmo's Fire,” “Pretty in Pink,” “The Iron Giant,” “The Spitfire Grill," “Untamed Heart," “Freaky Friday,” “Mean Girls,” “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” “Vampire Academy,” and the upcoming “The Sublime and Beautiful,” which she produced as well.
Liroff is also an acting coach, and her three-night Audition Bootcamp has empowered actors to view the audition process in a new light. The class spawned an online course available at Udemy entitled "How To Audition For Film and Television: Audition Bootcamp."
Visit Liroff online at marciliroff.com, follow her on Twitter @marciliroff and Facebook, and watch her advice videos on YouTube. You can also read her blog.
