10 Things You Never Had to Worry About Before Zoom Auditions Were a Thing

If an actor mentioned a “Zoom audition” in March of 2020, odds are you would have thought they were talking about a really quick callback. Oh, how young we once were! Flash forward a year and now, not only is online casting becoming increasingly popular for projects big and small, but the format’s convenience—flexibility for actors, casting directors, and the creative team alike—has ensured that the video audition will surely outlast the pandemic.

So actors, love it or hate it: Zoom auditions are here to stay. And if we’ve learned one thing from our year of Zooming, it’s that for all the advantages the online world brings—nobody misses waiting in the hall for your audition slot!—there’s a new set of challenges once we hit that “join” button. As such, here are the 10 things you never even had to think about before Zoom auditions were a thing:

1. You’re muted
It’s like one of those nightmares where you open your mouth to scream and no sound comes out. But instead of waking up in your bed, relieved and no worse for the wear, you’ve just embarrassed yourself in front of the casting team and now you have to start over. 

2. A messy room
Of course you clean up your room before your date comes over, or on the weekend when you finally have free time. But now you have to worry about someone who might potentially be giving you a job seeing that pile of laundry that you just haven’t yet gotten to folding in the corner, or how much you’ve struggled to put on that fitted sheet.

3. You’re frozen
Picture it: You just nailed that audition, you’re feeling great, you hit all the beats and by the end it was as if you weren’t even in an audition room anymore; you were just acting. It was the best acting of your life, in fact. But wait. Your video cut out—they saw none of it. 

4. Zoom-bombing
It was a lot more common during the early pandemic days, but still, it could happen to you! And quite simply, nothing could be worse than being in the middle of a really great audition (or a bad one, honestly), and having a stranger’s face pop up on the screen. But hey, maybe the Zoom-bomber is looking to cast their next film?

5. Your roommates
Roommate struggles are nothing new. But nowadays, the guy in the bedroom next to yours who blasts Taylor Swift at all hours of the day isn’t just waking you up on Saturday morning, he’s finding his way into your audition, too. Sure, you can ask him to turn down “Folklore” for the millionth time this week, but maybe you can also use it to fuel that fire needed for an angrier role?

6. Lighting
Once upon a time actors showed up on set or to the theater, and they were lit by wonderful professionals. But somehow this year, in addition to surviving an unprecedented pandemic, we’ve all been expected to also become tech experts. Suddenly during your audition, the sun has set and you are hardly visible—time to invest in a ring light!

7. Audio
Vocal projection used to be an actor's best friend. But no matter how good your pipes are, it doesn’t count unless your microphone picks it up. And even then, nothing sounds truly incredible with what we’ve all come to identify as that “Zoom tin” echo. 

8. Midnight auditions
Of course it's become increasingly convenient to audition for things across the globe, but that also means you’re at the whim of the casting director’s time zone. We never thought we’d be auditioning for a project at 4 a.m. in New York City, but the show must go on!

9. A director criticizing your apartment  
We’re all trying our best, and inviting professionals into our homes. Please, directors, don’t be that guy.

10. Furry interruption
Pets are man’s best friend, and we all know they’ve been a lifesaver during this tough at-home year. But when Grover gets riled up because the mailman walks by during your Zoom callback and simply won’t stop barking, well, we may need to reconsider points A and B.