"You should own it," says casting director G. Charles Wright, whose credits include "That '70s Show" and "The Middle." "Most actors, because they have stage experience, when they mess up a line, they just keep going because that's what you would do on the stage. But [you should] really take a second and go back a line and say, 'Let me take that back.' That's part of being present."
Actor Kurt Long, who has appeared on "Bones" and "How I Met Your Mother," notes that he usually uses this approach, because "most [casting directors] are very critical about the word and what's been written down there for the character." That said, he acknowledges that stopping and taking the read back isn't guaranteed to work out in your favor. "That's taking a risk, too, because you never know which casting directors are going to say, 'No, we're done,' and move on," he says. "It's kind of about knowing your audience. Some casting directors will say, 'Wow, he couldn't just power through and make it his own; he wasn't in the moment.' And some will say, 'Wow, he screwed up a line and didn't stop and fix it.' "
If you're at the beginning of the read, it's easier to ask for another shot. If you're in the middle or near the end, however, you may have to just keep going. "If you're midway through, it's a lot tougher, especially if you're building something and you feel really good about the rest of what you've delivered," says Long. "You might just have to go with the mistake. You have to have a certain confidence about it. It'll make you crazy if you keep second-guessing every little thing."
Actor Joan Benedict Steiger ("The Flying Dutchman," "General Hospital") adds that if you stick out the flubbed read, you can acknowledge it at the end. "When you're finished, just say, 'I fluffed that line,' " she says. "Usually it doesn't make any difference, because if it's near the end, you've probably already accomplished your purpose."
However you choose to handle a slip-up, make sure you do it with humor and grace rather than falling apart. A little charm goes a long way. Actor John Richard Petersen ("Little Britain USA") remembers an audition for the musical "All Shook Up" at which he performed a song he'd done many times before. "I didn't go over it in the car as I usually do; I figured I had it down well enough I didn't need to," he says. "Right in the middle of my 16 bars, I went up on lyrics—they were gone. Next thing I know, gibberish is coming out of my mouth until the lyrics came back."
Rather than getting upset, Petersen "smiled, laughed, and said, 'Wow, that's a first!' or something else that was amusing." He was ultimately cast in the project.
Bigger Blunders
What if your mistake is on a larger scale? Say you get your sides mixed up and prepare for the wrong role—or worse, the wrong project altogether. "The actor needs to call their agent and the two of them need to put their heads together to creatively try and [schedule] a second, different time if they can," says CD Beth Holmes, who has worked on spots for Burger King and Polaroid. "But I have to be truthful: Really, really good actors can come into a waiting room, realize their mistake, take 10 minutes to go to the bathroom, and usually pull off a pretty good audition."
Wright agrees: As an actor, you should be able to think on your feet and quickly make the change. "You might ask if you could just take a couple more minutes in the hall to go over it," he says. "Sometimes an actor may find that they do their best work in a high-pressure situation with their back up against the wall like that. One of the things I drill into actors' heads is the more you [audition], the better you get at it. When you get material constantly, you get faster at working that material out, breaking it down quicker. You have to get fast at doing that."
And there are plenty of mistakes you can avoid entirely. For instance, when it comes to taking adjustments during the audition, give it your all and don't argue. "An audition is a practice for being on the set, and time is money," says Holmes. "So they're going to hire somebody who can make an adjustment fast and not waste their time, and that's the professional actor."
Still, notes Steiger, if you feel like you need a little time to think about it and adjust your view of the part, ask for that. "Say, 'Can I think about that for a second?' and then go ahead and try it," she says. "Don't just jump right in; have some thought about the part and what you're doing, always."
Long says he tries to prep for adjustments ahead of time by coming in with a few different interpretations of what he's reading. "You should be prepared when you go in the room, depending on what kind of time you've been given for the audition—you should be ready to make those adjustments anyway," he says. "It shouldn't be too difficult if you're professional about it and are prepared."
Just remember: The worst thing you can do is sabotage yourself by overthinking every last detail and potential mishap. Mistakes happen, but don't psych yourself out before you even get in the room. "There should not be so much importance put on messing up," says Holmes. "If an actor understands the script, there is no mess-up; they get the story across. Focusing on messing up distracts from a good performance."