Q: Is it good to be in character when you enter the audition room, or should you wait?—@aislinmmodroo*
When you audition, the people in the room want to meet you as well as see your work. If you come into the room in character, they miss the chance to meet you and see who it is they may be hiring. Remember, you’re not teleporting your work to the set. They’re hiring you and need to get a feel for who you are and how you might handle yourself if you get the job.
Plus, if you don’t get the job, they’ll never know who you were and won’t remember you—and they may never call you in again. Work is easily forgotten, but people are remembered, and every audition needs to be seen as an investment in getting back in front of that casting director again and again.
How to Audition Our business is like any other, and you are hired for three reasons: Do you have the skills to perform the job? Do you add value to the job? Do we like you?
If you enter in character, we don’t get the chance to like you! Casting and producers can tell a lot about an actor in a very short time. How you handle yourself in the room says a lot about you as a person and as a professional. Entering in character cheats them of the experience to get to know and like you, and they likely will move on to the next person pretty quickly.
You will also have given away the opportunity to show that you have the skill to move from the personal to the professional. When you’re on set, things can move very fast, and you will probably be asked to turn your emotions on and off numerous times. If they see that you have this ability in the room, they’ll be more likely to consider you to be set-ready and to hire you.
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This story originally appeared in the May 13 issue of Backstage Magazine. Subscribe here.
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