To Get Past a Bad Audition, find another one and nail it!

Bad auditions occur for every actor if he or she has enough of them. It can’t be helped. Just like people all people have good days and bad days. The first few years of acting, and on occasion even recently, I would go to an audition and afterward think about every moment from the time I opened my car door in the parking lot until I opened it to go home again.

When I have done a particularly good job, I find great satisfaction in the details of my performance as well the obvious flow of emotion, movement, etc. However, when I’m just not “on”, I feel haunted by the negative details that I think as an experienced actor I should not have exhibited. The other day I went on a commercial audition and ended up in a chair that required a great deal of cheating to the camera. About half way through, I sent an actor an improve gift that he dropped. We all have at one time or another. Then I tried to help him and ended up giving profile to the camera. Needless-to-say, there was no call-back on that one.

I thought I’d left the negative feelings from the audition behind me, but then I woke up the next morning having relived the mistakes multiple times during the night. It felt like Taye Diggs in his new television series where he relives the worst day of his life every episode. Fortunately for me, it was a 30 second audition and not nearly the worst of my life.


So, that day I determined to find another audition. Lucky me, I had a solid general audition in a casting direct workshop for Bonita Doneen who is currently working with April Webster Casting. I felt so much better. The audition and the dialogue between Bonita and us actors helped me remember that I’m a decent actor looking for the right fit. That’s what we are doing. We're looking for that next job, the next right fit!

So, the bottom line is to get past one audition, find another one and nail it! You'll be glad you did.