Bitter Bloggings from an Optimistic Actress: Talent and Casting
"I'm a skilled professional actor. Whether or not I've any talent is beside the point."
~ Michael Caine
As actors, we all know the process of being hired. It's is a long process for both performer and casting director that can take a few hours, when you are very lucky, or days, weeks, even months to cast a simple project and in the end, someone with no actual ability can get the role.
Talent won't get you in the door. In fact, in this business, especially film, talent can be taught. What will get your foot in the door? Chaos theory. The best thing you can do is keep throwing your foot into doorways until you catch someone off guard. It's all down to someone else thinking you've got that something. Does anyone realize how ridiculous that is? There is something that we are supposed to have and another human, or group of humans, is there to analyze if we have "it." Can anyone define the "it?" Nope. Talent is only there to keep you in a better position to stay in the room once you get in there in the first place. And if someone else has more of the "it" than you. All your talent will be passed over with you.
Let's be honest. The casting process is no picnic for the CD. They have to weed through hundreds of people who look exactly alike to find one person to fit a single role. Have you looked at actors recently? I sat in an audition and five girls wearing the same outfit and hairstyle walked in. I seriously thought the same person was walking out, changing their t-shirt to another color and walking back in. They are trying to streamline the process in such a way to make it easier for everyone. They want you to get the part. It makes their life so much easier. They want to say, You! You are perfect! I can stop searching and work on another project!
I can't tell you how often I have had friends of mine in the business call me in for an audition. I clear my schedule and happily make time. I love the script and want so badly to be a part of the project. Yet, I find myself, hours or weeks later, no closer to my goal of joining the ranks of said film. Weeks pass by and I get a call from the CD to go to lunch and hear these words; she was horrible. Nothing breaks my heart more than those words.
In a way, a script is like someone you are in love with. Truly and deeply. You will always be sad and a little broken if you don't get the part. Yet, you want what is best for the project.
The comment on the performance is always followed by, they should have hired you. Well obviously if you weren't getting what you wanted out of her then she shouldn't have been hired in the first place and there are tons of capable actresses out there who could have done better.
A director friend told me, I wish these actors would just take acting classes and stop taking auditioning classes. Auditioning classes are great. However, a good actual acting class will break an auditioning class every time. Why? Auditioning classes don't teach you to act. They teach you how to audition. I took an audition class in college where the first three classes were about slating and introductions. We perfected monologues by choosing certain moments and words for inflections. Was it acting? Not really. The acting came from other classes.
Normally people will say, well you weren't right for the part. As an actor I can't wholly believe in this concept. I can understand that I wasn't the type if I was aiming to play Othello. To me, as often as they tell me otherwise, a true actor is typeless. But I do my best to offer myself to those parts I seem most suited for. To type yourself is to wrap what you are capable of in a pretty package, just like the other pretty packages out there. Yes, know your limitations, but don't overlook those parts that allow you to stretch yourself as an actor. Who knows, you might get lucky.
Casting, when you break it down, is one of the most unfair systems in the business today. The casting process, like life, can be cruel to actor and casting director alike. Why? Because it looks at acting as a business.
But it is a business, you say! We can argue art versus economics for hours, but lets look at an all too familiar topic, starting with everyone's favorite part of the casting process. Step one as we, the actors, know it.
1) The casting call. The casting director may or may not have read the script. They may be given a script and read the whole thing. They may just have a character break down. The CD may be busy, or, in some cases it happens, lazy. They may give it to their assistant to read. They may have been given parameters. Name only? (By the way if anyone can define name talent please let me know) SAG-Only. No brunettes. But the director has told them here is a project and it is their job to call out to the talent. No matter how they go about it, it is imperative they find the right person. So they write an article, send out posts, and open the flood gates. They don't know how many submissions they will get. Maybe ten, maybe ten thousand. We surf these websites with reckless abandon in search of the great part. That one written ticket to acting glory. We submit for everything. Need female late 20's. I look late 20's. Need female 30's. I am 30. Need spokesperson, model, vampire lover, juicer, sex kitten. We find it all and submit. Unless they are asking for someone who isn't my gender, color, within ten years of my age, or they are asking for an amputee, I will submit. I kid you not, this morning alone, I submitted for the director of an art gallery, an insurance host, a wife, a girlfriend, a college student, a vampire hunter, and two early 20's girls who are in the middle of the apocalypse fighting some sort of zombie outbreak.
2) Head shots. Yes, your headshot is the second step you as an actor take to get yourself a job. If getting the part is the destination, your headshot is the money in your pocket for the travel. Why don't I mention resumes yet? Because the first thing the CD will look at is your headshot. In my experience, a CD won't even look at your resume until they have weeded through headshots. Yes. No. Maybe. These are the piles you are divided into. So guess what? You may, officially, be the most talented actor on the face of the planet. Your performance of this role, were it given to you, would be Oscar worthy, without a doubt. The famous in Hollywood would tremble at your awesome actoring skills and beg for advice and give you dirty looks. But, if the CD doesn't think the director will like you, you won't get a second glance. Maybe they are looking for a name. You aren't a name actor, sorry. You may be the most talented person in the pile, but if they would prefer someone with green eyes and yours are brown, you are going in the no or maybe pile. They may have talked to the director and he has decided they need a heavier girl and you are supermodel thin. Well, talent or not, you have now lost your shot. Unfair right? They didn't mention these parameters on the casting notice? Too bad. So much of your casting
depends on if you look the part. I kid you not, several friends of mine have gotten parts based entirely on their headshot. I was auditioning for a theater and found out later that the second the director saw my headshot they chose me for the part. A lead role in a huge company and they gave me the part before I opened my mouth. Wow, she looks just like I pictured the character. I did an audition video for a friend from a website, which had the sides and how to submit on the site, and they were immediately cast in the part they wanted. I kid you not they sent in the info and were given the part thirty minutes later. They didn't even send in their resume. We looked up on YouTube and the video had been watched three times and a total of fifteen seconds of the film had been watched, there was a headshot at the beginning, for five seconds, as well as a ten second slate. Mathematically, the audition was never watched. Your headshot is just that important.
3) YES,the CD flipped the headshot over or opened the other file. Congratulations. You, the actor making their way to gig town, have pulled the money from your pocket to count your change. The CD liked your look. Congrats. They think the director will like you. Uber congrats. Or maybe they only found two or three definite candidates and you were lucky enough to be bumped from maybe to yes. Still, congratulations. Now they will look at your resume and reel. Honestly, in many cases the reel and resume are interchangeable. Some folks look at the resume and will make a choice based on that whether or not to call you in. Sometimes it is a little of both resume and reel. But here is hoping you have that certain something that will wow the crowd. I like variety. The more variety the better. But a casting director may want to see a definite type. Either way, your resume and reel need to show a range of emotion at least. Really, the first three steps can actually rule out those of talent. Why, because the CD is basing their choice on looks and the choice of previous CDs who have made a similar choice a similar way. There are people I have worked with of such talent, they should never be in want of a professional lead acting job. And yet, now, they are teaching acting. Why? Because, really, there is nothing else to do. They never quite found their niche, but they shouldn't have had to. That kind of brilliance knows no bounds.
4) Auditions. Now is the first time you get to show what you can do. They have set the day and you are on your way to the audition. You as the actor are prepped and ready to go. You walk in with a big smile, you are excited to be there. You sit for an eternity with other actors who have been here for several hours. When your name is called you take a breath and enter. Your audition is brief. Sometimes so fast it makes you wonder if you were there at all after you drove five hours. Did the CD notice you? Will you get a callback? They seemed to like you. They asked you to read three times and commented on how well you take direction. You got the part right? I have lost parts simply due to my six foot stature. You hope if it was something to do with your acting that they will tell your agent. Depending on how involved the director wants to be it may no longer be the CD's decision. Sometimes at this point the director takes over, watched the auditions, and calls back who he wants. Sometimes it is the casting director's decision to call back the actors who they thought were most suited for the director. Sometimes the director puts it entirely in the CD's capable hands.
5) Waiting. Well, actors do this step. Actors wait and hope. Or try to forget. For CD's this is think time. Would so and so pair well with so and so? Would actor A outshine actor B? Actor B can't have that. This is the time for brains and thinking. Pairing people in this business can be volatile. It is arduous. Will the actor fit the part? Will they work well with others? CDs prep for step 6.
6) Callbacks. YAY! You, the actor, got a callback. You prep some more and audition. The CD waits, hoping that the powers that be will love one of the few people they called in.
7)CASTING!
Really, in any of the previous steps you could take out the talent and someone with a modicum of ability to speak conversationally could just as easily get a part if they looked more the part. Just part of how this works.
A casting horror story. Or, why actors fear the CD.
A close friend of mine was working for a CD. They were having auditions for a particular part, the lead in a short film. My friend was keeping notes for the director. After seeing the same girl, or the same type of girl, for five hours, the whole process was getting tiresome. Honestly, the part called for someone with a little less breast and a little more brain, but the same brunette with the same breasts and the same short skirt kept walking in over and over and saying the same lines the same way.
When all hope seemed lost, a miracle. Had the playwright brought this girl in? She was verbatim what the script called for from head to toe. She read with gusto. She was talented. She even dressed how the character dressed. I don't know how to better describe how perfect she was, on paper, for this part.
The CD had her read twice, with direction in between. My friend was in tears at the end. They thanked the woman and she left.
The door closed and my dear friend was waiting to hear the praise. No, we don't need to see anyone else. Tell that girl to come back in. The part is hers. But this never came. Instead they talked for a few moments about her physical appearance, laughed, and went on to the next audition.
In steps a perfect feminine specimen. The women before were hot, but this girl was an eleven. She had perfect breasts, that you could see in their minute anatomical entirety, under her shirt. I use the term shirt loosely. She wore a micro-mini skirt and heels to make her legs appear longer than they already did. The auditioner bent over at one point and my friend found out she wasn't wearing underwear of any kind, as did every other male in the room. With the inflection of Ben Stein and the gusto of a wet mop, she worked her way through this audition. From the story, to call it bad acting would be an insult to bad actors and hacks everywhere. Once again, she read twice. Once again, they thanked her profusely.
This time, as the door closed, my friend waited for the same jibes. I thought she was great. Yeah, call her back in. She was perfect. I saw it and felt it.
So, any guesses as to who got the part?
The film never went anywhere. But it was a painful reminder that, yes, this does happen.
~ Michael Caine
As actors, we all know the process of being hired. It's is a long process for both performer and casting director that can take a few hours, when you are very lucky, or days, weeks, even months to cast a simple project and in the end, someone with no actual ability can get the role.
Talent won't get you in the door. In fact, in this business, especially film, talent can be taught. What will get your foot in the door? Chaos theory. The best thing you can do is keep throwing your foot into doorways until you catch someone off guard. It's all down to someone else thinking you've got that something. Does anyone realize how ridiculous that is? There is something that we are supposed to have and another human, or group of humans, is there to analyze if we have "it." Can anyone define the "it?" Nope. Talent is only there to keep you in a better position to stay in the room once you get in there in the first place. And if someone else has more of the "it" than you. All your talent will be passed over with you.
Let's be honest. The casting process is no picnic for the CD. They have to weed through hundreds of people who look exactly alike to find one person to fit a single role. Have you looked at actors recently? I sat in an audition and five girls wearing the same outfit and hairstyle walked in. I seriously thought the same person was walking out, changing their t-shirt to another color and walking back in. They are trying to streamline the process in such a way to make it easier for everyone. They want you to get the part. It makes their life so much easier. They want to say, You! You are perfect! I can stop searching and work on another project!
I can't tell you how often I have had friends of mine in the business call me in for an audition. I clear my schedule and happily make time. I love the script and want so badly to be a part of the project. Yet, I find myself, hours or weeks later, no closer to my goal of joining the ranks of said film. Weeks pass by and I get a call from the CD to go to lunch and hear these words; she was horrible. Nothing breaks my heart more than those words.
In a way, a script is like someone you are in love with. Truly and deeply. You will always be sad and a little broken if you don't get the part. Yet, you want what is best for the project.
The comment on the performance is always followed by, they should have hired you. Well obviously if you weren't getting what you wanted out of her then she shouldn't have been hired in the first place and there are tons of capable actresses out there who could have done better.
A director friend told me, I wish these actors would just take acting classes and stop taking auditioning classes. Auditioning classes are great. However, a good actual acting class will break an auditioning class every time. Why? Auditioning classes don't teach you to act. They teach you how to audition. I took an audition class in college where the first three classes were about slating and introductions. We perfected monologues by choosing certain moments and words for inflections. Was it acting? Not really. The acting came from other classes.
Normally people will say, well you weren't right for the part. As an actor I can't wholly believe in this concept. I can understand that I wasn't the type if I was aiming to play Othello. To me, as often as they tell me otherwise, a true actor is typeless. But I do my best to offer myself to those parts I seem most suited for. To type yourself is to wrap what you are capable of in a pretty package, just like the other pretty packages out there. Yes, know your limitations, but don't overlook those parts that allow you to stretch yourself as an actor. Who knows, you might get lucky.
Casting, when you break it down, is one of the most unfair systems in the business today. The casting process, like life, can be cruel to actor and casting director alike. Why? Because it looks at acting as a business.
But it is a business, you say! We can argue art versus economics for hours, but lets look at an all too familiar topic, starting with everyone's favorite part of the casting process. Step one as we, the actors, know it.
1) The casting call. The casting director may or may not have read the script. They may be given a script and read the whole thing. They may just have a character break down. The CD may be busy, or, in some cases it happens, lazy. They may give it to their assistant to read. They may have been given parameters. Name only? (By the way if anyone can define name talent please let me know) SAG-Only. No brunettes. But the director has told them here is a project and it is their job to call out to the talent. No matter how they go about it, it is imperative they find the right person. So they write an article, send out posts, and open the flood gates. They don't know how many submissions they will get. Maybe ten, maybe ten thousand. We surf these websites with reckless abandon in search of the great part. That one written ticket to acting glory. We submit for everything. Need female late 20's. I look late 20's. Need female 30's. I am 30. Need spokesperson, model, vampire lover, juicer, sex kitten. We find it all and submit. Unless they are asking for someone who isn't my gender, color, within ten years of my age, or they are asking for an amputee, I will submit. I kid you not, this morning alone, I submitted for the director of an art gallery, an insurance host, a wife, a girlfriend, a college student, a vampire hunter, and two early 20's girls who are in the middle of the apocalypse fighting some sort of zombie outbreak.
depends on if you look the part. I kid you not, several friends of mine have gotten parts based entirely on their headshot. I was auditioning for a theater and found out later that the second the director saw my headshot they chose me for the part. A lead role in a huge company and they gave me the part before I opened my mouth. Wow, she looks just like I pictured the character. I did an audition video for a friend from a website, which had the sides and how to submit on the site, and they were immediately cast in the part they wanted. I kid you not they sent in the info and were given the part thirty minutes later. They didn't even send in their resume. We looked up on YouTube and the video had been watched three times and a total of fifteen seconds of the film had been watched, there was a headshot at the beginning, for five seconds, as well as a ten second slate. Mathematically, the audition was never watched. Your headshot is just that important.
3) YES,the CD flipped the headshot over or opened the other file. Congratulations. You, the actor making their way to gig town, have pulled the money from your pocket to count your change. The CD liked your look. Congrats. They think the director will like you. Uber congrats. Or maybe they only found two or three definite candidates and you were lucky enough to be bumped from maybe to yes. Still, congratulations. Now they will look at your resume and reel. Honestly, in many cases the reel and resume are interchangeable. Some folks look at the resume and will make a choice based on that whether or not to call you in. Sometimes it is a little of both resume and reel. But here is hoping you have that certain something that will wow the crowd. I like variety. The more variety the better. But a casting director may want to see a definite type. Either way, your resume and reel need to show a range of emotion at least. Really, the first three steps can actually rule out those of talent. Why, because the CD is basing their choice on looks and the choice of previous CDs who have made a similar choice a similar way. There are people I have worked with of such talent, they should never be in want of a professional lead acting job. And yet, now, they are teaching acting. Why? Because, really, there is nothing else to do. They never quite found their niche, but they shouldn't have had to. That kind of brilliance knows no bounds.
4) Auditions. Now is the first time you get to show what you can do. They have set the day and you are on your way to the audition. You as the actor are prepped and ready to go. You walk in with a big smile, you are excited to be there. You sit for an eternity with other actors who have been here for several hours. When your name is called you take a breath and enter. Your audition is brief. Sometimes so fast it makes you wonder if you were there at all after you drove five hours. Did the CD notice you? Will you get a callback? They seemed to like you. They asked you to read three times and commented on how well you take direction. You got the part right? I have lost parts simply due to my six foot stature. You hope if it was something to do with your acting that they will tell your agent. Depending on how involved the director wants to be it may no longer be the CD's decision. Sometimes at this point the director takes over, watched the auditions, and calls back who he wants. Sometimes it is the casting director's decision to call back the actors who they thought were most suited for the director. Sometimes the director puts it entirely in the CD's capable hands.
5) Waiting. Well, actors do this step. Actors wait and hope. Or try to forget. For CD's this is think time. Would so and so pair well with so and so? Would actor A outshine actor B? Actor B can't have that. This is the time for brains and thinking. Pairing people in this business can be volatile. It is arduous. Will the actor fit the part? Will they work well with others? CDs prep for step 6.
6) Callbacks. YAY! You, the actor, got a callback. You prep some more and audition. The CD waits, hoping that the powers that be will love one of the few people they called in.
7)CASTING!
Really, in any of the previous steps you could take out the talent and someone with a modicum of ability to speak conversationally could just as easily get a part if they looked more the part. Just part of how this works.
A casting horror story. Or, why actors fear the CD.
A close friend of mine was working for a CD. They were having auditions for a particular part, the lead in a short film. My friend was keeping notes for the director. After seeing the same girl, or the same type of girl, for five hours, the whole process was getting tiresome. Honestly, the part called for someone with a little less breast and a little more brain, but the same brunette with the same breasts and the same short skirt kept walking in over and over and saying the same lines the same way.
When all hope seemed lost, a miracle. Had the playwright brought this girl in? She was verbatim what the script called for from head to toe. She read with gusto. She was talented. She even dressed how the character dressed. I don't know how to better describe how perfect she was, on paper, for this part.
The CD had her read twice, with direction in between. My friend was in tears at the end. They thanked the woman and she left.
The door closed and my dear friend was waiting to hear the praise. No, we don't need to see anyone else. Tell that girl to come back in. The part is hers. But this never came. Instead they talked for a few moments about her physical appearance, laughed, and went on to the next audition.
In steps a perfect feminine specimen. The women before were hot, but this girl was an eleven. She had perfect breasts, that you could see in their minute anatomical entirety, under her shirt. I use the term shirt loosely. She wore a micro-mini skirt and heels to make her legs appear longer than they already did. The auditioner bent over at one point and my friend found out she wasn't wearing underwear of any kind, as did every other male in the room. With the inflection of Ben Stein and the gusto of a wet mop, she worked her way through this audition. From the story, to call it bad acting would be an insult to bad actors and hacks everywhere. Once again, she read twice. Once again, they thanked her profusely.
This time, as the door closed, my friend waited for the same jibes. I thought she was great. Yeah, call her back in. She was perfect. I saw it and felt it.
So, any guesses as to who got the part?
The film never went anywhere. But it was a painful reminder that, yes, this does happen.
Comments
Post a Comment