Gaaaaah!

i know exactly what you mean.

but sometimes its best just to carry on, like you did. even if it didn't work as good the second time.

ive watched some taped auditions back, and little hiccups are barely noticeable, but what is noticeable is when the actor breaks the scene to talk to the director.

i always think it spoils the audition when the actor stops and asks to start again, i know sometimes it cant be avoided. but i always get paranoid that it comes across as Pam Doove.

lets hope that the director from your audition see's past the small mistake and gives you a chance, sometimes at an audition the lines aren't that important- its the look and sound of the actor saying them.

• 15 years ago
• 1

ps... Pam Doove at her finest (for those who don't know)


http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=3668876

at least your audition wasn't this bad! I think I have had them this bad though... :-( ha ahaa

• 15 years ago
• 2

Everyone gets nervous and gets worked up sometimes. We are only human! Try not to dwell on it too much. I know it's hard but try to put it out of your mind and focus on the next casting!Remember there is nothing wrong with asking to do it again. I have done that a few times stating it didn't come out how I had intended it to. And not once have I come across a casting director/director that minded. Chin up xx

• 15 years ago
• 3

I thought I screwed up a recent audition. Got the email confirming my casting shortly afterwards! The performance is not the only thing a director will consider in their final decision, so take heart and fingers crossed!
I do get very nervous at auditions I really want to do well in, so I know how you feel!

• 15 years ago
• 4

p.s As Nathan quite rightly states not during the scene. Only ask after you have finished reading the scene to do it again if you want to. Better to carry on regardless (as you did) and then ask to have another go. Now go make a nice cuppa tea and maybe some biscuits to dunk in it! Preferably with chocolate ;o)

• 15 years ago
• 5

phwoor yeah! chocolate.... the best remedy for any acting upset! x

• 15 years ago
• 6

Chocolate it is - I have a mountain of the stuff from my feeder of a mother. Mini Egg anyone? Thanks guys. If, miracle of miracles, I hear back from them, I shall let you know! x

• 15 years ago
• 7

Lindsey - I've been in this business over 45 years, and anyone telling you that they are not nervous at a Casting, is definitely someone to be ignored. So ..... working on the fact that nerves will come into play, use that knowledge, be forearmed. At the end of the scene, as calmly as you can, look the Director in the eye and say " That was an utter load of crap - I'm better than that, I'm doing it again ". Psychologically you have gained the upper hand by not asking " can I do it again ". It also shows him that you are confident of your talent and, he will be looking at you with fresh eyes. That alone will make you stand out from the others.
On a personal basis, I always say a line from Rabbie Burns to myself ... Rank is but a sovereign stamp, a man's a man for aw that. In other words, he might well be the man who has the power to pay your next months council tax, but he still has to go for a pee.
But, rest assured, it don't get any better Girl. Olivier was in the wings with a close friend of mine, about to make their entrance. He turned to my colleague and said " God, there just has to be a better way to earn a living"
.... now, doesn't that tell you something ???.

• 15 years ago
• 8

Wise words, Alan.
I had a mare not so long ago where I had to learn a speech from the play I was auditioning for. So I go for the longest, most complicated speech in it! Shakespeare as well!
Never dried in an audition before and I really felt like saying- "I'll get me coat..."

• 15 years ago
• 9

I rarely bother to learn lines for an audition. I just read from the script. If they like the look of you and the sound of you they will pick you.

• 15 years ago
• 10

Had to learn bot parts of a 2 hander a couple of weeks ago, got to the audition it was a one to one with the producer - forgot the lot. In all my years an audition has never gone so bad, I stood up to leave and said, "well that was absolute rubbish" to which the producer said, dont worry it's all about what you look like and you're the type where looking for. which begs the question, why bother learning the script then?

• 15 years ago
• 11

I got a recall from an agent a few weeks ago, (I still haven't got one at the moment ooops!) and having done allright infront of one gang I found I was infront of another completely different gang, I confused myself by thinking "do I do the new bits I've learned?" as I thought "recall? so need to do something different" or "do I do the usual bits as this lot haven't seen them" so I cocked up my second speech, they were very polite, especially in the rejection letter oops.
We all cock up the lines every now and again.....don't we?

• 15 years ago
• 12

Yes we do! Nice to know that we're not alone!
What I've learnt is that unless I know the piece inside out and back to front I will not be at my best. I will always take the script in with me if I'm not 100% confident in future. They will get a much better idea of what I can do.
If they don't like it, then maybe they just want people who are quick at learning lines. (I'd be rubbish on Eastenders then!)
It's OK in a commercials casting to learn the four or five lines in 20 minutes but a whole speech? Give me a fortnight maybe, or two days solid without having to think about work or the various other things that get in the way of being an actor...
Oh it would be so nice if the only thing in my life was acting- imagine...the workshops, the daily warm-ups, reading a play in the day, seeing a play in the evening, and then actual acting work- I could spend all day musing over my character.
One day....

• 15 years ago
• 13

You're absolutely right, Sharon, that is a lesson well and truly learnt! From now on, if I need to even think about remembering the lines, I'll take the script up with me. I don't know where I got the idea from that they'll be impressed by my having learnt it - I had three days notice, and they hadn't asked me to learn it. I did that all by myself. I guess I fugure that with the script in my hand, I can't be fully in character, but then if Im desperately scanning my brain for the words, I cant be in character either! I'll put it down to experience.

• 15 years ago
• 14

I must admit that it is a rarity that I am asked to read. They might, occasionally throw me a script and ask me to read a certain speech, but it is YOU they are looking at, you and your body language. The way you handle yourself in the preamble. As for LEARNING lines !!! do me a favour Girls, and yourselves .. that's what rehearsals are for. Make this traumatic occasion as easy on the nerves as possible. And, on the way home in the car,bus,train, and your mind goes back over the interview, as we all do, think " F...k 'em, where's the next job ".

• 15 years ago
• 15

Thanks for the advice Allan just goes to show you're never too old to learn (not lines). Does anyone else find though that if something is well written then it's much easier to learn anyway? if something doesn't flow then it's a bugger to learn or is that just me? Going back to my blunder, that's the first time I've ever had to learn a script for an audition, and thinking about it now, surely its better to hear someone read cold?

• 15 years ago
• 16

I suppose there's a lot of dyslexic actors out there. But in my experience, those actors will always ask for the script in advance and most CDs are cool with that.
Audition pieces are still the best shop window when it comes to casting in my opinion. Occasionally when I'm on the other side of the desk I like to see an audition piece and also something read from the script. If an actor learns the script fine, but if they read from it instead I wouldn't think any less of them, especially if they're good!

• 15 years ago
• 17

I agree for theatre or to see agent then yes it need to be learnt and I have some pieces that I can call on that I really love and suit me well, but for telly and corporate I dont see the point and the one I went for was a corporate and I was told I had to learn the script and both parts? - such a waste of effort really.

• 15 years ago
• 18

Moment's care here: Recent audition; speech (annoyingly enough) I've been using for two years to good effect. Clanger duly dropped. Second speech, as required, (new one, with mental cursing about being complacent). Again, shelled it.

Apologised as blithely as I could manage. from the director: "Bloody 'ell mate, we only said prepare, not learn. We just want to know what you think you're right for, and see if we agree. It's the ones who just don't bother we can't stand"

Job.

I would say, plough on, and have the script for safety. Any director worth working for knows how hard it is.

The complete no-no, I guess, is donking the script at one of the panel and asking them to be on book. They want to watch you, not sit head bowed counting paraphrases.

I very much doubt the original poster (sorry, can't see the thread while typing)has much to reproach herself with. Having just sat in on some auditions, you would not believe what comes through the door, eben these days. The prize this time went to the gent who turned up apparently drunk, and had lost the script 'somehow'.

Per ardua ad......

• 14 years ago
• 19

This is always a contentious issue. By and large, I would say that it all depends on the situation as to whether you should learn your lines or not. The default reasoning to me is;

a) If you are being asked to perform your own monologues, then they must be learnt ahead of time, and well - there is nothing less convincing for a panel to see than you being unable to get through your OWN choice of speech. On the other hand, they may well not know all the ins and outs of that precise piece in the way they would know a speech they have written/are specifically casting for, so there is leeway for you to be imprecise if you have to be - you must just always be thinking ahead if you dry.

b) If it's a theatre audition, and you have been presented with a large number of script excerpts, then I think it is valid to argue that you can't possibly learn all the material convincingly ahead of time. You must be familiar with it, and work as far as possible off the page, but any good theatre practitioner will NOT be expecting a finished performance which can only come in rehearsals as Allan says.

c) If it is a script for screen, you are, however, in a different situation - if you have been sent sides ahead of time (i.e. the specific material that the company wish you to audition with), you have to have it down. That is all there is to this. Screen work is at such a fast rate of turnover that they will simply not employ you if they think you cannot condition yourself to learning the lines ahead of time; also, on camera, the response is always to immediacy of performance, which is extremely difficult to attain if you don't come in off book. BUT you should always take the script in with you, just in case you dry and need to refer to it - this is not frowned upon by any CD - in fact, they will appreciate that you have taken the effort to try and work on the material.

d) Many screen auditioners, however, prefer to see you 'cold read' from the script in hand, anyway, and there is no way to prepare for this, other than to make sure that you can take words off the page quickly and convincingly while playing to screen.

I find that very often the best thing to do with any director/production team you are DIRECTLY in contact with is to ask them specifically how they would like you to prepare for the audition if they haven't let you know, or to get an agent etc. to try and determine this on your behalf. It is your professional right as far as I am concerned to be able to prepare for the audition appropriately, because it is in everyone's best interests that you do a good job on the day...and finding out specifics often takes the sting out of the preparation process! You go in confident that you know what they are looking to see!

• 14 years ago
• 20