​5 mistakes that could kill your casting chances in an audition

Don't be late
This doesn't really need to be said but yet still, time and time again, we hear from producers and casting directors of actors running late. First impressions are lasting and starting off negatively will leave you needing to do even more to impress the casting director.

Casting directors have tight schedules and a number of auditions to get through within that period of time, so not only will being late leave a bad impression but it might lead to you missing the audition altogether.


It's worth remembering also that casting directors work on many different productions and might remember your name on a future audition, ideally not for being late.


Learn your lines

A casting director is looking for many things in an audition and one of them is for you to do your job properly. A plumber who can't fix up a sink is likely not to get any work. Not learning your lines – whatever the actual reason – indicates you either can't do the job or don't care about the project.  

Don’t be nervous 

Nerves are something we all get. We're human. What's important is not to dwell on that feeling, to not let it stop you performing and definitely not let it be something visible during your audition.


Try to use any nervous emotions in the scene you are reading for good. Harnessing energy is a very useful skill and can potentially add something to your performance.


Don't ask to do it again

This should be reserved for absolute emergencies. First of all, this relates back to timekeeping, if everyone who auditioned asked to do it again there would not be enough time to see everyone. Secondly, if the casting director wants something else from you, including doing the scene again, they will ask for it. You could be leaving a bad impression by asking to do this, and most of the time a second or third delivery of the same scene doesn’t improve vastly. Sometimes it can help, and for that reason, we say save this for absolute emergencies 


Don’t be affected by the audition

Regardless of how you feel the audition has gone, you must not show this emotion within the audition room. If you feel the audition is going badly and show disappointment, this can be picked up on in the room and potentially change a decision. Not only that, you are making an assumption without knowing the actual outcome. 


As casting director, Anna McAuley, said in our interview: "as soon as you’ve left the room, leave it. Let it go."