Audition Etiquette for Actors has become required reading for my developing artists. The industry is polluted at every level with those who underestimate the impact of their behavior as much as those who “apathize” or tolerate anything less than decorum.
Audition Etiquette for Actors
One of the most important things about an audition is how you behave. All the talent in the world won’t get you a part if you don’t conduct yourself properly. In this guide, you’ll learn about attitudes that will do you more harm than good, and how to pull off a polite exit, no matter how well or how badly the audition goes.
You’re Not the Star Yet
You may think you are God’s gift to the theater. You may, in fact, be terrifically talented. But don’t put on airs when you go to an audition. No matter how good an actor you may be, there may be someone else auditioning with equal ability. Or there may be someone else with a bit less talent who, for one reason or another, is better suited to a particular role. People who go to auditions with the attitude that a role is bound to be theirs only risk deep disappointment.
The attitude itself can cost you the part. Although sometimes directors have to cast prima donnas (of both sexes) because there’s no one else as good, if a choice exists between two actors, the director is more likely to go with the one who seems easier to work with. If your attitude suggests that you think you’re “the star” already, that may be all the director needs to go with the other contender.
If you’re a very good actor, and rightly proud of your talent, you can succeed simply by demonstrating your ability while performing during an audition. Confidence is fine; arrogance is not.
That Chip on Your Shoulder
There are a number of reasons why an actor may go to an audition with a chip on his or her shoulder. It may be that the same director didn’t cast you the last time you auditioned, or offered you a part you weren’t interested in instead of the one you wanted. On the other hand, you might feel a little insulted about having to audition in the first place; the director knows your work well, after all. Or you may have a suspicion that a particular director will cast his best friends before anyone else, and you wonder if you should even bother to show up at the audition at all. All of these can be legitimate beefs. Directors do make mistakes. It could be that you really should have been given the role you wanted last time around and would have done a better job than the actor who got cast. That happens in the theater quite a lot. And it may be a little strange that someone with your experience and success isn’t just assigned a role without auditioning. Stars, and even character actors, are often simply offered roles in the professional theater, and it happens all the time in college and community theater, too.
But it could be that the role in question is somewhat different from those you usually play, and the director has just enough questions in mind to want to see what you’ll do with it. Even professional stars have to audition occasionally. And exactly because some directors do tend to cast their pals (“clique-casting,” it’s often called), another director may want to avoid giving the appearance of doing that, and will require someone who’s really got the part already to audition so that everything looks fair and square to other actors.
Competitors Are Also Colleagues
One would hope that everyone auditioning for a play would be at least polite to one another. You can tamp down any temptation to make snide remarks or treat someone coldly if you remember that you might end up one day sharing a dressing room with that very same person. Even if you don’t share a dressing room with someone you’ve treated badly, you may have to play scenes with him or her onstage. That means working together and not at cross purposes, and if you’ve antagonized one another while waiting your turn to audition, you can be faced with the extra burden of repairing your personal relationship in order to give good performances. So when you meet new people at an audition, look upon it as a first-day-at-school or first-day-at-a-new-job situation. Even if someone else provokes you, try not to answer back in kind. Someone else’s thoughtless or snappish remark may be due to nerves. You may get to like that person a lot down the line. And the chances are good that you will have to work with him or her.
The Gracious Exit
You’ve just been cut off in the middle of a speech or a song. “Thank you,” the director says. “We’ll let you know.” That means the audition is over. Don’t complain that you haven’t finished; that’s unprofessional. Don’t scowl. Don’t turn on your heel and stalk off. Don’t look as though you’re going to burst into tears. None of that is going to get you more time, and it may lose you a chance at a role. Being cut off does not always mean you’re out of the running. The director has simply seen enough to make a judgment, according to his or her lights. It may be the end of a long day, with a dozen people still to see. The director may be eliminating you, but also might think you could be right for one role or another. If that’s the case, you’ll get a call-back.
Whenever the director says “Thank you,” indicating that your time is up, your automatic reply should be, “Thank you for seeing me.” Don’t add a lot of inflection to the words. Keep them businesslike. If the director has given you quite a lot of time and is smiling, you may be tempted to grin back like the Cheshire Cat, and put a gleeful spin on the words “Thank you.” Don’t. If you’ve been cut off before finishing, you might feel like giving your exit line a surly inflection, making it sound like, “Yeah, thanks a whole bunch.” Don’t.
And no matter what vibes you’re getting, avoid being flirtatious or overly intimate. That might suggest a promise you don’t really want to keep. Your voice should be even and fairly formal. Sound sincere even if you have to put all your talent into acting that sincerity—even if you’d much rather spit.
There’s another aspect to making a gracious exit, which has less to do with manners than it does with appearing organized and competent. When you go to an audition, you’re likely carrying things aside from your script—a purse, briefcase, knapsack, or portfolio that contains your resumé, pictures, and sheet music. The audition will likely be crowded, so don’t leave any valuables lying around unattended. Take that purse or portfolio into the audition room, or up on stage with you, but leave it in plain sight. Give sheet music to the pianist as soon as it’s your turn.
Now comes the important part. When you’ve finished performing, make sure to collect your sheet music and/or retrieve your purse or portfolio from where you left it. Nothing is more embarrassing than leaving an audition and then having to creep sheepishly back in again to get your belongings, which distracts attention from the person auditioning.
Following the rules of audition etiquette is not just an exercise in good manners, it’s also plain common sense. If you behave like a professional, that will be remembered, and can serve you well in the long run. If you behave like a spoiled child, that, too, will be remembered, and can come back to haunt you. Good luck!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Acting by Paul Baldwin and John Malone