The Reckless Optimist's Blog

I am not really in a place to give advice to other actors. Its not like I’m this hotshot or anything. But if you are an actor or if you are thinking about becoming an actor, might I give you just one word of advice?

NEVER TELL ANYONE WHEN YOU HAVE AN AUDITION.

Why? Because if you don’t get the part it is very annoying explaining yourself to people. Trust me. I never tell anyone when I have an audition. Except, of course, for my wife. And sometimes my very closest friends and family. And if I am bursting with excitement I’ll tell a random stranger. And there is a lady at the bank that sort of keeps up with my career so I always tell her. And I may have mentioned an audition or two here on this blog… but other than that I never tell a soul.

That being said, I had an audition this past Friday that I’m really excited about. It was for a recurring role on a pretty big TV show. If I told you the name you’d probably know it. But I’m not going to tell you the name because then you’d keep asking me about it and if I don’t get the part it will really annoy me. Now stop interrupting me and let me tell you about the audition.

There is nothing worse than auditioning with a bad reader. You don’t want a reader to overpower you. And you don’t want a reader that is totally flat. Somewhere in the middle there is a perfect combination and the guy I read with had it. We took one pass at it and I was playing the role quite aggressively. The casting director asked me to do another take, this time with more compassion. I dropped my initial approach, did the scene with more compassion and it felt great. And part of the script was a monologue! I had so much fun. I can’t remember the last time I got to do a monologue in a Film and TV audition.

But then the strangest thing happened. I finished the scene and the casting director said nothing. She just asked me about a mutual friend we have. “How is so and so?” she said. What!? “How is so and so?” We chatted for a moment and then she thanked me and I left. I was kind of shaken up. I got my things and left the room and got into my car. Then I fell into a serious bout of PAD (Post-Audition Depression) on the drive home. I was still coming out of the character, so I already had more aggression than I usually do, and I just got really down. I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t have said anything about the audition.

I got home and brought my rain cloud with me. Susie tried to cheer me up. Nothing worked. It took about two days for me to shake it.

So, today my agent calls me. “I have feedback for you from your audition.” I froze in place. “The casting director said you did a wonderful job. She was very impressed. The producer has decided to go with someone else for this role but they will bring you back throughout the season to audition for other roles. Good job Anthony.” If you are not an actor you probably don’t know this: casting directors never call your agent after an audition unless you got the part. So this phone call was a very good thing. I wanted to laugh out loud. She liked it. I wasted two days sulking when she liked it. I am such a moron.

Just so you know, I probably won’t tell you if I get another audition for the show. I never tell anyone about my auditions.