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DON’T TYPECAST YOURSELF TO DEATH

By Marci Liroff

8551519887_af60cb9ae8_cPhoto credit: Alma 7:12

Have you ever gone on an audition, walked into the waiting room and found 10 actors there who were nothing like you? All different types? “Soup to nuts” as it were? I’ve heard actors tell it this way—“Clearly they had no idea what they’re looking for. They had men, women, and six different ethnicities up for the same role!”

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. We’re being creative. When I get a project to cast, first I go through my database and come up with lists for each role. These lists are part wish-lists, part reality lists (as in who we can actually get realistically), and part thinking outside the box and being creative.

I was casting the original “Footloose” movie and the role of the father called for a very charismatic, handsome, salt and pepper haired, Paul Newmanesque preacher. I thought, yes, that’s good, but what about John Lithgow? I know, nothing like the character as written – but I had just seen him in “The World According to Garp” as a transsexual, and Brian DePalma’s “Blow Out” playing a serial killer, and I thought, “This guy is brilliant! Wouldn’t it be cool to see him play something completely different?” The director, Herbert Ross, looked at me as if I was crazy. I begged him to let him audition. Lithgow read one scene with me and Ross gave him the role in the room. I also did the same thing with the Chris Penn role. It was written as a handsome jock football player. I had just cast Penn in “All The Right Moves” and I was in love with his “bull in a china shop” quality. He auditioned and they liked him so much for the role they re-wrote it to fit his unique qualities.

Don’t turn down an audition because you think you’re not right for it. If we think you’re right and are willing to give you a chance to audition, go for it. Remember, we know what’s going on behind-the-scenes creatively. If you give a good audition but are ultimately not right for the role, two things can happen—we may re-conceive the role for you, or we’ll remember you and bring you in for something else. Generally, go to any audition you get and knock it out of the park. I say generally, because there are exceptions to the rule. Sometimes you get an audition for a part you just can’t seem to crack or you feel it’s something you’d never be able to do due to it’s sexual or violent content. Better to pass on the role. You don’t want to give a bad audition because we will definitely remember it—and we have long memories! Come in and make it your own. A director I know said, “Tell me something about the character that I don’t know.”

I have so many stories about actors coming in for a role, not getting it, and getting another role because they made such a huge impression on us. It’s good to know your “type” but you need to know that there are a lot of casting directors and filmmakers out there who love to take chances and cast against type. As an actor it’s your job to interpret what’s on the page and put your unique stamp on it.

Have you ever been cast against type? Or have you gone in for one role, and gotten another down the line because they loved what you did? Please share your stories.

Glad you’re here!

Marci

 

 

 

HOW KEEPING A DIARY CAN HELP YOU BOOK THE JOB

By Marci Liroff

276429939_51da76025bPhoto credit: Kiwanja

Remember when you were a kid and you kept a diary next to your bed and wrote down everything you did and thought about that day? Those childhood habits were actually great training for what you should be doing as an actor. Tracking every meeting and audition is a great practice to get into.

I’ve been preaching this to my classes and my coaching clients for years now. They always come back to thank me and point out that this one thing has changed their perspective on their career. Sometimes what you do as an actor – the prep, the auditions, the sheer tenacity you put into your career to get an acting job – can be an intangible thing when you don’t actually get the job and you effectively have nothing to show. But, like I always say, “this is not a sprint it’s a marathon”. So much effort goes into getting the job and keeping a diary or a journal of all your auditions will help you see your progress in black and white.

I suggest you keep a notebook and write down every meeting and audition you have. List the people you’ve met and their position, the project, the role, what you wore, and what choices you made for your audition. Take short notes on what you discussed if you got into a chat with the director. When it starts getting busy during pilot season and you’re going on several auditions each week, and hopefully getting callbacks, it’ll be great to know exactly what you did on each audition that got you back in the room a second time because you’re chronicling it in your book.

You’re going to have a long and busy career and you will probably have a few different people represent you along the way. When you start a new relationship with an agent or manager, wouldn’t it be great if you could give them some actual tools to help you? You can sit down with them in your initial meeting and give them a list of people who are your fans, casting directors who consistently bring you back, and a list of those that you need an introduction. This way you can plan a strategy on which rooms you need to get into.

Actor friend William Mapother goes a step further using an Excel Spreadsheet.

“I keep an ‘Auditions’ spreadsheet in Excel. It has 6 columns: CD, Date, Project, Role (character name), Type (feature, pilot, recurring, guest), and Studio/Co./Network.  I use Excel because it allows me to easily sort the data to see how many times I’ve seen a CD, or to see how many appointments I’ve had over any period of time.”

Here’s the part I love. “When I book a job I change the font in that row to red.  Also, once I book via a CD, I make that CD’s name red throughout document.

Mapother continues, “I also keep another Excel spreadsheet in which I note lessons I’ve learned in various areas and make notes to avoid re-committing horrendous blunders. I’ve noted when circumstances before an audition have helped or hurt me – being hungry, working out, interacting with other actors who are waiting.  The purpose is to experiment and identify what helps me. “Another lesson came not from my experiences, but from reading.  One of Pixar’s rules:  Errors are inevitable, so make them ASAP.  Experiment early.  I noted this in my lessons as “Be wrong as quickly as you can.”

Is this something that you do already? Please share how you’ve been tracking your auditions and meetings in the comments section.

Glad you’re here!

Marci

HOW TO RUIN YOUR AUDITION IN ONE EASY STEP

8821230126_015e2916edPhoto credit: Wonderlane

By Marci Liroff

I was casting a TV pilot a few years ago and one of the roles was described as an “Old-World Hollywood agent. He even wears a pocket square in his suit jacket.” All of the lovely actors who came in were dressed to the nines.

I brought in an actor from Canada who I didn’t know personally, but had seen his demo reel and was impressed. It was enough to convince me to bring him straight to the producers without a pre-read because I was pressed for time. He had a great comedy background and was a fresh face out here so I thought it would be an interesting audition at the very least.

When you work on a television show the writers are often the creators and producers of the show. I had a full house that day with the director for the pilot, the star/creator/writer/producer and his writing/producing partner as well.

Mr. Canada showed up wearing a grungy leather jacket, ripped up jeans (not the designer kind!), and a wrinkled t-shirt. I thought to myself, “Wow, this guy must be really good to be so carefree about how he’s dressed for his audition!” He sat down, didn’t say much, put on his “readers” (half-glasses), and began to read the scene off of the page. Our creator/star read with all the actors. The actor continued to read, face down in his sides. He’d look up briefly to see that we were all still there, but basically just read off the page. I felt the energy in the room shift. I saw steam start to come out of the producer’s ears. My face got all hot. Then it happened. As if things weren’t bad enough, Mr. Canada decided to try his hand at a joke and change the dialogue. He was sitting in the presence of one of the hottest veteran comedians for the last 30 years who had a long-running hit TV show and he thought he’d show them how funny he was by changing their dialogue. The line read, “Boy! Somebody’s got a bee in his bonnet today!” referring to how our star was being cranky. He changed the line to, “Boy! Somebody’s got a bee in his yalmulke today!” – he was referring to what a Jewish man wears on his head in Temple. He tried to make a Jewish joke to the Jews in the room. At that point, one of the producer’s head exploded. The other producer was so furious he literally turned his entire body around on the couch to face the back of the room, away from Mr. Funny. I felt myself sinking into a pool of hot molasses.

He finished his scene. We all just sat there staring at him. You could hear a pin drop. I said “thank you” and he slunk out of the room. Then everybody turned to look at me with a giant “what the f*ck was that?!” look on their collective faces. I had no answer. I threw myself on the sword. I took responsibility for this guy being not prepared, not caring about how he dressed, and the ultimate sin – changing dialogue.

You have to remember that by the time you finally get the script it has been through months of revisions and rewrites, and notes from the studio and network. The writers want to hear their words. They get very attached to them.

I’ve worked with some directors who openly say, “I’m not attached to the material – it’s ok if you riff with it a bit”. That’s the time to improvise. Otherwise, stick to the material you’ve been given, put your own unique spin on it from your well-thought out character choices, then let it fly….as written.

Please share your experiences when you improvised and it didn’t work…or it worked beautifully! There are exceptions to every rule. I want to hear your stories!

Glad you’re here!

Marci

 

 

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