There is a difference between a working actor’s frame of mind versus the frame of mind of an actor who wants to be working. This is a small shift but makes a big difference in the way you are in the room.
1. Be a person first, and an actor second. “How are you?” This is a question that casting usually asks, and 95 percent of the time I hear actors brightly respond on autopilot, “Great! How are you?” Find something more interesting to say.
Recently a casting director gave this feedback about an actor’s audition: “It was good for a guest star audition… but this was for a series lead.” That’s when he got my name. So I chatted with him for 10–15 minutes and then asked him to come in as if he were auditioning for me. As soon as I asked how he was. He went into this semi-fake thing and his answer was expected…. “Great! How are you?”
I had sat with this interesting charismatic person but as soon as he went into audition mode he switched off his personality and started acting. Last year I went in for the phenomenal Carol Kritzer and when she asked how I was doing I paused and then said the truth “Not great; I just got dumped.”
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