I enjoy giving feedback to actors, agents, and managers after meeting and auditioning them and their clients. It is especially beneficial with regard to young actors, but hopefully actors of all ages can benefit from precise and well-intentioned feedback.
The art of valuable feedback involves, I believe, a balance of candor, kindness, and tact.
As regards children or actors who are just beginning (or older actors returning to a career after a long absence), it’s important to be encouraging. Negative comments by themselves usually don’t help anyone, and they can discourage both actors and their representatives.
When I meet and audition actors, I look for a variety of things: how they present themselves in terms of energy and attire, whether they are comfortable within their own skin, whether they come into the room with positivity or with a chip on their shoulder, or with apologies and excuses about their promptness and preparation. It’s often said, and worth repeating, that casting directors are eager and hopeful when actors come in; we want actors to do well, and we are on their side.
I try to gauge how prepared an actor is—(yet allowing for a degree of spontaneity in one’s choices is
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