Posted by Dana Kaminski on 12th January 2010 in Auditioning
Matt LeBlanc, Out Of Work Actor For A Bit?
…Therefore, he has to audition for the casting director and producer. Uh, to play himself, Matt LeBlanc. And there are other actors in the waiting room who are also auditioning to play the actor, Matt LeBlanc.
It’s a joke video, in case you haven’t caught on, as yet. LeBlanc’s new show is called Episodes, and the story is that he is hired because the casting people and producers couldn’t “do better”.
Everyone in this video is actually an actor. In the beginning, the ‘WME’ that you see, stands for The William Morris Agency.
Best
Dana
Please share this with at least one person, it’s the fee here at Hollywood Actor Prep.
If You Think That Giving A Rotten Audition For A Big Film Role Is Bad…
Or you made a big mistake onstage in front of a packed audience…
Have you seen the photo of Rihanna’s new ink?
It’s Rihanna’s philosophy, and it’s been mine, too. Everything is a lesson. An opportunity to grow. As an artist, an actor. And as a human being.
As an actor, I knew that I could either learn something that accelerated me toward being the kind of actor that I strove to be. Or not.
In auditions, it only made the subsequent ones, easier. If I could get over not doing it as well as I wanted, or worse(!), I had three choices:
I could beat myself up emotionally, and convince myself that I was not up to par.
I could devote myself, even more assiduously to my acting craft, so that I could insure that my skills would not let me down, in future auditions.
I could accept that some auditions just are not going to turn out perfectly. Which had an unexpected outcome, in fact. By that accepting that, I was more relaxed about audition expectations, and more relaxed altogether, in my auditions. Which made my auditions much better, because it allowed my talent to flow. Because I was more relaxed, I had more access to my full acting skill; my ‘acting instrument’ wasn’t stifled, by nerves, to be nearly unusable.
None of my personal auditioning philosophy, that I shared just now, would have happened if I hadn’t experienced some very uncomfortable casting opportunities. Talk is cheap. Experience is huge.
Sometimes, my lessons were that there is a lesson. That, simply that. Like a magic, and uncomfortable, pointer to a certain something that wasn’t being worked on, that needed to be. In my craft, in my attitude, or in my psyche.
Often, it was that I had fallen back into the bad habit of being negative. Or being too hard on myself. Or not enjoying the path, the process, the evolution of becoming a professional. Patience, and gratitude for being involved in something I truly loved with all my might, is pretty big stuff. Yet with a strong focus on a goal, it was easy to forget how lucky I felt, to be in the process of developing myself, and really doing something that I loved so much.
Professional Actors Audition Differently
An experienced, professional actor, walks into an audition much differently than a novice actor. They do the acting part of the audition differently, and they leave the casting room differently at the end. The entire time, a professional actor with some real solid work on their resume, relates to the casting director differently, certainly, than the novice actor. Or someone who has a fresher acting career.
One of the most beautiful things about acting, I believe, is that a professional actor can spend the rest of his or her life growing as an artist. I’m not sure other professions are like that. But, I wouldn’t know, either. Acting is the only real profession I’ve ever had.
Best,
;~Dana
PPS Do share, please, and thanks for paying this forward. Thanks also, for making an actor community in the world, and for being a part of mine!
♣
IMPORTANT NEWS:
I am doing a streaming workshop called the PRO ACTOR WORKSHOP. That’s right. I will teach actors how to be a professional actor…If you are interested, please use the ‘contact’ form to let me know. You can find it at the top of this page.
I will be sharing all the things that I know and learned from being an actor, who was on the inside. The real deal. I haven’t posted most of what I will be teaching, publicly; it hasn’t been here, or anywhere else; for that matter.
I’m not even going public with what my content will be, in this workshop. (Heck if I am going to give some of the fraudulent sites some real topics to hawk to gullible actors.)
I honestly know that you can’t learn this from any other “acting site”. Or live workshop, or class. It may change your life. I believe it will. SIgn up, because I am getting very excited to do this soon…There’s a lot of material, and I can’t promise I’ll want to do this workshop again!
PPS What I haven’t told you in this post is that I once made an onstage, cringemaking-for-life, error, in front of a packed house. Only flat-out begging can get me to tell that tale…
Posted by Dana Kaminski on 25th October 2009 in Auditioning
Not only did he get the job by way of some good old-fashioned auditioning; but he took a risk and did something creative, unexpected, and obviously different than the voice looked like it should be, at first glance.
Very very cool.
Not just cool because he did that. Exceptionally cool of them to give him the job. Seth Green created the voice for this character. This voice wasn’t in Seth MacFarlane’s head, when he wrote Chris. That’s unusual.
First, they named one cast member, actor Steve Martin’.
For months, the movie was called the “Untitled Nancy Meyers Project”.
Once I knew the film was shooting, I called my contact at NBC-Universal, and he told me that they wound up casting an actor with experience; instead of an “unknown”.
::::::::::Nancy Meyers
Now, the movie’s titled. It’s got a trailer. And here it is….
“It’s Complicated” With Actors: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Rita WIlson…
Producer, Director, Writer Nancy Meyers Got Me Into SAG
…By the Taft-Hartley provision. (I have a photo somewhere and I will post it after I dig it up)
(Means they have to petition SAG by statubg that no one else can do the role except for the non-SAG actor that is cast.)
I had one line. It was:
“I don’t work here.”
Always thought that was a humorous way to start an acting career.
I have a photo somewhere and I will post it after I dig it up…
Meantime, Here’s Another Actors Photo From This Movie, “It’s Confusing”…
I think one of these guys were cast in the “Open Call” part.
Posted by Dana Kaminski on 15th July 2009 in Auditioning
An Audition Casting Tape
This is a real audition, where they were casting a 12 year old girl. The movie, not yet released, is called ‘Let Me In’.
May I ask you to please leave a comment, and tell me who gives a goodaudition, and why. Or why not.
I will reserve writing my own judgment, until I hear from you…
Please don’t think that these girls are too young to do well at auditions. Recently, I saw one of these actors, in a nice-sized filmrole, and she did very well. Also, by the time they are this age, children can have quite a bit of technique classes, and coaching.
Even if they aren’t well-schooled, or very skilled, kids can sometimes be great because they haven’t developed limiting confidence handicaps. Not only have these girls not been through an entire puberty, where insecurity rampages through the hormones; but they also haven’t been through any kind of big social or professional rejections, and not had their heart broken in a big love affair, yet.
If you think this may be a little off of my philosophy, because I am asking you to compare acting that could possibly be relying on instinct alone, you are somewhat right! I do prioritize acting craft and learning skills, first and foremost.
But I also know that one of the things that actors get out of a committed acting class, is confidence. Hopefully, there is also ‘privacy’ work. There was at the method acting classes that I studied at. For a good long time.
Privacy allows the actor to free his or her work from getting stuck in audience judgment. To act, freely. Even if they have been bashed and thrashed emotionally, and have no confidence at all. They are free, if they have a good craft that includes building a strong reliable privacy, to act as if they were young and unhampered.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about each of the auditions.
And please put my blog on your Facebook page, by using the share/save below…or email to any actor that you may know…Thanks…
Posted by Dana Kaminski on 13th July 2009 in Auditioning
The Director And Writer Of ‘500 Days Of Summer’…
…Did Q+A’s after the film screenings, and I went to two screenings of this movie. So I got to sit in on two different informative sessions.
They shared inside information, on how the actors were chosen.
At the LA Film Fest, film leads Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel were present, and shared the dais; and the time.
But, at the second screening, just the Director, Marc Webb; and, one of the two Screenwriters, Scott Neustadter, were onstage.
So, anything they said wasn’t because the stars were there, no actor-stroking was going on.
Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel Weren’t On The List, At Casting Time.
The studio, Fox Searchlight, was acting Hollywood-traditional…at the start of the casting process. They shared with the Director and Writers which actors should be in contention:
–A list of bankable, credited, recognizable names of actors for both the male and female romantic leads.
The male lead actor is a central role, maybe the central role in this movie.
Logically, they wanted a star. Someone with a track record of acting, and box office mojo. Which means in Producer terms, a ROI–Return-on-investment. Bankability. Using Box Office Name Actors means tickets can be counted on to be sold by the name of that bankable star, alone. A “name” opens a movie with big ticket sales, and can be counted on to bring in a continued audience, perhaps, even when a movie isn’t so great.
[Although...this Hollywood-hard-fast-rule, about being able to rely on A-list actors is suddenly-soft-and-not-performing-up-to-usual-prowess, as of this summer--See the post following this one.]
The Writer Quipped: Thankfully, Julia Roberts Wasn’t Available!
He wasn’t really dissing Julia Roberts; when you see the ‘500 Days’ you will see why the casting of Zooey Deschanel, in the lead role, as the love interest, is so very spot-on…ideal…perfect.
Really, there couldn’t be anyone who could do such a job of playing “Summer”. (That’s the character’s name.)
It wouldn’t have been this movie, with different actors.
It Was Joseph Gordon-Levitt Who Was Cast First.
And for a very good reason.
A very definable reason.
A reason that set him apart from all the actors on The List, and all the other actors that came in to audition.
“He Asked Intelligent Questions.”
He set himself apart from the other actors, by doing some thinking.
By asking questions. Acting questions, script questions.
The right kind of questions.
You Know When You Go On An Audition, And You Are Asked “Any Questions?”
Gordon-Levitt said, right off, “Why are you doing this movie? What is the goal of the script?”
In other words, what is the point that, all involved, should be going for, thematically.
Especially, the actor.
The lead actor. Who, in this script, carries the entire movie on his back.
So he’d better know which direction to take it, so that his performance tells the story. So that his performance could give the message of the movie, in the most accurate and efficient way possible.
Does his initial querying seem confrontive?
Maybe to some. Maybe it isn’t nicey-nicey.
To the Director, Writer, and Producers, it sounded right.
…Intelligent, artistic, smart, and in sync with their own sensibility and way of working; way of approaching this script.
What happened in the auditions with the other actors?
Webb and Neustadter said that some actors just read-the-sides; just did whatever they individually did, as far as choices.
And some said some really dumb stuff. (I hope it was just nerves or because they weren’t prepared as they should be.)
The director revealed that some actors, at the audition, suggested that the writers change the ending of the movie. That it ’should’ turn out the opposite way than they had written it, in the script.
–Uh.–
(WORD::Most likely the writer has already thought about every possible other thought. It’s not an actor’s place to come in and be an expert of ’story’…And please note: The director and writer didn’t say that those actors, with their ending-changes, looked “dumb”… They didn’t have to.)
Gordon-Levitt’s Control Of His Acting-Instrument Is Just Beauty.
He holds this movie in his hand like he’s King Kong and the beats of the film are Faye Wray, dancing in his palm.
It surprised me because of the skill and apparent ease in which he handled every acting challenge, every change, every necessary vulnerability.
It also surprised me because, well– he’s a guy. Look, acting is always hard because we live in a culture where feelings are supposed to be masked, as habit, as maturity, and because we think of it as ’sanity’. So to be facile and expressive with feelings and emotions is part of a big mountain an actor needs to wrestle.
For male actors, facility with emotional expression can be even more difficult. (We all know how males are supposed to be, about expressing themselves, about emotionality.)
Shall I mention that he was a kid actor? That often means acting with lots of “indicating”, and cute-making. Child actors can grow up without a gage for authenticity.
This actor didn’t seem to have anything b-u-t organic instincts.
Zooey Deschanel Was Suggested For The Female Lead Actor, By Gordon-Levitt…
After he was cast.
Adding, with just a tinge of logical Hollywood-rationality; that although he thought she would be the best artistic casting, she probably wouldn’t be an acceptable business choice…
Since he was already the non-box-office lead, and so if two non-box-office-mojo leads are cast in the two main acting roles, would that weaken the film’s chance of success?
Luckily, the director and screenwriters prioritized the artistic, and they agreed with his suggestion. They read Zooey Deschanel, and they cast her.
Fully aware of his reservations; and the usual logic.
Remarkably, so did Fox Searchlight…
[Everyone in the audience, at this point of the Q+A, murmured praise and Hollywood incredulity.]
500 Days is a romantic movie that is traditional, and original; at the same time.
…It’s probably going to be to be a big summer hit. And I think it’s precisely because of the original thinking, and unique creation. It’s also an wonderfully honest film.
[Unusually, they all went with 'trust'. Wow.]
Overall, it’s a solid, and impishly hip, finished package.
And, the casting, the acting, the people that populate this story…just superb.
Listen, whether a Casting Director will admit it or not, their top priority…Radar Level #A …Is not whether or not you are right for a role.
It’s not even whether-or-not you can act.
Nope.
What is it?
Well, I’ll let you conclude, after I lay out a couple of things.
Making Movies, For Example
Let’s say there’s a movie that you want to act in.
Let’s say that you get the part, and your part shoots in some outdoor setting. (I’m using a exterior shoot as example, but all types of shoots have the similar needs.)
That means, that the sunlight is something that the scheduling, of the entire cast and crew have to work around. In order to do that, most likely, the crew will be instructed, that day(s), before dawn, to do set-up.
The actors who are written into that scene, in the script, will have to be on set earlier than sun-up, most likely.
That’s so they can get into their trailer / dressing room; get into wardrobe; get into hair-and-makeup….
And so they can have breakfast while all that is going on (***SAGContract Rules RULE!***)
And all the while, the crew is setting up all the tech stuff needed to shoot a film:
The electricity
The lights
The camera
The film
The set the props etc.
The Film Scene Begins To Shoot, Just About….
…When the sun comes up… Dependent, of course, if all conditions are right.
Let’s Focus Back On You, The Actor.
Let’s say your entire part requires that you have two days of work scheduled, only.
Both of those days are to be filmed at the same location, the same exterior.
Than means, that you have a lot of work to do. Other work, I mean, besides the on-set acting.
What would that other work be, that an actor needs to do?
Here’s just some, and these are “expected”. That means, that every casting director believes that the agent, who sent you in for the audition, sends only actors that have already trained under a credible and solid acting coach or teacher, that you have a good reliable skill set, and that you can deliver a righteously great, or even adequate performance that will look convincing enough, in the movie, for your two-day, supporting, role.
However, unless you have a substantial acting reputation, there is much that a casting director does not know… that they cannot know, unless you show them, in some way.
Casting Directors Have To Have A Lot Of Faith
(And some incredible ‘radar’, of course)
Because, except for your trumped-up acting resume (that he or she assumes is trumped-up because this is Hollywood…)
… A Casting Director has no way of being sure that you will do the following:
Learn Your Lines, Well in advance, and thoroughly
Have a workable alarm clock, and enough time-organization skills to assume enough driving time and even allow for potential traffic problems
Have a good car and enough gas, sense of direction, etc that will get you to the Exterior Location
Get there in one piece
Get there on time
Get there sane
Get there emotionally ready to work…and more…
Note: I haven’t mentioned anything about acting ability.
That’s intentional.
Because not only the casting directors; but the director, the producer, and everyone else there doesn’t want to think about it, but there is a big fear that floats above every project, everywhere, no matter what….When there are more than one person involved.
There is a dependency on that other person.
Hiring any actor is always a gamble.
For a major movie, it’s a millions-of-dollars-on-the-line gamble.
Each shooting day can cost more money than you probably have made in your lifetime, so far.
If you, the actor, stayed out until 5 AM the night (before) or even two days before…
If you don’t take care of your car so it broke down enroute to the set…
If you are a drama queen and just broke up with your boyfriend, girlfriend, or both…
Or even if your alarm clock suddenly breaks during the night before the shoot, so you oversleep
Well, you then not only screwed your own reputation,
But you screwed EVERYONE involved with the production.
You screw them out of loads and loads of money…
You screw them out of time to do a film, which there never seems to be enough of, technically, anyway
You keep many, many people that have shown up at work, waiting and unable to work
And, you piss them off, big big time.
And you make the casting director look like excrement.
Why?
Because… it is the Casting Director’s job to pick the right actors.
The most dependable actors.
So then, what isCasting-Director-Radar-Priority #A?
‘From The Moment An Actor Enters The Room’…
What a Casting Director (and Director, Producer, Writer…) looks for, from the moment an actor walks in, and throughout the entire audition…
I do believe they use all their senses, and instincts…and experience…and radar… from the git-go,
…To assess and make sure,
… If they are considering you for the part…
…Is That You Can Be Absolutely Depended Upon ToAbsolutely Show Up.
Do you think it’s okay to be a foonk-up? (As an actor, I mean…other people are not my business.)
In your professional reputation; or during an audition… in any way, shape, form, hint, red-eye, etc?
LIsten, your personal life is not my business. (You’ll notice that there is no gossip at Hollywood Actor Prep.)
Actually, none of itis my business. None of your problems or your personal life, or even your lack-of-professionalism, it’s not my business.
It’s yours.
As an Actor, Your Professionalism Is Your Business
And if you don’t “take care of your business”; especially in that area, then you won’t work as an actor.
Here’s Mickey Rourke, discussing his own lessons learned, about professionalism, in acting….from January 27,2009–On the Larry King Show.
Please share on Facebook, and MySpace. And tell your friends, especially those that have a passion for acting,about this blog. Even, email. It’s all so easy, just use the “SAVE / SHARE” below.
Would you follow me on Twitter? Over 750 ‘creatives’ do already! Here’s a link, and it’s my Twitter name __dana__ .
Watch this audition-on-tape. It’s Ellen Page and Michael Cera auditioning for “Juno”.
If you ask a casting director, they’ll tell you that actors get awarded roles when they ARE the character.
Now, that may mean:
#1. The actor is so clearly the specific type they are looking for, and so ‘right on the mark’ on how they (casting people + producers + director)envision the character from the script… that the person in the auditioning room is really just like the person in the script, in real life.
Everyday, every minute, the actor really ‘IS THAT CHARACTER’.
#2. Or it could mean thatthe actor is close in ‘type’…but is such a ‘good actor’, that the casting person believes that the actor, during the audition, ‘IS THAT CHARACTER’.
Even if in the car, on the way home, the actor is not the same, at all. Or, is similar in some ways, in “real life” (as Matt Dillon used to say…)
I prefer #2, myself.
Often, if the actor that is auditioning, really IS that person in life, they may not be able‘to act’. Which means that the movie or play will suck. Why? Well, the simplified answer is that he or she won’t be able to deliver all the different emotions or facets that may be called for, in the script, or scenes.
The longer answer is that, in the finished production, there won’t be any art to the acting. Nor in the movie, nor in the play, at all. There won’t be anything worth watching.
(Unless we are talking “documentary”, of course.)
All Actors Use Pieces Of Themselves In Creating Characters.
There is far too much competition in the acting profession, to try to play something that is so far away from your actual type…It’s just too easy for casting people to find, and cast an actor who fits what is described in the script, and on the “casting breakdowns”….to play the part.
#3. It is nearly impossible, without a tremendous amount of acting talent, acting skill, and acting craft, for an actor to “play himself or herself”.
Whaaa??
Yep.
That’s why I blow-a-gasket when people ask me why acting class is necessary.
It’s foolish to assume that “anyone can act”. Yes, talent is something that is innate. Using that talent, and having control over the talent…control enough to carry out what is required in a script, takes development. Takes dedication.
Great acting is a blend of the two: talent and developed acting craft.
You don’t want to be just an adequate actor, do you? Even to be able to give what is required, in a script, is extremely difficult. To make it come-to-life, is rare. It is very high-level acting.
To make acting seamless, well, that’s what wins awards. (That is, if the judges are smart enough to know that it really is acting.)
Great acting fools experts. It should.
It fools the viewer, too; unconsciously. How? When they get wrapped up in the story/the movie/the play….when they stop looking at the effects, the acting, the whatever….when they go from being on “the outside”, to experiencing from within: within the story, within themselves.
It’s what I call “the great acting paradox”.
Great Acting Is When The Audience Doesn’t See The Acting
Really good, strong, advanced acting is hard to tell if the actor is “playing him/herself” or “acting”.
Excellent acting is imperceptible.
Now, you know. And, you know something now, about acting, that most people will never know. It is a rare jewel. Keep it sacred, because it is. And use it well.
If you do get value from these posts, I ask that you make a contribution of $10.00, for some of the running costs, and to give value back. With enough donation, I will some fulltime staff people, and do so much more. I thank you. It’s secure, by Paypal.
And please sign in with me, Dana…(on the sidebar). You only put your email, and it’s private. I will use it only if there is something special that you may want to know about…
And, I ask that you spread the word about Hollywood Actor Prep. That will make our ’cause’ stronger, we can mobilize all actors that way. We can really make things better for actors, together…
This is a legitimate casting opportunity for an upcoming Universal Pictures release. We are holding the open call via email (video submissions) and in person calls in New York, Toronto and Chicago. It’s a good part for an up and coming actor.
I thank you very kindly for the info. I will put this on my blog; put it out a few times on Twitter already.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Dana Kaminski
Happy New Year.
”
So, there it is. Audition. Go.
And if you aren’t really right, and I mean far-and-away really-NOT-right, then please, tell as many young male actors that you can think of. They might have a shot. You will get karma back, and a swelled heart, knowing that you did a good thing for one of “your own”.
“Break A Leg”,
; Dana
PS …Here’s a little funny syncronicity: When I got my SAG card, originally, it was on a Nancy Meyers movie. This is reportedly a, yep, a Nancy Meyers movie.
Now, go forward and prosper! You wonderful Hollywood Actor Preps!
–AND–
New add to this post: Just got word that there is anIMBD page for this project.
I did mention in my original post , here at Hollywood Actor Prep; about the Facebook Group, and there’s also MySpace page that I discovered. On the Facebook page, and on the casting director’s site, there is a really good video on how to do a video audition. It’s worth a viewing. All the protocol on how an standard, on-camera audition is conducted…
Still, she became ‘Greta Garbo’, even with the messy hair. See, all that stuff we always think is so important…I bet she was thinking “This is going to destroy my opportunity”. It didn’t .
Little things rarely blow an audition. It’s how we let them affect us, that’s what does it.
Sometimes, it works out great anyway. Look at Ms. Garbo, she is nervous as can be. Sensitive, and uncomfortable.
I don’t know much about it, other than what I’ve read, so Hollywood Actor Prep is not endorsing this, bu-u-ut…
I am passing it along, though, because it does appear to be a legit opportunity for actors to audition.
This audition is for all actors, with or without agent representation… does look like it actually has Universal Studios, and NBC, behind it.
NEW YORK OPEN CALL- January 10
TORONTO OPEN CALL- January 17
CHICAGO OPEN CALL – January 17
I was skeptical at first, about this open-call audition, especially since I first learned about it because it ran as a Google ad on my blog! Mostly, I find them to be cah-cah, and I spend a lot of time trying to get Google to take ads off of my blog, more often than not!
Yet, this one has some real NBC people associated, as it appears. ( I will know more tomorrow, when I do some serious investigating).
The Ad For The Audition
But it does seem good. So…In the meantime, download the scenes and start prepping your audition!
I think you should do both DVD and online, if possible, or all three:
submit online
submit by dvd
if it’s in your city, go to the ‘live audition’ also, if possible. But go early! There may be many people there, and a long wait.
Do NOT worry about being the exact type they are describing. If they knew precisely what they wanted, they probably wouldn’t do such a widescale actor search. That’s my guess, here.
Just do your best, and be your own type. Unless, it is too far from the character in the script…only then, do some altering. Otherwise, just be yourself, and try to make the lines seem as if you are saying them. Come out of your own experience, bringing the script to life. It will probably seem more “real” if you don’t try too hard to “act” or “be a character”.
Remember, that every opportunity for a casting person to see your abilities is great.
And, remember this, they WANT to find someone fresh. Just relax, and be as close to “your normal” conversation as you can.
I do suggest that you audition for everything you can, by the way, as long as it is not a scam.
(Or dangerous. Or against your values…)
Here’s a copy of the information, from their Facebook Group page.
Universal Pictures is currently searching for a young male to play “Edward,” a 17-year-old high school senior in an upcoming blockbuster comedy starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin!
Are you the next Michael Cera/Jonah Hill/McLovin? Show us!
-Make sure you are in a quiet and well-lit room (we want to be able to see and hear you!).
-Make sure you are filming in front of a colored wall or wearing a colored shirt.
-When you are ready to film make sure the camera is at a 3/4 to full body shot.
-Clearly state your name, height and hometown.
Taping:
-Make sure your reader is to the side of the camera
-Make sure you read the scene to the reader (don’t look at the camera)
-Do as many takes as you need but only send in your best 2 takes.
-Send in your audition, please attach or send a resume (include your name, contact info, age, and any experience you have)
ONLINE SUBMISSION:
Send a QuickTime file or link to edwardcasting@gmail.com
SUBMISSION BY MAIL:
Send a DVD to:
Attn: Edward Casting
1501 Broadway
Suite 2900
New York, NY 10036
THE DEADLINE TO ENTER IS JANUARY 16, 2009
NEW YORK OPEN CALL- January 10
TORONTO OPEN CALL- January 17
CHICAGO OPEN CALL – January 17
Here are the instructions from the Casting Director’s website (Megan Larche):
Submission for Universal Pictures Project Please follow these instructions when submitting your tape for the Edward Audition.
Pre-Taping:
> Download the sides:
> Make sure you are in a quiet and well-lit room (we want to be able to see and hear you!).
> Make sure you are filming in front of a colored wall or wearing a colored shirt.
Your Slate (How we indentify you):
> When you are ready to film make sure the camera is at a ¾ to full body shot.
> Clearly state your name, height, and hometown.
The Scene:
> You can read either scene.
> Make sure the person you read with is to the side of the camera.
> Make sure you read the scene to the reader (don’t look at the camera).
> Do as many takes as you need but only send in your best 2 takes.
Submitting:
> When you are ready to send in your audition please attach or send a resume. The resume should include your name, contact info, age, and any experience you have.
> Send your audition ONE of two ways:
Online: As a QuickTime file or link to edwardcasting@gmail.com
By mail: Send a DVD copy to
Attn: Edward Casting
1501 Broadway
Suite 2900
New York, NY 10036
Posted by Dana Kaminski on 22nd December 2008 in Fine Film Acting
Have you seen Mickey Rourke acting in ‘The Wrestler’ yet?
Are you familiar with the rest of his film acting resume??
If you don’t know his name, it may be because he was ‘outa the game’ for awhile. But…when he was ‘in it‘, he floored everybody. Came out of nowhere, into the spotlight with two little movie scenes; and then consistently gave the rawest, yet right on, performances.
This year, for “The Wrestler“, his acting performance may get the “Best Actor” Academy Award.
I hope so. (If you’ve been following this Hollywood Actor Prep Blog, then you know I respect Mickey Rourke, as an actor. I think he is an fine film actor, with consistent depth.)
His acting ability, talent, and skills, are rare… Authentic, to the highest degree.
Here is an older interview with Rourke, where he discusses some film-acting experiences; in each, of the earlier films he was in.
Other things Mickey Rourke candidly discusses are:
How he got his first movie role
Auditioning and getting into the Actors Studio
Performing at the Actors Studio in front of Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel (with little prior experience!)
Working with Francis Ford Coppola, on a movie with no script (!) called “Rumblefish” where he created the mythical character “Motorcycle Boy”
Creating a film script, by improvisation (!) while being assisted, musically, by Stuart Copeland of ‘The Police’.
The directors on his acting resume who “pushed him to the limit” and who he wound up respecting…
Which directors were perfectionists, and why he liked that; which directors were unlikable, and what it was that made them that way
And which ones had unusual ways of motivating the actors…
All of the actors, the directors, that you hear about here… are probably familiar names to you.
You probably, also, heard of most of the movies that he talks about; because many well-known films reside on Mickey Rourke’s acting resume.
Posted by Dana Kaminski on 14th December 2008 in Auditioning
That Pesky Interview Portion Of The Audition
There are 6 Parts to an audition:
Prior Preparation The Interview, Once Inside
The Audition Itself
The Good Goodbye
The Torture You Put Yourself Through Afterward
The Waiting ‘Til You Know If You Aced The Part
On this Hollywood Actor Prep Post, I’ll handle the part that involves the interview, and the time inside the casting office.
The Interview, and The “Reading”
In every casting audition, there is a part that is just talking, ‘breaking the ice’. It’s known as the ”interview”, and it comes first.
Then, there is the actual “try-out” part. (Which is never called a “try-out”, btw. Not in professional acting, anyway.) This is when the actor is playing the character, and reads from the script…
When I was auditioning, especially in the beginning, I found the initial part of the time in ‘the auditioning room’, slightly disconcerting.*
(Whether it was stage, casting director office, producer office, network conference room…even filmed auditions.)
It took a young actor, just starting out, to remind me of…
It was just this past Thanksgiving. Graciously, I was invited to have Thanksgiving with a ’show-business family’. The father is an accomplished actor, stand-up comedian, and even produces shows now. He and his wife have a lovely marriage, that has lasted 25 years. And, still, is going strong.
They have three children; one who is a teacher, one in college, and one in high school. The son is also an actor; recently, he’s been auditioning, a lot.
Over the turkey, the conversation turned to proper and best ways to audition. They posed the question to me, which has been bandied about as long as I can remember, and probably before that!
Should an actor walk into an audition, in the character that he/she is auditioning for, the one in the script?
Should he or she maintain this character throughout, until he,or she,leaves the office?
Specifically, this younger actor, of this family had a recent experience with an audition, where he maintained the character, throughout. And, he DIDN’T get the part, maybe, because of it.
The character he was auditioning for was scared and nervous, in the acting scene. (…. “sides”: accepted term for the parts of the scene that the audition is comprised of.)
So,this actor met the casting director, and did the introductions and small talk that starts it all off, everytime, with this emotional life alive and, in full force, before he started the official reading-of-the-sides-tryout-portion-of-the-process.
He didn’t get the part.
Agents often get feedback, after an actor auditions, from the casting director, about how the audition went. This actor was told that the casting director found him “nervous”, by his agent.
How do you think he did?
I know what I said, and what I thought.
I know what his Dad said, based on all the years of his professional experience.
Please think about it, and in the next post, I’ll let you know what conclusions we all divulged, at that dinner….
"So many great painters, great musicians, great geniuses ended with nothing. With broken hearts in rooms with broken windows. I want to see artists sitting at the table that decide the outcome of their lives."
--Bono
