5 Tips to Increase Your Odds of Landing an Audition
Landing an audition is one of the most aggravating parts of the acting profession. While there are certainly opportunities, there are so many talented people applying, and then only a certain number of people will be invited to audition. Even if the audition is open to everyone, there's going to be a lot of competition, and there's a chance that the casting director will wrap auditions before all the candidates have had a chance. As an actor, you need to get as many auditions as possible. Here are some helpful hints that will maximize your chances of landing that audition.
Get an Agent
The first tip is to get an agent. Having an agent gives you a massive advantage in the audition processes. Agents generally have connections and relationships with casting directors and other theater professionals. Agents can help you make decisions about your type, your role, and your headshots.
An agent can also help you negotiate a better contract should you be chosen for a role. Acting agents know the ins and outs of the business and should be able to help you avoid unfavorable deals. It’s not uncommon for the stage and film industry to take advantage of inexperienced actors. Agents can help you avoid those traps.
Practice Confidence
Confidence is a skill that needs to be developed throughout your life. Some people will tell you to “fake it ‘til you make it,” but a better approach is to “practice” confidence. You don’t need to be “fake,” but you also shouldn’t wait to feel confident before you start projecting confidence. If you practice projecting your confidence, it will eventually become a habit in your life. Just like any other skill, confidence takes time and practice to develop.
Smiling and making eye contact are great ways to practice confidence. Of course, smiling and eye contact are not consistent with every role and every acting type--so this may or may not be good advice for your audition or your headshot. But regardless of your type or the role for which you are auditioning (yes, even for shy characters), having an emotional core of confidence will improve your performance.
Research the Role
This one might seem obvious, but it's essential to research the role you're auditioning for. This is especially true for those that are new to auditions or those that haven't auditioned for a similar role before. Not only do you want to research the era or area where the role will take place, but you'll also want to try and see what kind of personality the person would have. This research will not only improve your performance in the audition, but it will help you make strategic decisions (such as what to do in your acting headshots) that will increase your odds of landing the audition in the first place.
An easy way to do role research is to find out whether the role has been played in the past. If it has, try to get a copy of those performances. Some roles have been defined by an iconic actor, and whatever worked for that iconic actor may work for you.
Know Your Type
There are some people that can play pretty much any role thrown at them (Dustin Hoffman is a national treasure), but most actors will by typecast into a strain of similar characters that they excel at (think Jennifer Aniston). The more you know about the roles you’re skilled at portraying, the more you can target those roles and thereby land more auditions. Again, knowing this ahead of time will help you calibrate your application (including your acting headshots) to maximize your chance of getting a call for an audition.
If you’ve been acting for a while, you may be trying to break out of this typecasting and trying something new. You may be perfectly capable of pulling off two, three, or four different types or more! But again, different types require different headshots. If you’re trying to get an audition for tall, dark, and mysterious, but your headshot looks more like lovable teddy bear, you’re probably not going to get a call back.
Get Professional Actor Headshots Done
As I’ve been saying throughout this article, your acting headshots are the casting director’s first impression of you. You’re a professional, and you deserve to be represented by a professional. Ideally, your photographer should specialize in acting headshots, since it’s an extremely unique art form and requires a unique skillset.
Many actors will get headshots done that they'll use for every audition, which works fine if you’re not planning on auditioning outside of your wheelhouse. But whether you have a single set of headshots or several, they need to accurately represent you and show you representing the part.
Unless you’re already an A-lister, landing auditions will always be a pain point for actors, but it doesn’t need to be as painful as it has been in the past. There are roles out there you were born to play, and casting directors who will be willing to give you a shot if you can represent yourself--and your character--well. Once you’re in an audition, it’s up to you and your acting skill to actually get you the part. But using these strategies can at least increase the rate of your callbacks and get you in front of more casting directors more often.