Great AUDITIONING TIPS FOR HOLLYWOOD ACTORS –Kids and Teens…And the parents!

Auditioning Tips

1. Stop trying to get the part.I know this sounds silly but you’re there to do a performance and bring reality to the script.   Don’t think about what they think of you.  It’s impossible to read their minds, even if you are psychic and it’s a waste of time.

2.  Love yourself.   I mean it.  Go in and love what you do.  Allow yourself to be you.   Don’t make it about them.  The audition is about you and your scene partner and that’s all.

3.  Prepare your audition!  Learn the lines as best as you can with the time restraint.  Plan something.  Make a bold choice.  Ask yourself, what do I want from the other person.   What tactics can I take to win in the script?  What is my relationship to the other character in the scene?  Does that character remind me of anyone in my real life.  Where does the scene take place?  Did the writer specify any sensory realities such as heat, fever, sickness? Are they indoors or outdoors?

4.  Be excited.  It’s a “One Time Only” deal!  Don’t go into an audition trying to please the casting director and the director.   Go in as if you are opening in a Broadway stage or a feature film and give them the performance you always wanted to give.   Act for yourself. 

5.  There is nothing to lose and there is nothing wrong with you.  If you’re teenager, you are being forced to be a certain way to achieve academically.    If you’re a teen actor you are being asked to NOT be a certain way and NOT achieve, but be who you are.  That’s a big change and it’s freeing as all get up!  Enjoy it and trust your impulses.

6.  Be nice to the casting director, the assistant, the agent, the producer and the director.  As the late but brilliant Carol Channing said, “Acting is a sport, but everyone is on the same team!”  It’s a collaboration and it’s fun.

7.   Have an experience.   The greatest thing about an audition is it’s a performance in the middle of a workday where you get to slip into the character’s shoes and live in a pretend world.   Enjoy that.

8.  Celebrate.   Do something fun for yourself after the audition.   It was a one night only experience so celebrate. 

9.  The Golden Rule:  YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOU DIDN’T GET THE PART.  YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOU GOT THE PART.   Therefore live and laugh at it all!  I mean that?   Prepare the next audition!  Take a great acting class.  Getting the part will always be a surprise!  And it will happen!  It will!

All of these auditioning tips can essentially boil down to you having a positive experience. It is so critical that young actors enjoy the experience of auditioning as the worst result is that they lose the love of acting. The key is not to put too much pressure on the young actor, but to really encourage them to embrace the experience and gain lessons that will stick with them throughout their life.

While young actors should take each audition seriously, they should never lose their sense of joy, discovery, and excitement in the process. The moment auditioning is no longer joyful for them is the time to really consider taking a break until they feel ready to begin again. For parents, the best thing you can do for a young actor is be encouraging and supportive of them. There will be ups and downs in auditioning, and the key for every actor is that they know there’s a supportive, positive support structure all around them.

-Jeff