Drew Lanning

I recently went to Los Angeles to help cast for an upcoming project, in which I am already cast. I was technically there in my capacity as “host”, but due to my long relationship with the producers and my constant interaction with the talent, I was included in every casting discussion from start to finish. Here is what I can tell you that you, a fellow actor or performer, need to know,

Some of this stuff you know already, or at least you have no excuse not to know. Some is stuff your acting teachers have been telling you for years, and the rest is probably just common sense.

• Look like your headshot. Seriously people, this is rule #1 and just common sense. If you don’t resemble your headshot then just don’t show up. We’ll never be able to remember who you are later when we’re trying to work out callbacks, and every time we do mention you it will be prefaced with “but they didn’t even look like their picture.” No excuses, just do it.
• I know it’s an audition and you’re trying to get noticed, but just be yourself. If you’re putting on an act we can usually tell and we’ll just be distracted wondering who you really are. You need to perform and you need to stand out, but you don’t need to completely transform your personality.
• The casting directors and producers are not evil; they just have a tough job and are really, really tired. Even if the people for whom you’re auditioning aren’t as awesome as we were, that doesn’t mean they’re jerks.  Well, maybe they are jerks, but it’s still not directed at you intentionally. They have way too many people to see and not enough time to sleep and eat throughout the day.
• If you’re not cast, it’s not really about you. It’s weird to say “it’s not personal” when you are sent home but the truth is that you could actually be the best actor there, but there are so many other variables that the casting director and producer are considering that raw talent is only a small part.  I’m not just talking about looks either, although that is a big part of it. Charisma, personality, wit, and how you interact with those around you play a huge role beyond just how well you interpret the script or perform in the improv games. People like to work with people that they like.
• Show up, and not just physically. Commit yourself to the audition constantly, or at least be aware of when you are being watched. You have no idea that the guy running the camera or signing people in isn’t actually one of the producers and founders of the production company. Is it really that hard to participate in a conversation, or stop texting for fifteen minutes while you wait to go in?
• Also, be nice to everyone. Again, the person taking out the garbage could actually be on the production team and have a major voice in whether or not you get cast. The decisions are not being made solely on what goes in the casting room and in front of a camera.
• Commit yourself to what you are asked to do in the audition. It may be something you’re horrible at, but what is being judged is not necessarily how well you do a task but how willing you are to just jump in and have fun.
• Be persistent. I hesitate to mention this because it can go too far, but I’ll give you an example. One woman showed up late on the second day of auditions, and was turned away. We simply had too many people and had to leave the space on time. This woman found myself and a cameraman (who was also a producer) out back and asked if we could audition her. We really didn’t want to but we liked her look, so let her horn in on the next group of people (we had to resort to grouping them, there were just so many). Long story short, this woman is in the final cut of people selected to be sent to the client, and is everyone’s top pick to get the job. She could definitely have helped herself out by showing up earlier, but she asked us politely and directly if we could get her on camera. She did what she had to do to get the job.

That should about do it for now kids. One more little thing I’d like to add is something that I was talking about with my agent last week. While getting the job is definitely the goal, and the audition is a means to that end, how would it change your attitude if you thought of the audition as the end in itself? Or the callback? Most of the jobs that I and my wife have ever booked are the ones that we, quite frankly, just didn’t really care about one way or the other. We showed up, did the best we could do, and never gave it another thought. Your job as an actor is to act, and that actually means that auditions are an acting job the same as any other.

Above all else simply show up on time, look like your headshot, be yourself, and have fun. And don’t be an ass to the person taking out the garbage.

OK folks, it’s time to roll up our sleeves Baranovsky-style and get down to business… ACTING BUSINESS. You see, Yuri’s inspired me with the way he’s trying to share his knowledge of writing with the rest of the world and not hoard all of the talent for himself. I though I’d do a little of the same with acting, especially since it’s the giving season. You know, Gift Of The Magi, etc?

So I’m not a writer… yet! These tips may not be organized or even, for that matter, intelligible. I’ll try to get them out as coherently as possible and then let you, dear reader, get to the hard work of organizing it.

Know Your Lines

Yeah, this is really almost the only one you need for the most part. I should say, this is the minimum: if you don’t know your lines then you’re pretty much not even doing your job. That’s kind of all an actor really does, right? Talk? So yeah, know your damn lines when you show up (to the shoot, audition, what have you) or at least have the ability to know them really fast.

Don’t Be An Asshole

Seriously dude, dial it down. Yes, you’re young and attractive. Yes, people pay you to simply be young and attractive. Yes, you actually showed up knowing your lines.

You know what, scratch that. Assholes don’t generally show up knowing their lines. Ergo, if you take the time and consideration to learn your lines before walking on set, you are probably not an asshole. So assholes out there, find that place inside you that makes you want to know your lines when you walk in the door.

Shut The Hell Up

Nobody cares, dig? I think it’s great that you were on Nash Bridges and now you’ve been on Trauma. I’m really thrilled that you were on America’s Most Wanted and worked with that guy who was on that other show that one time but you can’t remember his name but I’d know him if I saw him. Actually, seriously, nobody in this room cares, even the guy you’re talking to right now. You know how I know that? Because that guy that you’re talking to is just waiting his turn so that he can vomit his resume all over YOU. If you actually have something interesting to talk about that has nothing to do with acting then I’m all ears, but you know what? Talk about it quietly because there are people here trying to get some work done, this is a casting director’s office after all.

Sub-Corollary To Above: Don’t Talk About Acting

People like doing business with people they like. People that aren’t actors don’t want to hear you talk about acting, and if you read the above paragraph carefully you may have noticed that people who ARE actors don’t want to hear you talk about acting either. They want to hear THEMSELVES talk about acting. So just read a book that isn’t a biography of some famous dead actor and come prepared to talk about that.

Watch A Lot Of Movies And TV

Shut up, I don’t want to hear how you “haven’t had cable for years” and you “don’t miss it one bit”. You’re an actor, unless you have a live closed-circuit feed from the Globe Theatre or Broadway in your home, you are NOT watching enough good acting by running around seeing regional theatre five nights a week. If you can afford to go to the movies every night, that’s terrific, but you probably can’t and wouldn’t want to anyway. That leaves TV, sorry, but it’s just the truth. And if you’d stop kissing your own ass for being a TV snob long enough you’d see there’s a lot of great storytelling going on all over television, but guess what? Most of it’s not on broadcast, which means you need cable. Or a fast Internet connection, or a Netflix account, whatever it takes. Just watch TV, it’s really where all the action is whether you like it or not.

There’s another reason to watch TV: despite what I say below about commercial auditions, every casting director for TV wants to cast someone that just fits right into what they’re looking for in the role. That means that you speak and deliver your lines in a way that fits with how everyone else on the show speaks and delivers their lines. It doesn’t dictate your delivery or your character or your acting choices within the scene, but it does dictate to some extent your overall tone of delivery.

Don’t believe me? Watch an episode of Law and Order, watch an episode of Mad Men, then come back here to apologize and tell me that I’m right.

“They” Have No Idea What They’re Looking For

I’m a ridiculously firm believer in this. When you go to an audition you will frequently get some idea what they are looking for in the character.

We’re talking commercial/paid work here, not film/TV/Indie, those guys really DO know what they’re looking for and wouldn’t call you in unless they thought you looked like THAT.

Anyway, not only should you not try to guess what they’re looking for and be that, you shouldn’t even listen to what they SAY they’re looking for and be that. Because you know what? You’re not a “Jim Carrey type”, or a “Steve Carell from The Office” type, or whatever comedic style all the ad agencies are imitating these days. You’re just… you. You bring something to every role that no other actor anywhere on the entire planet has the ability to do, and that’s by being yourself.

Now obviously you’re going to be someone else too, but this is where actual acting training and workshops and practice comes in. Figuring out how YOU can say those lines in a way that’s real for YOU. Not by trying to transform yourself into somebody else, which is actually impossible. Transport yourself in your mind to some alternate dimension where you, yourself, say those lines for a real reason. It’s much easier that way. Read Mamet’s True and False, it’s a handbook for this sort of thing.

Summary

So I think we’ve covered a lot of ground here. I can’t get too much deeper into a lot of stuff without it becoming some sort of blog-based actors workshop, but you have the basic ground rules covered with this post.

• Shut Up
• Know Your Lines
• Don’t Be An Asshole
• Watch TV
• Be Yourself

Questions, comments, hit it.