Casting Office Conversations

THOSE CASTING ROOMS CAN BE ROUGH.

Many times, clients of mine have expressed a very simple social problem when it comes to auditioning: the difficulty to disengage from casting office banter with the friends they run into. Someone’s baby is growing up, and you’ve gotta see the pics on her iPhone. Someone’s just got a new potbelly pig, and you must see the footage. What have you, etcetra etcetra bla bla bla. You get the point.

Just the other day, my friend was telling me about what happened to her. Short story. Old friend she hasn’t seen in years. Gotta catch up. But all the while, she has a guilty nagging feeling inside her gut that she needed to get working as the time ticked away. Before she knew it, they called her name. Ultimately, in the room, she had no concentration for living in the role, so instead she mailed in a performance that was disconnected and dull.

Well I got news for you my pretties, this is called SHOW BUSINESS not SHOW FRIENDS. (Yes I stole that line from Jerry Maguire, whatever) These are the times that you have to be selfish for yourself or your art will suffer. Your concentration has to be 150 percent and you can’t diverge from that.

What you do is, you create a space for yourself without having to be rude. When you step into the acting environment, you want to be relaxed and centered. How can you embrace the life of a role if your embracing the life of your friend. One thing at a time; step away from the conversation with your best quick social graces.

So here’s some help full pointers to get back on task. One thing I do is simply tell the truth. “I’m sorry hunny, I totally want to hear about the cute little botties you bought for Piggles, but I need to do a little prep time. Maybe I can call you later?” Then get to work. But sometimes they get annoyed, mad, or keep talking. Bottom line, they work different and they don’t respect the way you work. For them I recommend pulling an iPhone out and putting in some earbuds and pretend to listen to some music.