Be Confident Even If You Aren't

First of all, if a casting director called you into an audition that means they want to cast you.  Seriously they do, because if you come in and are perfect for the part then their job is done and they won’t have to sit through another 100 actors who look just like you.  Trust me they want to like you, they really, really do.

But, we are actors and think everyone is judging us constantly and we need validation.  This makes us seem needy and lacking confidence.  Which is a problem, because over and over again the actors that get callbacks and book parts are the ones that exude confidence the moment they walk into the office.

For those of us that lack that natural who-gives-a-hoot-what-anyone-thinks-air, here are a couple basic traps many actors fall into:

Don’t Walk into an Audition Apologizing

I helped at a casting session that involved singing.  The first thing a bunch of the actors said the moment they walked in the door was, “I’m so sorry, but I’m not a very good singer.”

Now everyone in the room is thinking, great this is going to be a waste of our time and then we are going to be stuck in the uncomfortable position of having to coddle you after your audition and tell you that you weren’t as bad as you thought.  Since, you told us that you were going to be bad, I am going to go over my grocery list in my head while you are singing.

And truth be told, most of these actors weren’t that bad and if they hadn’t made everyone biased against them the moment they walked in they may have had a chance.

Don’t Come in with Excuses

I can’t tell you how many actors have walked in and the first thing they said was an excuse as to why they were late, or don’t have their headshots, or why they don’t know their lines.

Here is the answer to all your excuses:

1. Yes, you live in LA; traffic sucks.

2. No, your agent didn’t send over headshots for you.  Here’s a hint: They never do.

3. There are other actors up for the same part who had the material the same amount of time that do know their lines.  Guess who looks better on camera. 

How can you seem more confident? 

1. Be pleasant and greet the casting director, but don’t start rambling on.  When they ask how’s your day going they are just being polite and don’t need to hear about how your cat threw up on your bathroom carpet (true story). 
2. When they ask if you have any questions, they are doing two things: offering to answer any intelligent questions you have about the scene and they are letting you know that it’s time to start.  Don’t ask a question just to ask a question and don’t ask something that you should have had answered before you came in.  What should you have found out before you stepped into the room?  Things like: is this a comedy or drama and how are these characters related.
3. If you feel like things are going supremely terrible it is okay to stop and ask to do the scene again, but only do this if you are going to do the scene differently and you are sure it will be better.  Also, know that even if you think you are doing terrible usually you are doing fine.
4. Once the scene is done say thank you and leave.  I have seen more than one actor talk themselves out of a role after they did an amazing scene by going on and on once they were finished.  The need to fill dead air with talking shows a lack of confidence in yourself.

There are those that are born with confidence.  For the rest of us who weren’t, may I suggest faking it and eventually you might find some of that confidence inside you.  Not that I have, but it could happen.