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The Secret to Dealing with Audition Rejection
by Ruth Kulerman
When I first entered this profession (after coaching for two or
three years) I knew less about this business than Puff, my Persian
cat. I hadn't a clue about how to get an audition.
At the time, we lived in Princeton. A neighbor who knew I was
studying acting in New York suggested looking in the local papers
for auditions, since there were several excellent community theatre
companies in the area. I looked, I auditioned, got the role,
performed the role, got my first review.
After moving back to Manhattan to pursue this delayed dream, I
innocently assumed the pattern set in Trenton's Blithe Spirit would
stretch out on an infinite yellow brick road of auditions
automatically followed by being cast. And, by golly, it did--for
two glorious years, always climbing up the career ladder.
Then one winter morning at an open call for a Beckett role I was
born to play, I picked up a flyer in the foyer of the theatre
holding the auditions, and there read that "my" role had already
been cast--with no less than Jean Stapleton, Archie Bunker's
fictional wife.
Close-up of woman in foyer: innocence dissolving. Goodbye
assumption that "audition" led automatically to "cast." A mach
speed reality check. Yellow brick road becomes mud trail--rapidly.
No matter how loudly the brain insisted, "Hey, I'd cast Jean
Stapleton. She'd fill the seats"--no matter how the mind held to
practicality--that flyer nevertheless revealed the scrim behind
which our profession hides. The road to roles is potted with
disappointment, rejection, hurt, unfairness, nepotism, and bottom
line dollar signs.
I would love to claim that the idea of "NEXT" was born while
holding the Beckett flyer--"next" meaning on to the next audition.
It wasn't. "Next" sort of gradually evolved--from necessity.
Nevertheless, almost each subsequent rejection hurt. And truthfully
some of them still do. On the other hand, some roles I wouldn't
cast me in either. But even those accurate rejections still cause
small pinpricks. Alligator hide would help most of us actor types!
However, after the oh's and ah's and "You're what we've been
waiting for" and "the costume designer will be calling you" and
never hearing a peep from them later, pretty soon you really need
some tangible life boat to climb into. We who experience rejection
and disappointment, if not daily, at least weekly, have just one
thing we can do to survive.
HOW TO SURVIVE REJECTION--or--THE ROAD TO "NEXT"
The one thing? Go in and do a killer audition. My husband invented
a phrase which he says to me before every audition and every
performance: "Knock 'em dead and give 'em hell." And that's what we
aim for--every time. The killer audition brings pride and pride
cushions some of the rejection. Pride is a kind of ego parachute.
If you walk out of an audition and can say truthfully, "That's the
best I can do," then leave it in the lap of Zeus and announce NEXT.
Just be sure that "the best I can do" is not self-delusion. In
order to say it's the best you can do, you must be PREPARED.
(Remember the entire past article on preparation?) In order to say
it's your best, you must be in top PRESENTATION form. (Remember the
entire past article on PRESENTATION?) In order to say it's your
best, you must know how to audition. (Remember the three articles
on auditions?)
And then you go into the audition room to take over, to knock 'em
dead, to walk out with pride, and on to NEXT. And never wonder for
whom the call-back telephone bell is going to ring. Forget the
audition. On to NEXT.
I have watched fellow actors as they wait to audition and without
hearing a word of their sides or monologues could tell who was
going in to kill and who was going in to be killed. Audition is a
battleground and you yourself are both friend and foe. I have
coached actors for auditions and could tell before the event who
would and who would not get a callback and no, it has nothing to do
with talent. Preparation. Presentation. Pride. NEXT.
So before you burst into inconsolable sobs, look in the mirror.
Preparation? Yes? Presentation? Yes? Audition savvy? Yes? Then you
have earned the right to proclaim NEXT. If one, two or all three
are "No," then back to the drawing board. It is much more
comforting to know that you yourself have blown the audition than
to be told you're spectacular and never hear from them again. If
you yourself created the rejection, then you can correct it.
What precisely is NEXT? What exactly are the steps to NEXT?
NEXT is forgetting about the audition. Do not look for innuendoes
from the audition committee. A mere "Thank you" or even silence is
as reliable as "You're great, superb, exactly what we want." Do not
search for hidden indications of how they liked you or your work.
Do not assume you have the role if they laugh in the right places
or gasp when you are finished. Do not glow in their praise (that
gives them too much power). Glow in pride at your own job well
done--more than well done--your own job done the best you can do.
Review, repair, then start the three P's all over again
(preparation, presentation, pride). In other words, work, grow,
learn, watch, listen, experiment--maybe even do something as basic
as picking a more interesting monologue. Be too busy growing to
give rejection room to grow into bitterness. Then in you go and on
to NEXT.
There are ways of handling rejection which I strongly do not
suggest. You know them all. But there are healthy ways to cope with
the hurt inherent in this profession: work out your feelings in the
gym, jog, clean your apartment, go to a movie, take an extra dance
class or singing lesson or coaching session. One famous film star
fired her manager because she felt she was being rejected in favor
of another superstar. When you reach that level, you won't need
NEXT. Money buys lots of alligator hide.
In the meantime, the best net under the high wire we constantly
walk is preparation, presentation, pride, and NEXT. And then
another NEXT. Until preparation, presentation, and pride lead to CAST!
"Actor Tips" is copyright 2006 by Chad Gracia and ActorTips.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more articles on acting, as well as free monologues and acting supplies, visit
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