This week I thought I would start by spreading a little
laughter.
Everyone probably has them but I thought I would share with you two
casting stories I have had this year that are literally table anecdotes. Both
these tales are what has happened to me within a commercial casting situation recently.
I should add here for new actors that not all castings are like this, the
majority are pretty normal, but once in a blue moon you want the ground to
swallow you up, even if they do make great stories.
CASTING #1
This was pretty recent actually. My agent got me in for a
Spanish Beer Commercial. Good money, great company. I was nice and relaxed
about the audition as it happened to be my third that week, so I headed along to
the casting studio dressed as a hipster barman. Upon getting to the casting I
signed in and was given the release form to fill in. I was then told that there
was a script to learn and that it was in Spanish. Yes I had to double take too.
Spanish!
Within the room was one other actor frantically going over
the Spanish lines and I knew that I would be in pretty quick so stopped filling
the form in and desperately tried to learn Spanish. I mean sometimes I can
barely speak English so speaking Spanish in a casting was going to be a
nightmare. I did think about bolting it but then decided ‘hey, I am probably
not going to get this so let’s just have a laugh’.
When it sped by to my turn with the CD, I rocked in and
decided I am going to have to take control of this room and just be confident
because my Spanish was not about to get me this job. I did my ident and then
was given the chance to got through the words with the casting drector. My god
I felt like I was in school again, standing there phonetically going over the
lines and not getting one word sounding right. Eventually after 15 plus takes I
got one full take without stopping and the casting director goes ‘great we are
getting there, now just make it sound more natural’. Yeah like that is going to
happen. I am an actor but I am not a magician.
I never did get a recall strange enough.
CASTING #2
My second story is actually about a successful audition. The
casting went well and they seemed to be very happy with my performance. Now I
never shake peoples hands in a casting room unless presented but when the director
went to shake my hand at the end of the audition, he reached over the table and
because I was already near the door I turned to reach back and shake his.
What happened next literally happened in slow motion.
Reaching for the directors hand I knocked the coffee table just in front of him
and the water jug fell over with a Tsunami effect and a glass smashed on the
ground.
I have literally never been so embarrassed and rush out the
room. I instantly thought that that wouldn’t be successful but later got the
job and the director was like ‘I just remembered you’.
Now let’s not go smashing up casting rooms but that just
shows that you can never expect what is going to happen in a casting, most are
normal though. I hope these made you laugh, bad auditions happen to everyone.
Have you got any funny casting stories?
Joseph
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