10 Tips to Crush Your Audition
The Ultimate Audition Cheat Sheet
By Kurt Yue
Hello my fellow actor! Let’s talk about auditions. Acting and auditioning are two different skill sets. Learning how to act will help you become a good actor. Learning how to audition will help you become a working actor.
Here is the ten step process I use to create a killer on-camera audition. This approach has helped me book over 50 movies and television shows including Marvel films, Netflix projects, HBO shows, and many more. I hope it helps you knock your next audition out of the park!
#1
Research
Before you memorize a single word, research as much as you can about the project, the story, and your character. Who is the director? Writer? Producers? Production company? Are any actors already attached to the project? All of this information can help you make more informed choices.
If there are sides for other characters available, download and read those. If the project is a show that is currently running, watch an episode or two. If the project is based on a book, find a synopsis of the plot. If there are sections of your sides that are crossed out, read them to get a better understanding of the overall story. The point is, you can never have too much information. Become a detective on CSI and find all the hidden clues.
#2
Find Your Character Objective
What defines a character is what the character wants. After doing your research, and with all of the new information at your disposal, ask yourself: What do I want? Why do I want it? And what am I willing to do to get it? The great acting teacher Sanford Meisner said “The foundation of acting is the reality of doing.” Knowing what you are doing in each scene will give your words purpose. It will give your words life. Find your objective and do what you can to achieve it.
#3
Find the Story Objective
Often, especially when you are in the early stages of your career, you will not be auditioning for the main character of a movie or television show. That’s nothing to be ashamed of because supporting characters play vital roles in every story. Understanding the purpose of your character’s role in the story will help you decide how to act the scene.
Ask yourself: If my character is not the lead, how does my character and my scene serve the story for the lead? For example, if the lead is supposed to be frustrated in the scene, you may consider playing your role in a way to agitate him/her. Your acting choices should serve the story, not your ego.
#4
Know the Relationships
After determining your character and story objectives, it’s time to examine the relationships. Ask yourself: Who are the other people in the scene? How do I feel about them? And are they helping me or preventing me from achieving my objective? Don’t forget about characters who are not physically present in the scene. For example, your character’s mother could be in the story but not in the scene. Yet, your relationship with her may impact your behavior in the moment.
#5
Flip the Script
Breaking down objectives and relationships shouldn’t stop with the role that you are auditioning for. Flip the script and do the same thing for all the other characters in the scene. This will help paint a more complete picture of what is actually happening in the story.
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#6
Work the Transitions
One of my acting teachers always says, “You will book in the transitions.” A transition is the organic process by which a character’s behavior and/or emotion changes from one state to another. Some people call these beat changes, or events, or moments of discovery. If your transitions are good, your audition will look real. If your transitions are false, your audition will fall apart.
A transition can be big or small. Consider the following scene: A woman walks into her living room and finds her husband sitting on the couch. He is home two hours earlier than usual. This moment of surprise should trigger a transition for the actor playing the woman. Now consider a slightly different scene: A woman walks into her living room and finds her husband sitting on the couch. She thought he died three years ago. This moment of surprise should also trigger a transition, but the behavioral/emotional change will be very different than in the first scenario. Find the transitions and be able to live them truthfully.
#7
Play with Choices
Ok, now we get to use our creativity and have some fun! When I look at a script for the first time, I try my best not to fall into the trap of thinking I know exactly how I should play my character. Sure, the obvious choice may end up being the strongest choice, but how will you know unless you try some things that are not as obvious? In his famous book ‘Audition’, Michael Shurtleff talks about the power of opposite choices. If your instinct is to threaten the other character, try flirting instead and see how that comes out. Brilliant performances aren’t made up of a bunch of obvious choices. Explore. Play. Have fun.
Another thing I like to do is test out different levels of urgency. For example, using the written lines, try to convince the other character that you’re in a life or death situation. After that, do it again but convince them that everything is totally chill, nothing to worry about. This may seem ridiculous on paper, but it will help you think more creatively about your character and the story.
#8
Find the Scene within the Frame
This is where we really zero in on the “on-camera” part of the audition. Now that we’ve done all of the ‘homework’ and made our choices, we need to figure out how to bring the scene to life within the confines of a fixed camera frame.
One thing that will help you create the scene is to visualize your environment. Really know your eye-lines for every character and object in the scene. The more you believe in the environment that you are in, the more the audience will as well. Help the audience see what you see by telling the story with your eyes. And make sure to cheat all of your actions and dialogue towards the camera. Think about all of the acting choices you made in the previous steps and figure out how to perform them without turning too far one way or the other. The camera should see your face and especially your eyes at all times.
#9
Record and Review
This goes hand-in-hand with the previous step. Record and watch your auditions so you know if what you are doing is working and if you need to make adjustments. If your audition is a self-tape, you are going to be doing this anyway. If you are preparing for an in-person audition, you MUST do this as well. Hollywood audition coach Lesly Kahn says, “Every single audition that you go out for is on tape. For you to not know EXACTLY what that tape is going to look like is an error in judgement on your part.”
What good is that brilliant choice you came up with if it doesn’t make sense when you watch it back? Use your phone. Use the webcam on your laptop. Use whatever recording device at your disposal so you can see exactly what the director and producers will see when they make their casting decision. And no, the mirror is not a substitute for recording yourself. When you practice in front of a mirror, you are half performing and half reviewing. You cannot focus on either task 100%. Get in the habit of recording yourself. You won’t regret it.
#10
Let Go of the Outcome
The last step is a reminder to reframe your thinking. Do not think about booking the job because that is out of your control. Instead, think of the audition as an opportunity to perform. Actor Bryan Cranston said it best during an interview, “You’re not there to get a job, you’re there to do a job.” In other words, stop trying to get something; try to give something. The audition is your job. Take the pressure of booking off your back. Thinking this way can also calm those pesky audition nerves. Go in there and perform and forget about the outcome.
I hope you’ve found this cheat sheet helpful! By no means is this the only way to approach an audition. Play with the strategies I’ve listed. Experiment. Add your own flavors into the mix. Over time, you’ll develop your own process that works best for you. The key is to practice, practice, practice. —Kurt Yue
