4 Ways to Get Cast Without Improving Your Acting

4 Ways to Get Cast Without Improving Your Acting
by Paul Cram

1. Don’t Apologize

When… You just performed a scene you think went awful. All too often at auditions, actors shoot themselves in the foot doing this. Do yourself a favor and shut up. Instead, focus your attention on if there is any feedback. If there isn’t any, say thanks and leave.

2. Do Apologize

When… You are running late. Call and let ‘em briefly know how much longer you’ll be for you to arrive. When you do get there, say a simple “sorry for keeping you waiting” to everyone that you’ve effected by your tardiness.

3. Arrive Fashionably Early

Five minutes early for auditions, Ten minutes early for a job.

4. Say Your Name, Say Your Name, Say Your Name

At auditions, call backs, industry parties and on jobs. Don’t assume people know you. Be the first to extend your hand saying, “Hello, my name is…” Studies show that it takes someone hearing or seeing you several times to remember you.

Paul Cram, a working actor (check out his IMDB profile here), shares his thoughts on getting cast again and again by the same people.

Why Actors Need Websites – 6 Money Saving Tips

Imagine this: You are in your car (or walking to the subway) and you suddenly get a call from a casting director. They are interested in submitting you for an upcoming project, but need to forward your headshot & resume to the director within the next 30 minutes. You’re not at your computer, so you cannot email your materials to them. And you’re nowhere near their office, so you cannot just drop by with a physical copy of your headshot/resume. What can you do?

Or, imagine this: You are networking at an event (like the Tribeca Film Festival) and you have met so many people that you have handed out your last copy of your reel. You run into an agent who has seen you on stage, but comments that he would like to see your film work. He asks if you have a reel to give him. Sadly, you don’t, and it will be at least a week until you can get more duplicates made. What now?

If you are a business-minded actor, you would have a website and neither case would have been a problem! You could simply tell the casting director, “Drop by my website, where you can download a copy of my headshot and resume, both formatted for printing.” And for the agent, you would be able to say, “Here’s my website. Not only do I have my reel posted, but I also have clips from a few of the other projects I have done, including some singing and a few commercials.”

Having a website is one of the most important promotional tools an actor can have, second only to a good headshot. A website allows you to provide interested parties with a more full look at your body of work, your personality, and the way you run your business. And it allows them to do it in their own time, at their pace and leisure, which is vitally important in the larger, more competitive markets. The easier you can make it for a CD/agent to get to know you, the better chance you have of making an impact with them.

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How To Feel Confident And Give Great Auditions

HOW TO GIVE GREAT AUDITIONS BY CHANGING YOUR FOCUS!

Hello fellow actors!

I’m thrilled to be able to share my years of experience as an on-set and stage actor and over 15 years of teaching and coaching actors. Some of the topics I’d like to cover include; how to have sexual chemistry at auditions and on set, the secret to playing bad guys, cops, lawyers, FBI, judges and prostitutes; how to break down audition scripts; how to get more depth and vulnerability as an actor and much, much more!

For my first column I’d like to address:

How to feel confident and have a great time at your auditions.
The incredible technique I’m going to share with you is based on the work of Jerry  and Esther Hicks, who introduced the secrets of the law of attraction years before the huge success of the video and book, The Secret.

According to Esther and Jerry Hicks we are always either focusing on what we want or what we don’t want. When you’re unhappy, nervous, angry, etc it’s usually because you are focusing on what you don’t want. “I don’t want to be lonely, I don’t want to have so few auditions, I don’t want to be poor”, etc. The secret to shifting your mood in general and specifically when you audition is to focus on what you do want and how you DO want to FEEL at your auditions and on set.

So here’s a simple process for preparing for an audition:

First, imagine yourself on the way to an audition for a part you really want. try to focus on how you are feeling.

FOCUS ON HOW YOU ARE FEELING
Usually if you’re honest, you’ll say, for example…I feel nervous, I feel excited. I feel anxious. I feel like I’m not even right for this role. I feel unprepared, etc.

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Top 11 Reputable Casting Websites

One of the things that can get me incensed as a career coach is when casting websites pop up promising to give actors access to stardom. Some sites make it sounds like an actor’s big break is just around the corner, and all they need to do is pay a fee and they’re in! But most actors know that success comes with good training, strong relationship building, and the ability & wherewithal to seize an opportunity when it presents itself (also known as tenacity.) The trouble is, even the smartest actor has heard at least one rags-to-riches story, and the allure of a quick win sometimes overshadows common sense.

So, to combat the many unscrupulous characters baiting actors with empty promises, below you’ll find are 11 of my favorite reputable websites where casting notices can be found.

Actors Access
Backstage
Actors Equity Casting Call
Playbill
SAG Indie
Now Casting
Casting Networks/LACasting.com
Casting Networks/NYCasting.com
NYCastings.com
Mandy.com
Craigslist

Any of the others not listed here typically have the same notices that are on the above sites. If you are in LA or NY, I would caution you if paying to use any website other than these listed- it probably wouldn’t be worth the money. Of course, there are exceptions and I am sure a new website will come along and blow away the competition. But as of now, the above sites are the most reputable for those in the major markets.

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Auditions & Casting

Casting Directors, Filmmakers, Theaters, etc - please contact me if you’d like your project listed. Lance@dailyactor.com

Melissa Leo talks acting, auditioning and preparation

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

When Melissa Leo is on stage or you see her in a TV show or film, the project is immediately elevated to a different level. She has an incredible gift of grounding every scene she’s in, making everyone around her better.

If you saw her Oscar nominated performance in last year’s Frozen River, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Need more proof? Check out the first 5 seasons of Homicide, 21 Grams and the upcoming Welcome To The Rileys.

She’s currently starring in HBO’s Treme as attorney Toni Bernette. If you haven’t been watching the show, you are missing some great performances. Not only from Melissa, but John Goodman, Khandi Alexander, Wendell Pierce… the list goes on.

I talked to her while she was on set, filming another HBO project, Mildred Pierce.

When I first became aware of you in Homicide, and everything I’ve seen you in since, is that you bring a deep reality to everything you’re in. You keep everyone and everything around you grounded. That’s a big reason that Homicide stunk after you left the show.

Oh my God! I don’t know if I want all that responsibility but that’s quite a compliment. An actor at a festival once handed me a card, and she had written on it “Acting, the art of pretending the truth.” And I use her quote an awful lot, because it is. To me, that’s what it’s about, even when things go into the fantastical realm that they can on stage or in film. That’s an extraordinary compliment. Thank you.

After Frozen River, do you still have to audition now?

The auditioning has waned, some of it by choice. For many years, I recognized that I was used for casting directors to impress directors with their choices, to find out how a difficult part, in fact, can work. So I, as I’ve begun to have work offered to me, have backed away from auditions from time to time.

You seem to take these roles that might be difficult to cast, but you fit them perfectly.

Well, I think that anybody who does any kind of work gets the thing that if you’re going to be working, you might as well be working hard. So, that’s what I do, and I guess my passion and love for it is that acting really is my life. The only other thing really is my son.

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How the ‘Lost’ actors got their roles

This weeks Entertainment Weekly has a ton of Lost coverage in preparation of the upcoming series finale.

In the mag, there are some great stories how some of the cast members got their roles. And guess what? I have them right here!

Particularly interesting are the stories of Josh Holloway and Matthew Fox.

If you’re a fan of the show, you should definitely pick it up.

From Entertainment Weekly, May 14, 2010 issue:

With pilot season well underway, ABC needed a finished show in about 12 weeks. JJ Abrams agreed to direct the pilot, and they began furiously writing placeholder audition scenes, just so the actors would have something to read.

Bryan Burk (Exec Producer) The casting process was crazy. It was falling in love with people who were not at all what we had in mind for each role.

Jorge Garcia was invited to come in after Abrams saw him on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he would up with the tailor-made role of comical lottery winner Hurley. Aging rocker/addict Charlie was made younger after the producers were charmed by The Lord Of The Rings‘ Dominic Monaghan.

Abrams dialed Alias‘ Terry O’Quinn and offered him the role of enigmatic man of faith John Locke.

Terry O’Quinn (Locke) It was a very tumultuous time in my life. I wasn’t making a lot of money. JJ said, “There’s not going to a lot in the pilot. But we’re hoping to develop the role.” The fact that I didn’t have to do an audition, I had a role? It was a godsend.

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CAZT’s suggestion for a Mother’s Day gift

You’ve heard of CAZT, right?

Its a place in Hollywood where you audition for various casting directors then later when you get home, you can log onto their website to view the audition and see comments from the casting director.

All for $10 a month!

I love it when people figure out more ways to take money from actors.

Anyway, I got this email from them this morning announcing that I can now share my auditions with my mom for Mother’s Day!

Hey Lance, If your mother is like ours, she’s supported you in a million ways since you moved to LA. For Mother’s Day, show her what you’ve been up to out here. Announcing CAZT’s new sharing system: CAZT Members can show their auditions videos to anyone. To share your auditions with your mother (or anyone else): Enjoy! The CAZT Team

“Hey Mom, I didn’t get you flowers for Mother’s Day but I did get you this – you can log onto this website and watch some auditions I did! How great is that?? By the way, can I borrow  $10?”

A “Lost” Audition?

This post was originally written for talktvworld.com. If you’re looking for a comprehensive website that covers all things television, check this site out!

Whenever my phone rings and I see that its my agent, I immediately go through two emotions, I’m happy (I’ve booked something or have an audition) or I think I’ve done something wrong. Oddly enough, I get the same feeling when my parents call me. Yes, I know I may need therapy.

In this case though, it was good news. I had an audition with a great casting director; April Webster Casting. This has got to be one of the biggest casting offices around. They cast Lost and nearly all of JJ Abrams projects. To do a good job at this audition would mean that I could get on their radar.

The audition was for the TNT show, Dark Blue. The part wasn’t huge but I still worked on it like it was. I wasn’t going to screw-up this opportunity. Even if I end up not being right for the part, I’m going in there to make them a fan of my work.

That next afternoon, I drove to Burbank; going over the scenes the whole time. I walked into the office, signed in and immediately saw a taped piece of paper with “LOST Auditions: Sign In Here” emblazoned on it.
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Open Call: Want to be in a Todd Philips/Warner Brothers movie?

The producer and director of The Hangover are casting unknown actors for their new Warner Brothers film.

You must be over 18, be able to play 18 and be a U.S. Resident.

Submissions are free and must be received by May 16th!

Click here to submit!

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