Aaron Marcus, a 38-year working actor, auditioned for Gotham and didn't get the role he read for. Instead he was offered a week-long non-speaking part that involved being tasered, kidnapped, and surrounded by hogs. He explains why actors should take these unexpected opportunities.
In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you one absolutely crazy thing that happened to me after an audition, and I'm really glad that it did. And if you watch this to the end, you're also going to get a better sense of what the industry is like, what things can happen. Also, as a special bonus, you will see I will share the link with you for a really interesting video about should you audition for roles that are against your type. And I think you're going to really enjoy it. Okay, let's get started. Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center, where I share information with fellow actors based on my 38-plus years of working as a full-time actor. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, click the subscribe button, the notification bell, so you always know when I upload a new video. And if you like it, give it a thumbs up. That is actually really helpful. And also feel free to share the link with your fellow actors so we can continue to build a community of actors helping each other. So a number of years ago, I was sent out to audition— this was in New York— for a television show called Gotham. Not sure if you remember it. I think it was on Fox TV, if I'm not mistaken. And the sides that I read for was the leader of a self-help group. It was a bunch of people with various phobias, and I was the leader of the group. And I felt really good going into the audition. And And one thing, I know it's a little bit on the side, but I'm going to share it with you anyhow because that's just how my brain works. So basically, I'm talking to everybody in the group and we're in a room. And so just so you know, if— look, every audition that I do, I don't, I don't try to just audition. I try to give the look as if the scene is actually being shot. So for my eyeline, you know, I'm not just talking to a reader. Over here. I'm talking to everybody in the room who's in this self-help group with all these different phobias. So I'm talking to people, you know, and I'm looking around the room so I could see everybody. Anyhow, I wanted to share that with you. So I did the audition, and a day later I get a phone call from the agent, and he said, I've got some good news and bad news for you. So I'm curious how you guys deal with this. Personally, I like bad news first because then I have something to look forward to. So, so I said, okay, well, give me the bad news first. So bad news was they cut that role out of the show. And I'm saying, and there's good news after that? And by the way, that stuff happens all the time. You could be the perfect person for the role. They might even want to cast you and Look, sometimes they just cut it out. Sometimes you shoot it and for the sake of time they have to cut, you know, cut it out and you're not— you don't make the final edits. That stuff happens all the time too. So, so that was the bad news. Good news is they really liked my audition and they wanted to offer me another part. I said, okay, so what, what's happening with this? He said, well, the other part of the good news is instead of being a day player which is what I originally read for because that role just worked one day on the show. This was a week contract. He said, now I just want to let you know you don't have any lines in this particular scene. Or actually, there are a couple different scenes, and that's why it was a week contract. I have a phobia. I am scared of pigs. This tremendous fear of pigs. My character, not me. I like pigs. Don't like to eat them, but I do. I do like— I just don't eat any animals. But anyhow, I don't have any lines, and I am scared to death by a guy, this horrible scientist who tries to get people really frightened at the highest moment of their fears, and then we'll extract something from your brain. And it's like that, that's what's going on. But the point is, I see a pig, freak out, and then I get tasered, and then I get kidnapped, and they're going to kill me. So he said, look, you don't have any lines, and I just wanted to let you know, look, if you don't want to accept it That's fine, and I'll continue to submit you for, you know, for roles that have lines. And I'm like, it took me a nanosecond to say to the agent, of course I'm going to take it. I think I'm going to turn down a weak contract on a hit show, and, and I get a chance to do some pretty interesting things. The industry can be crazy. You know, you just never know. But the important thing is you get yourself out there because you just don't know what might happen. And, and it was really fun getting tasered and kidnapped and, and being surrounded by a lot of pigs in, in this one particular scene after I was kidnapped. And it was really pretty cool. Hey, I'll just tell you 'Cause it was really cool. So after I was tasered and knocked out and I am tied up in a chair in this warehouse, and it was really beautiful. What they were doing was they were going to let all these huge— actually, these weren't even big. These were hogs. These things weighed, I think the guy told me, the animal coordinator, these things weighed like up to 200 pounds. Wow. And they needed to let them Run into the room so that I would be so incredibly scared, and that's when they would take things out of my brain and all that kind of stuff. So, so I was speaking with the trainer. He said, look, this is what's going to happen. We're going to open the door, they're going to come rushing at you, and here's the thing, they're not going to hurt you, but they are going to run right up to you because we're going to put some food right by your feet, and they might Knock your chair around a little bit, don't be concerned, 'cause once again, they're not gonna hurt you. And my eyes had to stay closed for that particular scene. So, and that's exactly what did happen. So I'm lying, you know, or I'm sitting in the chair like this and I could just feel them and they were bumping me around. It was great. Oh, what a wonderful experience. So yeah, you never know. Once again, hey, if you haven't done it, subscribe, click the notification bell. Please. If you like it, give it a thumbs up, share it. Have you ever had a really interesting experience? Things changed on you? Please share, share it with others in the comment section. I'd really appreciate it. Hey, I almost forgot. If you look up here, you'll see the little— I guess it's kind of like an exclamation point. That's where you're going to be able to click and see the bonus video. You will see a video below that. That's just one of the playlists, but it's the little one. all the way on the top. I'm Aaron Marcus. Can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
