1 Show, 14 Auditions, NO Bookings #15 Booked Recurring—Here's Why

Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I auditioned for the same television show 14 times over 2 years. On the 15th audition, I asked the casting director this one question, and it completely changed the way I read for the role. As it turns out, I booked a recurring role on the Netflix series House of Cards after asking the question. So in this video, not only am I going to tell you what that question was, but I also want to share with you an idea that will also help you tremendously when you're auditioning for projects. Okay, let's get started. So one of the things that you always want to keep in mind, and because I hear this from a lot of actors They'll say, you know, I've auditioned for the same casting director, you know, 3 or 4 times, or I've auditioned for the same project 2 or 3 times, never booked. Look, apparently they don't want to hire me, and if I get another audition, I'm probably going to turn it down because I feel like I'm just wasting my time. If they liked what I did, I would have been hired already. So So let me just explain something to you that I've heard from multiple, multiple, multiple casting directors. Look, a casting director is not going to call you in a second time unless he or she really likes what you did. So when you get called in and you read and you don't book the role, let's say on the first time, well, maybe the audition wasn't very good. That, that happens. You might be a really talented actor. Maybe you're really good at auditioning. You just had a bad day at the office. That happens to everybody. Maybe you just need some more classes. You need to be better skilled. But here's the reality of what happens most of the time. You weren't right for the role. That's it. You simply didn't fit the role the best. And it's not like who gave the best audition, that's the person who's going to book it. It's not like the Olympics. It's not like whoever does the best skating routine is going to get the gold medal. Everybody auditioning is going to do a really good read, and then it comes down to factors that you have absolutely no control over, and that is, are you the perfect person for the role? So for House of Cards, look, apparently they really like what I did. They called me in 14 times. Sometimes I was put on hold, sometimes I had callbacks, sometimes I didn't. But for whatever reason, I wasn't the perfect person. Then the 15th, I was. Now the question that I'm going to be sharing with you— and by the way, if you haven't done this, just so I don't forget, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe, click the notification bell, like the video, give Give it a thumbs up. That's actually really helpful. So whenever I audition for a TV show, I watch the show. I want to know what kind of show is it. Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? How do people talk on the show? Do people talk over each other? Is it much more laid back? And I'm also very familiar with the characters. So, you know, I'm not going to walk into an audition and say, okay, I'm supposed to be reading for Jim Smith And, and who exactly is Jim Smith? Well, he's the star of the show. It's going to make me look very unprofessional and someone who really didn't do their homework. So for House of Cards, for this 15th audition, I noticed the name of the actor who I am reading with. Now, of course, she wasn't there. They had a reader, but I didn't know who she was, and because she hadn't been on the show before, she was guest star and just starting that season. So I asked the casting director, what is my relationship with this other actor or with this character? And I was told, you work for her. I went, oh, okay, got it. It completely changed the way I was thinking. I didn't realize that I worked for her, and I know that that made my audition so much stronger, and it allowed me to look more like the character that they wanted. So if it's a character that you're not familiar with, you know, because the person hasn't been on the show, or if it's for a movie, hasn't been out yet, so you have no idea who it is, ask, what is your relationship with this person? And that will give you some insights that you simply Couldn't have had before. I hope this was really helpful to you. And look, if you have ever had multiple auditions for a project, didn't book it, didn't book it, and if you never booked it, please— or if you did book it, let us know. Share it with us here on the channel so we can learn from you. That's the whole point of having the channel— people sharing information, people learning from each other. And so anyhow, This was a really interesting and life-altering experience for me, and I hope it's something that really means something to you. Once again, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.