Actually Got Fired From A Show Never Told This Horrible Story Before

Hey, in this video, I'm going to be sharing with you an unbelievably painful story of how I got fired from a TV show. And when you watch this, number one, I just wanted to share something more personal with you. I feel like with these quick tip videos, I'm making more of a connection with you all. And I also wanted to have you learn of a way, if you ever run into this situation, maybe how you can avoid it and how I could have handled things a little differently. Also, I've got a special bonus for you at the end. It's 7 unbelievably easy ways to prepare before an audition. And you can watch that at the very end. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel on the Actor Career Center, where I share really helpful industry information that I've learned from being a full-time actor for many, many years. 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's helpful, and please share it with your fellow actors so we can all learn and try to help each other. I'm not going to name the show. I feel a little uncomfortable about doing that. This was very early on in my career, and it's still, still a little painful. I actually was hired as a stand-in. And just to make sure, I know a lot of you know what a stand-in does, but for those of you who might be a little new, so a stand-in is someone who's hired to literally stand in for principal actors. So when they're setting up the scene, they're getting the camera angles, they're getting the lighting, they have someone who— you don't necessarily have to look just like the actor, although sometimes people do, but you have to be the same height, the same type of build, same facial tone, skin tones. So that when they're getting the lighting set up, everything is ready. And then when they're ready to shoot, they call in the first team— stand-ins, second team. The principal actors are the first team, and then they can start shooting, and then I'll have to do all the technical stuff with the principal actor. So I got hired by a local casting director who I had done some work for before, actually doing principal work. But like I said, this was early on in my career. I thought it would be a great experience, and it was. I learned so much from being a stand-in and watching some phenomenal actors, some Academy Award-winning actors perform. And I did this for a year and a half. And what happened was there was a new first AD that just came in after a year and a half of shooting— first assistant director. This gentleman was not a nice guy. He was angry, not really sure why. He was mean. He was not very nice to people. And the agreement— it wasn't anything in writing— but the agreement that I had while I was working there for a year and a half was if they ever asked me to do Extra work. And I did not know this at— well, actually, I'll explain this to you later. But if I was ever to— if they needed some extra bodies, even though I was just the stand-in, if they needed some extra bodies in a scene and they asked me, I would always help them out and work as an extra as well. And the non-written agreement was that they would never place me in front of the camera because all the people there knew That I still wanted to audition for the show. And as it turns out, I think it was like 3 years later, I actually did audition and book— took a part on the show. But so whenever I did, they would put me in the back just to kind of fill things up and things like that. So it worked out well, and these people were really nice, and I would do anything that they asked me to do. First assistant director. One of the first days that he was working there, it was a long shoot, it was a nighttime shoot. There were actually 2 Academy Award-winning actors in, in this particular scene. And the first assistant director said, hey, I need some extra bodies. Would you work as an extra? And I said, sure. I said, I'm more than happy to. I said, I just wanted to ask If you wouldn't mind placing me in the back, you know, or not having me face the camera just so, you know, I'm not recognizable, which would disqualify me from ever auditioning for the show. Once again, this is something I always did. It was never a problem. He was furious. He actually started screaming at me, and I'm not going to use all of his words. But essentially, he was saying, I don't have time for this. Are you going to do it, or are you not going to do it? You just let me— He's screaming in my face. And I said, well, look, if you need me, I'm more than happy to do it. I just don't want to be on camera so I can continue to do it. And he just went ballistic, and he just started screaming. I— Just stop. Stop. You tell me, are you going to do this or you're not going to do it? And I said, well, I mean, do I, do I have a choice? I said, well, if I'm going to be on camera, I'd rather not do it. He goes, fine. And that was the end of it. It was, it was a horrible, it was a horrible thing. It did not have to be like this. We could have had a simple discussion. Like, I don't know what was going on with the guy, but like I said, He was a pretty nasty human being in general, and I think just with the pressure, the long day, it got worse. So anyhow, so I— look, I'm sorry I couldn't help them out, but I wanted to be able to continue to audition. So next day, show up like I always do, go to sign in, got my voucher, start to fill out the paper. I was about to fill out the paperwork, and the guy who was signing me in said, Aaron, this guy wants to talk to you. And it was one of the producers. And I said, okay. So I walked over and I had no idea what was going on. And the guy said to me, hey, the first AD just fired you. I was, I was more than shocked. I've been here for a year and a half. And I said, he said he was very upset with you, and he said he wants to replace you. And I said to the guy, I said— and I explained to him. He said, I hear you, I get it. It's not my call, it's this guy's call, and I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to let you go. And I walked out of there and it was— I felt horrible. I felt— I mean, they didn't even contact me ahead of time. I actually drove to, to the set and I called the casting director because I wanted to let her know what had happened because she was the one who essentially hired me. And I tell you what I learned and what I would have done differently. I didn't know this at the time, and now you will. When you are a stand-in, you're hired as a stand-in, you're actually a high-paid extra. You get treated much better than a regular extra. You get paid a lot more. You go to the food line when they're breaking for meals in front of all the other extras because they might need you back on the set as they're setting up for the next scene. But essentially you're, you're an extra, and if they ask you to do extra work, you're obligated to do it. I had no idea. I thought a stand-in was a stand-in. It was a whole separate category. So here's what I, I guess I should have done. I should have said, sure, you know, I'll do it. And then when we're shooting the scene, I could have just kind of turned a little bit so that I wasn't facing the camera, and that would have taken care of that. Who knows, the guy might have gotten pissed again and maybe he would have screamed at me. Maybe he would have told me I've got to look this way. But anyhow, that's what happened, and it was a very difficult learning experience. It was a very painful— some of the other people who were on the set, even some of the extras, I mean, they saw this interaction and it was very embarrassing. For me as well. And so I learned a lot from that. Like I said, I could have done things differently, but ultimately I'm glad I wasn't seen on camera because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to audition and book a role on the TV show years later. So anyhow, I wanted to share that with you. I'm curious if you ever experienced something like that, or you've been fired or had a tough day on the set, hey, if you're comfortable with it, please share it with others because I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who have stories and just, you know, haven't shared. And you don't have to give out specifics, you know, like I said, I don't even remember the guy's name. Certainly remember the show. But anyhow, share it in the comments section. That would be great so we can Learn from each other. And so we're not, you know, I tell you, I just felt very isolated from it. And this is a nice way of building the community. I also wanted to mention, if you haven't done this, just a reminder, subscribe, click the notification bell. If you like it, give it a thumbs up and please share this with fellow actors. I did promise I was going to share another really good video with you, 7 unbelievably easy ways to prepare before for your audition. You know, just look up there, you'll see 2— actually, you'll see 2 links. One is a playlist that, that you can go to and watch other videos. The small little exclamation point, that's where you can actually watch this special video. Like I said, never told this before. Glad I'm sharing it with you. Still a little painful, still don't like it, still feels a little icky. But, um, I'm glad I did this. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. See ya.