Agent Said They Passed - Then Booked A Week Contract (How)

Boy, it feels good to feel good again. I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but I auditioned for a TV show, didn't book it, then I did. So I'm going to explain to you what happened. Watch this video to the end and you'll have the link for a really helpful video. It's the audition risk that I took that actually got me a booking. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. Look, this was quite a few years ago. I auditioned for the TV show Gotham, which— it was a really interesting show. All of a sudden it got really dark after a couple of years, but I was in the first season, and I believe the episode was called The Fearsome Dr. Crane, and Basically, I traveled from my home up to New York, which I did regularly. It was a hike. I used to do this all the time, and depending on how I got there, it could take 4, 4 and a half, 5 hours from the time I left my house to the time I got to the casting director's office. I would do a 2-minute audition, 3-minute audition, 4-minute audition, however long it took. And then I'd go back home. So did this audition, and here's what it was for. I was the head of a phobia group, and the reason for that— I don't know if you saw the episode, but basically there was a guy named Dr. Crane. I forgot the actor's name. He's a British actor, really phenomenal. And what he would do is he would find people with phobias. And he would scare them to such an extent that once they were at their maximum fear level, he would extract something from their brain, and then it would help him create these— I don't know— kind of human people with these amazing skills. Not a real nice guy. So I'm the head of this phobia group, go in there, and I'm talking to this group, and people had all kinds of different phobias, and I'm addressing them, and finished the audition. And hey, I had a great time. I enjoyed it, thought it went well, and that's all I ever think about for the audition. Not really thinking I'm going to book it. I just enjoyed myself. So now I'm traveling home and I get a phone call from the agent, and the agent said, I've got some good news and some bad news. Now, I don't know about you, I always like hearing bad news first because that gives me something to look forward to. I said, okay, what's the bad news? Bad news is they cut out that character for the episode. It's gone. Just completely got rid of it. And now I'm thinking, well, that was a wasted day. The good news though is that they really liked the audition and they wanted to offer me another role. 2 parts to that that I really liked hearing. Number one, what I also didn't mention was instead of it being a day player role, which is what the head of the Sobia Group was. I would work one day on the show. The other thing that they wanted to offer me— didn't even have to audition— was a week contract. And the agent said, but look, before you say yes, I just want to let you know there are no lines. And I said, okay, I'll take it. Are you kidding me? First of all, who knows when I'm going to get another audition for the TV show Gotham? Who knows if I'm going to book it? And this was a week contract, so I was very excited. So basically go in, didn't book the job, but this is what happened. And the, the incredible thing was— and actually, I'll even tell you a little bit about it because it was a wonderful experience. Now, instead of being the head of a phobia group, I actually am a guy with phobias, and I am very afraid of pigs. Now personally, I love pigs. They're very cute, they're very smart animals. And, and the interesting thing was I'm walking down the street from my house— we shot it in New York— and this guy Dr. Crane is walking towards me with this little pig in his arms, really sweet little guy. And I freak out, and I turn around, and I keep like turning over to kind of look at him to see if he's following me, and he is. Oh my God. And then at one point, this very large gentleman who used to be an NBA basketball player— I believe he said he was like 6'10, that made sense to me— who now is doing some stunt work, he tasers me and kidnaps me, throws me in a truck, takes me to this warehouse. And here's, here's a really interesting point. Hey, but before I tell you, I got to ask A couple of things. If you have ever experienced auditioning for something, not booking it, and then getting something else on that project or with the casting director for something else, please share it here. Love to learn from your experiences. And the other thing too is, if you haven't done this yet, you can get onto my great— it's an email list— and just go to howtoactandmodel.com, and you can just fill out your information. And every week I'm going to to send you really helpful industry-related information. So the next part, and this is partially why it was a week contract, so we spent one day just doing the street and we spent a couple days also doing this warehouse where I'm tied up. This part was really cool. Oh, you know, one thing I didn't mention, I had to work with a stunt coordinator because When I get tasered, and I did a lot of research after I found out I booked the part, now I'm going to get tasered. What happens when you get tasered? Fortunately, I've never been tasered, so I didn't know what that experience was. And so I went online and I'm just looking up all these examples of people who get tasered and they were actually showing it. The crazy thing was there were people who were doing this as a joke. With their friends. Sometimes it would be a surprise, sometimes they knew about it. They would take turns getting tasered. There's some crazy people in this world because it's, it's dangerous. I mean, you, you can, you can die from getting tasered depending on what, what's going on with your body. And so I had to learn what takes place when you get tasered. And so what we worked out with the stunt coordinator was my body just collapsed. And this very large guy had to grab me. And to make it very realistic— I mean, I wasn't really tased, looked like it— this guy had to catch me before my head hit the sidewalk, because I'm walking down the sidewalk and my body just collapses. It was really, it was a very interesting experience. Really glad I had a chance to do it. The other part that was really cool was I'm in this warehouse. And they had a guy who was taking care of a couple of hogs. Because what was happening was, I'm, you know, just— I'm still knocked out at this point. I'm tied up in a chair. And in order to get me to reach the highest level of being afraid, they released a couple hogs. I can't remember, it was 2 or 3 hogs in this, in this warehouse where I'm being kidnapped, and I would freak out, and then they would once again extract stuff from my brain. So I spoke with the guy who was the hog wrangler, and they cleared the entire room out of— for everybody except for the essential people. So even the director wasn't in there, but the, the sound person and the camera operator There were a couple other people involved. And here's what he told me, and it was pretty amazing. So I'm sitting in this chair, hands tied up, and he said, look, here's what's going to happen. We're going to put some feed by your feet, and we're going to release the hogs, and they are going to come charging at you. Now, meanwhile, at this moment, I'm not awake yet. Wow. So they're going to come charging at me. My eyes are closed. And he said, just understand, they are not going to hurt you, but they might bump you around because they're a little bit clumsy. These guys weighed over 200 pounds each. They were huge animals. They were very sweet. I played with them before we shot. And exactly what this guy told me is what happened. And they came running towards me. I could just I could feel this energy even though I couldn't see them, and I'm getting bounced around by these hogs. It was great. What a wonderful experience. Hey, one other thing I forgot to mention. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, please subscribe, click the notification bell. If you like it, give it a thumbs up. That's always very helpful. And share this link with your fellow actors so we can continue building a great a great place for actors to learn from each other and share information with each other. So anyhow, that's how I didn't book the job, but I did. So you just never know what can happen. Honestly, I view it every time you audition with a casting director, it's like making a small deposit at the bank. And, you know, it might not be a big deposit, but it will build up over time. And people, you know, assuming you gave a great audition, people will remember you, and it might not be for that same project, but it might be for future projects. I did promise another really helpful video for you. You can see it right up here. Basically, it's the audition risk that I took that helped get me booked for a great job. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.