Booking Even One Line On TV/Film Is Much Harder Than You Think

Have you ever heard someone say this about another actor? Yeah, I saw him on a TV show or film and yeah, but yeah, he only had one line. Well, I have, and, and most of the time I truly believe it's not meant to be a dig or mean-spirited about the actor. But I can tell you, unless you've actually been booked in a small role on a film or TV project, you do not fully understand and appreciate what's involved. So stick around because I'm going to explain exactly what it takes to get cast in a small role, what things are completely out of your control, and the statistics I break down for you I truly believe will Change the way you view this. Okay, let's get started. I'm Aaron Marcus. So I was flying somewhere, and on the flight, the guy sitting next to me struck up a conversation, was telling me about a guy that he knew who was an actor. He had no idea what I did, and he saw him on a TV show, and he was really excited that the guy was going to be on a show. And then he started to explain, yeah, but you know what's crazy? He only had one line. That was it. So I wanted to explain to him exactly what it took to get that role, and that's what I'm going to share with you here. So first of all, getting the audition is the hardest part. It's really hard for actors to get auditions, and here's the reason why. Look, these numbers will completely change depending on the role, depending on the project, but I've spoken with enough casting directors to feel very comfortable with giving you some of Stats. So on a role for, let's just say, a feature film, it's not unusual for a minimum of 500 to over 1,000 headshots and resumes to be submitted to a casting director. It's a lot of people. Now, out of, out of those, once again, this will vary, but it's not unusual for maybe 30 actors out of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds to be given the opportunity to audition for the role. After 30 audition, then you might have callbacks where they might see another 3 or 5 people who they've really liked. They're not really sure, and sometimes you get booked directly from the audition, but sometimes you get callbacks depending on the project. And then one person Gets booked. That is hard. So first of all, just getting the audition, what a great accomplishment. And I always tell actors, you used to feel wonderful about getting the audition. Then you do the audition, and then you have to understand there are so many things that are completely out of your control. You know, as it turns out, maybe you're too tall, Maybe you're too short. Maybe you're supposed to play the, the, the wife of the lead character and you're 5 feet and he happens to be 6'5 and they think it might look a little weird to match you guys up together. Or maybe you are one of the children who's auditioning and they like your read, but you just don't look anything like the parents, and so it's probably not going to happen for you. Who knows why? And the fact of the matter is, just so you know, the casting director typically does not decide who gets booked on the role. The casting director will do the casting, will make notes, will submit the auditions to— and once again, it could be— it could vary. It could be just the director, it could be director, could be the producers, it could be the networks. There are a lot of people involved with this. And then a lot of people have to agree that you are the perfect person for this role. So for those of you who might have heard, yeah, but you only have one line— congratulations! That's a tremendous accomplishment. Because— and I'm not trying to say this to scare you or say don't get involved in the industry or don't pursue this. Of course you should. Look, anything— to be successful with anything in this world is hard, but I think it's really important to know the realities of things because sometimes I have found that actors drop out very quickly because maybe they've done 10 auditions or 20 auditions or 30 auditions, or maybe they're hardly getting any auditions and they're not getting what they want. And look, I, I've read articles and I've seen interviews with well-known stars who might have auditioned, you know, 50, 100 times before getting something. So the, the point that I want to share with you here is not booking the job might simply be your audition was phenomenal, you just simply were not the perfect person for this role. And maybe not getting the audition itself, maybe you should be looking at your headshot and your resume. Maybe you— those things need to be changed. Maybe they're not selling you well. Maybe they don't represent you well. Maybe your resume is not in the right format. Maybe it doesn't have the right information that you absolutely want. As a matter of fact, later on I'm going to have a great Bonus video for you that will pop up, and it's about building a resume, just so you can get some of the greater details of what industry professionals expect. So if you have ever heard anything like that, or maybe you've said that, you know, about another actor and didn't fully appreciate the difficulty in booking anything, please share it here so that way we can learn from you. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget to subscribe, click the notification bell. If you this channel helpful. And give it a thumbs up if you like the video. That would be great. And certainly share it with your fellow actors. You'll see in the description there is— I have my website. You can sign up there free and you will get a great bonus video, 6 Secrets to Mastering Home Auditions, as well as being on my email list where I send really helpful industry information. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.