Can't Believe What These Two Actors Said Absolutely Shocking

In this video, I'm going to be talking about how I still can't believe what these 2 actors actually said to me. I— it was just shocking. And I want you to watch this to the end so you can really learn a lot more about how to deal with people talking to you in the industry. And when you watch this to the end, I've got a great bonus video. Basically, it's How I booked a recurring role on Netflix and how hopefully you can as well. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus and welcome to the Actor and Model Quick Tip Channel and the Actor Career Center where I share information from my 37+ years of working as a full-time actor. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, click the subscribe button. This is also really important, the notification bell, so you always know when I upload a new video. And if you like the video, give it a thumbs up. That's always helpful. And please share the link with your fellow actors so we can help build a community of people helping each other. I went to an audition, and this was a number of years ago, for a local TV spot. It was in New York, and I've been to the casting director before, and I'm standing in line waiting to go in, and there was one person in front of me, and the actor turns around and says, Hey, did you hear they just upgraded this thing? It's not a local spot anymore. This is going to be a national TV commercial. And I thought, wow, well, that, that changes things. I start feeling a little bit more nervous. I start feeling a little bit more pressure. There's more at stake instead of it just being a local one. I mean, national, you're talking about potentially a, a lot of money for this. And all of a sudden I was just kind of thrown. And so when it was my turn to go in, I walked in and the casting director said, do you have any questions? And I said, yeah, I just, just wanted to make sure this, this is a national spot, right? And she looked at me like I was crazy and she said, no, it's just a local TV spot. And so what— what all of a sudden it became very clear to me, here was an actor who was purposely trying to sabotage my audition. This was an actor who was trying to take me out of the moment, who was trying to make me think about other things. It was, it was a horrible, just a horrible thing to do. Look, I truly believe in surrounding yourself with people who want to help other people in the industry. I'm not saying this is the way to do it, this is how everybody should do it. No, not at all. And if you're not into sharing information and helping other people, that's fine. You can still be a very good person, a very kind human being. That's not something you are interested in doing. And that is absolutely fine. But for the people who purposely do things to try to hurt others, that's just horrible. So look, there are also situations where not just dealing with actors, but you might hear things from people in the industry, and that also can really throw you off. I'm going to share something else with you. Is once again a number of years ago I created a new composite sheet, which is, if you're not familiar with, sometimes they're called composite sheets, comp cards, or Zed cards. This is for commercial modeling, and instead of having one photo on the front and a resume on the back, you might have— and it could vary— you could have one photo on the front, 4 on the back. You could have 5 on the front, 9 on the back. It doesn't really matter. There's no set standard, and then you'll have your name and statistics and contact information, things like that. So I had just gotten a new composite sheet, and I knew it was a good one because it was getting me work. And I brought it into an agency— once again, I'm going back a number of years before people were doing things electronically— and I brought a bunch of composite sheets because every agency that I worked with would always ask for a minimum of 25, 30, sometimes 40 comp cards because they would mail them out. Every time there was a go-see that they were submitting for, they would actually physically mail out the cards. Brought it into this agency who I'd worked with. I'd known these people for a long time and showed her my new comp card. And she looked at me, she looked at the card, and she said, horrible, can't do anything with it. And I looked at her and I said, Okay. And I was about ready to leave. I wasn't going to leave any with her. I just didn't get it because I knew it was a good card. And I turned to her business partner who was seated like a little bit farther away, and I said, do you want me to leave any of them? And she said, yeah, yeah, why don't you leave a couple? So I left a couple. About a week later, I got a phone call From an actor who I kind of knew, didn't know well, but he called me and he said, hey, I just wanted to find out, where did you get your composite sheets printed? So I gave him all the information and I said, I'm just kind of curious, how did you happen to see my new composite sheet? And he said, well, I was at this agency's office and the woman, the owner, said, you know, you should really start doing commercial modeling work. And he said, you know, it sounds interesting. I just don't know anything about it. I don't know what kind of photos to put together. She pulled yours out as the best card that she has and said, just follow Aaron's work here. You know, just, just, you know, take a look at it, study it, and create photos similar to that. This is the same agent who told me that my photos were horrible, that the comp card is unusable. So here's the thing. Listen to what people have to say, but you have to filter everything. So here's the one other story, and I don't like naming names. I just don't think it's good. Besides the fact that the person passed away, this happened probably about 30 years ago, but it's really relevant. And this is still shocking to me, and I don't really fully understand it even to this day. So I was a stand-in on a network TV show, and I did it for about a year and a half. What a great experience. And speaking of learning from watching other actors, watching directors, writers, listening to what they have to say, it was a great, great experience. So here's, here's the scene. The weather was kind of nasty. We were shooting— we had been shooting something outside. They were moving inside, and one of the production assistants who I had known for quite some time because I worked there for a year and a half, he said, look, it's going to be at least a half hour before we're going to need you for the next setup. Let me give you a walkie-talkie. Hold on to it, and why don't you go in and just sit in this trailer over here. I figured it was an empty trailer and that way I could just hang out. So I pointed, I said, do you mean this trailer? It was just a couple feet away. He goes, yep, that, that's the one. Just go in there, wait there. There's no need for you to hang out in this horrible weather. I'll call you as soon as we need you to start the scene. So went into the trailer, opened up the door. It was the trailer of one of the stars of the TV show. And he was there. He was in his trailer. I felt really embarrassed. I, I said, oh, I am so sorry. One of the PAs said that I should hang out in here, but I apologize. Apparently there was a mistake. And he said, oh no, you can hang out here. I'm heading— I have to head out for rehearsals right now. I said, no, I'm not going to sit in your trailer. I don't feel comfortable. He goes, I'm telling you, It's fine. Sit in the trailer and just stay warm. It's okay. Now, once again, I've seen this guy for a year and a half. It's not like I'm a stranger to him. Wasn't best of friends, but talked a little bit. I said, you're sure? He goes, absolutely. Just stay here. I said, okay. So I'm sitting in the trailer. It must have been a minute later The same PA came running over, knocked on the door, and said, Aaron, get out of here! Get out of here right away! I said, okay. I said, why? What's going on? He goes, the actor is really angry. He said he started screaming. What in— well, I'm not going to say exactly what he said. What in the world is this— is this guy doing sitting in my trailer, coming into my trailer? And I said to the PA, I said, the guy said I should stay there. You invited me in to stay. I said, and the guy said it's fine. And I said, I did. He said, man, he's going crazy. He's screaming, he's yelling. And it's so weird. It's like I still don't understand why would the guy insist on me being in his trailer when apparently the guy didn't want me in this trailer. So As just to kind of wind this thing up, it's— and I think this is a really good lesson for all of us— is that when you are talking to people in the industry, once again, listen to what they have to say, but you've got to filter everything and understand that you can't take anything personally, even when they say crazy things. Even like when you do an audition And if— at least for me, this is my experience, and I don't know what it's like for you, but my experience is if I start hearing a lot of really complimentary things about the audition— yeah, oh, you were wonderful. Yeah, I've got to tell you, you were the only one that really captured this character. You got it. You know, you really understood. That's when I kissed the job goodbye because I know I'm never going to get it. And, and I don't know if they say really flowery things and complimentary things because they know I'm not going to get it and they feel bad for me. I don't know, maybe that's it. But typically when I do an audition and they go, all right, thanks, next, then I go, all right, all right, well, that seems, that seems good. So the thing is, ask questions, hear what people have to say. But just understand that what they say might not be the truth. And it's not necessarily they're mean and nasty. Who knows? Maybe they're just having a bad day. Maybe they don't want to put the effort into really thinking about what should be said to you, and they just want to get rid of you the best and quickest way possible. Hey, you were wonderful. You were great. See ya. I don't know. But look, it's easy to feel bad when somebody, especially if somebody says something negative to you. It's not personal. And just remember, you're not married to this person. You don't have to go home to this person after, after work. Surround yourself with people you love and with other actors that you do trust, actors who will be honest with you, hopefully in a nice way. That's what you want to do. So I hope this was helpful. If you ever had somebody say something to you that just didn't make any sense, or, you know, just seemed kind of crazy, please share it, uh, in, in the comments so that way we can all learn from each other. Um, also, like I had said before, if you haven't done this, don't forget, click the subscribe button, notification bell, and if you like the video, give it a thumbs up. Here is where you can use the link Uh, there might be a couple of videos up there, but the one about getting the recurring role on the Netflix film— click the link, enjoy it. I hope it's really helpful to you, and can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. I'm Aaron Marcus.