Aaron Marcus recounts calling a casting director for an extras role, getting hired on the phone, and sitting near a principal actor on set. He argues that sometimes taking a gamble on an opportunity, even if it seems risky, can pay off for your career.
Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to my Acting and Modeling Tips channel if you are watching this on YouTube. Um, I did something that I would highly recommend that you don't do, and I wasn't sure if I really should do this, but I decided to take a chance and do it anyway. So I received a notification from a casting director who I know and I've worked with before. They were looking for tons of extras for a feature film. And, you know, look, I always like to stay in touch with casting directors. I knew that she needed a bunch of people, and they also— it looked like they were going to be needing people for 5 or 6 days on this project. And I was told that the days were really long. So look, I'm always looking to make sure that I make enough money to add to my pension every year through my union jobs. So You know, something I was considering, as well as the fact that they were shooting not that far, about an hour away from where my son and his wife live. So I thought it'd be nice, I'd get a chance to hang out with them a little bit as well. So this was like a last-minute thing. I submitted the information they needed and I didn't hear back. And here's where the dilemma came in. I was kind of deciding, I really wanted to make sure that they got my information, so— I decided to take a gamble and call the casting director's office. And I know normally that's not a good thing to do because if every person called them up and started saying, hey, did you get my information? They would be overwhelmed. They needed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people for this project. But I also was thinking it's very possible that my upload might get lost, might not be seen. And since they know who I am, I decided, you know what, I'm just going to call them. So as it turns out, it worked out well. They hired me over the phone. And the crazy thing was, look, I signed an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement, so I really can't say anything about this project. But the one thing that I can say is that out of literally about 700 people, for whatever reason, it was the first AD, first assistant director, decided to give me a call. Give me a character position. And it was still extra work, but as it turns out, I was sitting by the principal actor, like one of the stars of the movie, the entire time because of my role. And it was really— it was a lovely experience. Got a chance to watch some really, really good actors. Got a chance to talk with this person who I was sitting next to. The person was very open to having conversations. And so, it was a great experience. And actually, I'll be going back and doing some more work on this project. So, the windup is, sometimes you got to take a gamble, and it could have turned out really badly. It could have been, hey, don't call me, just upload your photo. It could have gone that route, or it went the route that I was hoping. And so, I just put myself out there for something positive to happen, and it worked out this time. So, anyhow, I just wanted to let you know. Yeah, you don't want to call and say, hey, did you get my information? But sometimes take a gamble and see what happens. Anyhow, if you are watching this on YouTube, don't forget you can— and let me just look this up— you want to subscribe, hit the subscribe button and the notification button so that way every time I upload something new, it automatically will be sent to you. And also don't forget to give it a thumbs up if you're watching this on Facebook or on my website. If you have a comment, If there's something that you've done that has either worked out really well or really poorly, a gamble that you took, please share it with others here as well. And feel free to share this with other people as well throughout your social media platforms. If you do have any personal questions, you can always reach me at my website, howtoactandmodel.com. But really, don't forget, hit the subscribe and notification button if you're watching this on YouTube, and that way you'll always get my new info. Okay, I'm Aaron Marcus. Can't wait to talk with you again soon. Bye. See ya.
