Feeling Frustrated About Not Booking An Acting Audition - Try These 4 Things

Hey, do you get really frustrated and angry and just feel like giving up sometimes when you don't book the job? Hey, look, it happens to everybody. So watch this video. I'm going to be sharing with you some really important tips and ways to deal with not booking a job that I've learned over the past 36+ years of working as a full-time actor. Okay, let's get going. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tip channel and the Actor Career Center, where if I can, at least twice a month, I try to upload a new quick tip video that will be helpful to you. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget, click the subscribe button and, and especially the notification bell. That way, every time I upload a new video, you'll be notified. And if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. Um, In this video, I'm gonna be sharing with you some really important things to help you deal with not booking the job. And look, this happens to everybody. Famous actors sometimes don't book the job. Now, a lot of times they have things written for them, and so they're just offered parts, but there are a lot of actors who audition for roles that they really want. So here's the very first thing. When you go to an audition, don't try to book the job. And I know that sounds a little weird because you're thinking, well, wait a minute, I'm an actor. I— this is what I do. I audition. I try to book the job because I want to get the part. But I'm telling you, it's, it's a different way of viewing the audition itself that, at least for me, has been really very, very helpful. I don't try to book the audition. I'm not even thinking about that. What I am thinking about is this is going to be fun. It's a Monday afternoon. I get a chance to act for 2 or 3 minutes or 5 minutes depending on how long the read is, and that's, that's my number one goal— just having a good time. Because I truly believe that if you go into an audition Thinking, I've got to book this, I really want this, there's an actor I'm going to have the scene with, or this is going to be a big part, it's going to change my career, you know, I'm going to make a lot of money— whatever it is, it's going to add more pressure to your audition. And, and I can tell you, casting directors can smell desperation a mile away. They can. They, they, they don't want to work with people who are desperate. They want to work with people who are exuding confidence. You might be scared inside, that's okay, Don't let them see it because they want to work with somebody who has this concept in their brain of, hey, if I book the job, that's great. If I don't book the job, that's great. This is fun. That's who they want, you know, on a set, not somebody who's feeling desperate. So that's the key thing, uh, as far as going into the audition itself. The other thing to keep in mind, this is number 2, You've already won. Just the fact that you got the audition says a lot about you. It says a lot about your headshot. It says a lot about your resume because it is really hard getting an audition. And look, these numbers are not exact. They will change from project to project, but at least it will give you a ballpark idea. And I've spoken with a number of casting directors about it. And once again, these numbers have ranged a little bit, but I have heard depending on the role, depending on the kind of project, like a TV commercial, you might have more people auditioning or submitting. But I have heard from casting directors that sometimes they will receive 300, 500, 1,000 submissions for a role depending on— once again, depending on the project and things like that. They might invite about 30 people to actually read for the role, and then out of those 30, one person gets selected. So it's really hard to get an audition. So just the fact that you've been invited to read, that is something to celebrate. That is something that is saying you are doing something right in this world, because out of Anybody in the world who they could be bringing in to audition for this particular role, they asked you. So that is something not to dismiss and really take that in. Number 3, and, and this is also really important, you have to really understand how the audition process works. And look, It's not about who gives the best audition. You know, I know sometimes people say, and I've seen people do this at auditions when we were going into casting directors' offices, they would walk out of the audition and they would look at everybody in the room and they would say, hey, you guys might as well go home, I nailed that one. Which, I don't know, to me that seems like a very insecure kind of person. It's like, I mean, just, just, just do your job, you know. And, and look, the, the fact of the matter is there are, there are lots of auditions that I do that I think went really well. And when I say really well, not, not saying I'm going to book the job. I did what I wanted to do, you know. I prepared, I had ideas, I brought them into the audition, I executed them. If I, if I was given notes from from the casting director to make some changes. If I did those, I can walk out and I will say, I did a really good job at that audition. You know, I did exactly what I wanted to do. Now, see, I don't equate and connect doing a great audition and booking the job. Those are 2 separate things. And there have been lots of auditions that I really liked And I, once again, I thought they went well, but it doesn't have any bearing for me on whether I booked the job because I understand there are so many factors that go into booking a job. So maybe you look— you know what, I'm going to tell you this exact story. I auditioned for a TV show once. I was playing— I was reading for the role of a dad. Went to do the audition, and the kid who was the guest star looked nothing like me. I knew there was no chance that I was going to book this job. I didn't look anything like this kid, and there was no way I was going to be his father because the kid was not adopted. So, you know, the only thing I could hope for is that they like my read and they think, okay, it was a good read, he's not right for this. And that— and so what better way to introduce yourself to a casting director than to have them watch you work, as opposed to just sending in a headshot? So there's so many factors. Maybe you're too tall, maybe you're too short, maybe you're too attractive, maybe you're not attractive enough, maybe you're too thin, maybe you're not thin enough, maybe your body is in too good a shape, it's not— who knows? You know, maybe you remind the director, you know, of, of his ex-wife who he can't stand and doesn't want to be around. Who knows? And I'm not And I'm not just exaggerating. I've heard of those kinds of stories. You look, you have complete control over your audition. You have absolutely no control over who books the job. And, and just make sure you understand this really clearly. It's not a contest. It's not who gets the most points. It's not who gives the best audition. It's who fits the role the best. Now, I'm not saying that you can give a really poor audition and just be dead and not bring anything to the table and think you're going to get the job. No, look, you've got to do a good job, but there are tons of people who are doing— probably there are probably, you know, at least 30 people doing a great, a great read. So you, you just have absolutely no say in it, no control. So the only thing you can ask for Is number one, enjoy it. Enjoy the process. After the audition, analyze it. At least I do. You know, I think, okay, did I do what I wanted to do? If I was given any kind of direction, did I follow it, you know, properly? And then you've got to let it go. Now, having said that, let me tell you, look, we are humans, right? We're sensitive people. Well, most of us are. Um, if there's a job that I want, I can tell you, you know, here I'm giving this, you know, advice Don't think about it afterwards. Let it go. You have no control. Look, there are jobs that I've done, or auditions that I've done, that I've really wanted. And especially if things are a little slow. If I'm working a lot and I do an audition that I really want, okay, it's much easier. But when things are slow and you do this audition and it's a really cool kind of job for a whole variety of reasons, you know, yeah, sometimes I do think about it. If I get a text or I get an email and I'm thinking, oh, or maybe Maybe even a phone call from somebody. Oh, maybe this is it. Have they made decisions yet? Sometimes I do. We are humans. But when I don't book the job, I don't beat myself up. I'm not saying don't feel bad. Once again, you have feelings, and if there's something that you want that you don't get, You can feel bad. There's nothing wrong with feeling bad. But here's the key takeaway. Don't make any connection about booking a job, not booking a job, and who you are as a human being. And I know that might sound a little silly, but I'm telling you, I've known lots of people who take this stuff personally, which you cannot do. These are all business decisions. You know, these aren't personal decisions. It's not like they didn't like you and that's why you didn't get— you weren't the perfect person for this role. It doesn't mean you didn't give the most interesting audition. Yeah, maybe you did, but that still doesn't necessarily get you the job in any way. So you just have to understand that it's not who gives the best read. And so if you don't get it, understand if you're a good person You're still a good person. You know, if you're a talented actor and you've, you know, you're, you know, you book lots of jobs, you're still a talented actor. You know, so don't beat yourself up. And there are people who do, and I understand it. So here's like the last thing I just wanted to mention. Look, if it's something you really wanted and you're feeling a little bad about it, You know something? Do something nice for yourself. I'm telling you, if going out and getting ice cream is something that's going to make you feel better, or buy a new pair of shoes, or treat yourself, be kind to yourself because it's hard. Look, we are salespeople. Actors are salespeople. We are selling ourselves, you know, unless you're at, once again, at that elite level where people are writing things for you and asking you to, you know, to, to, you know, play with them on, on a project. You know, for most of us, we're auditioning all the time. And so you've got to take good care of yourself and be nice to yourself. And so, yeah, I just highly recommend that you, you just do something special just for the fact that you got the audition. You got through it, and be kind. So anyhow, if you're a nice person, you're still a nice person whether you book the job or not, you know. So anyhow, I just wanted to share that with you. And, and please, if, if, if you haven't done this yet, I mentioned this earlier, please subscribe, click the notification bell so you always know when I upload a new video. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. And also Here's another important thing. If you would, if you've experienced feeling bad, feeling depressed, feeling angry, feeling bitter, whatever it is, or just unhappy about not booking a job, please leave a comment below. Share your information here with others. How do you deal with it? I'd be curious. And let other people know. Maybe you can offer something to us. That will be really helpful so we know how to better take care of ourselves in this industry. So please leave a comment below. And I'm also giving everybody here permission, share this link with all of your friends, all of your actor friends, model friends. It's the same thing, you know, whether you go to a go-see or an audition. And also feel free to share it on your social media platforms just to help spread the word. so we can continue to build a great community of people helping each other here. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.