Aaron Marcus, founder of HowToModel.com, walks through a lung-cancer pharmaceutical go-see where the photographer asked models to look "concerned" with no context. He shows why asking precise questions—like whether the concern is about diagnosis or symptoms—matters for nailing the right emotional expression. When direction is vague, models need to make an informed choice themselves.
Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, America's premier acting and commercial modeling career coach, the founder of HowToModel.com. I'm the author of How to Become a Successful Commercial Model, now in its 5th edition, and I've been making my living as an actor and a commercial model for over 26 years. I recently had a go-see, and it had to do— it was a pharmaceutical ad, and it had to do with lung cancer. And I was sitting around and listening to the photographer talk with the models prior to being photographed. And so I wanted to hear what he was saying just so I could learn, maybe I could prepare, have some ideas of what I wanted to do before I was shot. And one of the things that he was asking for was to have the model look concerned. And so I thought that was very interesting, but it didn't really tell me what I needed to know. You know, I realized this has to do with lung cancer. It's a pharmaceutical thing. I could guess what the concern was about, but I wasn't 100% sure. So I asked right before I went in there, and I said to the photographer, you know, I know it's about lung cancer. You're looking for concern. Could you tell me what What is happening? Did I find out that I was just diagnosed with lung cancer? Am I concerned because I'm feeling symptoms about it? Because those are going to be very, very different looks. And so he gave me some very specific information and I was able to process it quickly because, well, I wrote the book, How to Become a Successful Commercial Model, where I teach people how to prepare before the session. So I knew exactly what to do, what keywords to use to grab the emotions that were needed in the shot. And I mean, I have no idea if I'm going to book the job or not, but at least I know I gave the right kind of look. I prepared in the best possible way, and I gave myself, you know, my greatest opportunity, at least for getting the booking. So when you're on the set and they're asking for a certain kind of emotion, don't be afraid to ask the photographer. Sometimes they don't have the answer, in which case you just have to make a decision on your own. Always ask. It will be very helpful to you. So I hope this was helpful to you. And once again, I'm Aaron Marcus. If you have any questions at all, feel free to email me at aaron@howtomodel.com. And please join my family of actors and models on my Facebook page. It's facebook.com/howtomodel. I have just thousands of people who ask questions, answer questions, and it's a group. We try to help each other out. And please like the page so we can help spread the word about it as well. So anyhow, look forward to talking with you soon. My name is Aaron Marcus.
