In this vlog, Aaron Marcus – a veteran actor, commercial model, and career coach – recounts a recent New York television audition that he knew he would not book. He discovered that the sides he received the night before were outdated and belonged to a different show, and the role was written for a man in his mid‑60s, while the other actors auditioning matched that age range, making him a clear miscast. Despite these setbacks, Aaron remained happy because the casting director was exceptionally friendly, professional, and welcoming, providing a positive experience. He also enjoyed his own read, felt the connection could lead to future opportunities, and explained that casting directors sometimes have actors read for parts they aren’t likely to get. Aaron closes by inviting viewers to share similar audition stories via his Facebook page, website, or email, emphasizing community engagement and offering further coaching support.
Chapters
Hi, my name is Aaron Marcus, America's premier acting and commercial modeling career coach, the founder of howtomodel.com, the author of How to Become a Successful Commercial Model, and I've been making my living as an actor and a commercial model for over 26 years. So the heading for this particular video blog is Why I'm Happy Even After Not Getting the Booking from an Audition. And normally, you know, people want to book the job, and of course, like, I wanted to book this job as well, but I was very happy even though I knew I wasn't going to. So let me tell you what happened. Uh, went to New York to audition for a television show, and I had gotten the sides the night before, which is the portion of the script that I was going to be auditioning with. And so when I walked into the casting office, the first thing I do is I always make sure that what I have is the most updated sides. Every once in a while, things do change. Not, not normally, but sometimes they do. And boy, am I glad That I did. Check that out. Because when I went into the audition and I was sitting down with the casting director and she said, well, do you have any questions? And I said, yeah, the sides that I was given were completely different than the sides you had out in the casting office. So I had no idea which ones to read. I worked on both of them. And I showed her the one that I'd gotten the night before and she said, Oh, that's from an old show. It just so happens it was the same character name, first name, but it was a different show. So it wasn't a great start. The other thing was the character, it seemed like, should have been in his mid-60s, and I saw some of the other actors who were auditioning for this particular role, and they looked like they were in their mid-60s, and I don't even come close to that. So basically, I knew very quickly this wasn't going to be for me because they were also casting a wife for this character, and she also was going to be in her 60s. And once again, it just wouldn't match up. So the reason why I was still really happy was because, number one, the casting director was so nice. They were so welcoming, friendly, warm, answered questions. They were great. It was such a great experience. And this is I had a casting director who has cast lots of well-known movies and television series, and just to find somebody who works that way in the industry, it was just wonderful. The other thing too is I liked my read, and even though I know I'm not going to get it, still it was great, and I'm assuming that they liked what I did, and hopefully when there is another role that seems better for me, they'll call me in. I mean, normally you would think, well, why would they call me in? I mean, they know what I look like. They saw my headshot. They specifically asked for me. Well, the reason is sometimes they do have you read for parts that you're not necessarily going to be auditioning for. It can be kind of funny that way. So in either case, it was a great connection. First time I ever met them. I thought it went really well. And no, I'm not going to get this, this role, and I'm still very happy with it. So listen, if you have any experiences with things changing on you during an audition, please send it my way. You can either post it on my Facebook page, it's facebook.com/howtomodel, or you can mention something on my webpage, howtomodel.com. And of course, if you have any questions at all, always feel free to email me. It's Aaron, A-A-R-O-N, at howtomodel.com. Thanks, Aaron. And I look forward to talking with you again next week. Bye-bye.
