Aaron Marcus says there's no single trick to booking a feature film, no matter your level. He shares how he landed a recent role by following the casting director's specific guidance instead of other advice, and stresses listening to your instincts while trusting mentors.
Hi, this is Aaron Marcus, and welcome to my weekly acting and modeling information. This is a video blog about the trick to getting cast on a feature film. And let me first just tell you, there really is no one trick. The reality is it's very difficult getting cast in a feature film. I don't care if you have one word or if you are co-starring or starring in a project. It's hard. There are a lot of people who have to say yes. And the one aspect that I would like to discuss today, and I'll probably talk about this in some other future video blogs, is you've got to listen to yourself. And I know that sounds a little bit weird, but you might get a lot of information from a number of different people about how to approach the character, how to do the audition, you know, how to dress for the part. And ultimately, it's going to come down to you. I'm not saying don't listen to other people. Absolutely listen to what a lot of people have to say, people who you respect. But when it comes down to it, you've got to filter out a lot of things and make your own decision as to what you think is best. So just to give you an example, and I can't really give out information about this film that I'm going to be shooting soon in Atlanta. I'm just not allowed to talk about it yet until they actually finish the project and I guess it's being seen in theaters. But there was a very specific description of this particular character that I was reading for. And I had a number of people who gave me suggestions on how to read it. And they were saying, well, you know, there's this one actor and you've seen him and it's kind of a similar role and I think that would be a good idea. The wind-up was I didn't want to do any kind of caricature. It wasn't meant to be humorous. And so I had a really good game plan for who I thought this character was, how he should be talking, how he should be looking. I made very conscious decisions of my wardrobe going into the initial audition. And when I went to the callback, the one person who I did listen to very carefully was the casting director. And she said something to me that was very clear. She said, Aaron, I loved your audition. Because I initially did the audition on tape in my home, and then I emailed it to her via the agent. And she said, I loved your audition. Do it the same way. Don't make it smaller. Don't make it bigger. Do it the way you did it previously. And that was information that I did listen to very carefully. Unfortunately, I did not listen to Quite a few other people who were giving me suggestions on how to read for this particular role. So one of the things I just wanted to share with you is certainly listen to other people, get ideas, but it's your call as to how you think this character should look and sound and react. And it's really up to you. Go with your own instincts. Very last thing I just wanted to mention, don't forget on June 17th Having this online party and it's going to be incredible. All the details— although it's free, you do have to register because we have limited space. You can sign up. All the information is on this page. And don't forget, you should go to my Facebook page, facebook.com/howtomodel. And if there are any specific topics, questions that you have, post them there so that way I can get a better sense of what people are looking for. And please let other people know about this. You know, send your friends an email, go to your Facebook page and send out a blast, and you can use the link from this page. Look, I want to continue to build and grow this incredible community of actors and models and, and people connected to the industry throughout the world. And the only way I can do that is by having you help spread the word. So please do that with me, and that way we can have a lot of people who are really truly trying to help each other. Anyhow, I'm Aaron Marcus, and, uh, can't wait to talk with you again next week. See ya.
