Aaron Marcus explains why casting directors say they loved your audition but you still didn't book the role. He shares his own experience auditioning repeatedly for House of Cards before landing a recurring part, and breaks down what positive feedback actually means versus what it doesn't.
Hey, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but I had a situation where I went in for an audition, casting director said, you know, you were great, this is exactly what we were looking for. Didn't book the job. And got a couple ideas about that that I want to share with you. I also want to let you know, watch this video until the end. I've got a really good bonus video for you. It's— I almost ruined a great headshot session by doing this. Okay, let's get started. Hi, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel and the Actor Career Center. So look, done thousands of auditions, and I want to share 2 stories with you. One of them has to do with Doing the audition felt good to me. Casting director goes, that was great, just what I'm looking for. Didn't book it. And, you know, I thought about it afterwards, and here are a couple ideas that I had. You know, one was maybe, maybe she really liked it. And look, the reality is There are, like, there are a million reasons why you might book and might not book a job, and quite often it's not based on your specific audition. Everybody might have loved it. Maybe you just weren't the perfect person for the job. And I mean, a great example, I had a— I had over a 2-year period I auditioned for the Netflix show House of Cards 14 times over 2 years, and 15th, I got a recurring role. So apparently, you know, they liked what I was doing, but for whatever reason, the other 14 times, I just wasn't the perfect person for the role. And look, I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you're hearing a lot of compliments about the audition and you don't wind up booking it. If so, please share with us. Love to hear your story. And I can also tell you that there was a time, and I'll never forget this, did an audition, but before I went in, you're— we were able to hear because it was kind of like an open thing. We were able to hear other people's auditions. We heard the casting director make comments. Every person that went in there, casting director said, that was great. Hey, are you available on these dates? And I go in there, I finish, and the casting director goes, okay, next. And I walked out and I'm thinking, gosh, I thought it was pretty good. Felt right to me. Didn't say anything about the performance. Didn't ask if I was available. I booked the job. And when we finished shooting, then I felt comfortable enough in asking. I said, I'm just kind of curious, you know, for everybody else it seemed like you were complimenting people, asking if they were available, if they were on the, on the shoot dates. I got finished and you just, you know, said next. He goes, really? I didn't ask you if you were available? He goes, no, I really liked the audition. I guess I forgot to do that. Now maybe sometimes Casting directors are thinking, boy, I know this person just traveled a long way, or they spent a lot of time shooting this, and I don't— maybe they feel bad for us. They always want to say, hey, that was great, thank you so much. And meanwhile, they really didn't think that you were going to be considered for it. So maybe it's their just nice way of saying thank you. But the reality is, and, and this is a Bigger picture, and this is really what I want to share with you. Look, listen to what other people have to say, you know, whether you're meeting an agent, you're going to a casting for a commercial modeling job, with an acting audition, meeting with a manager, whatever it is, listen to what everybody has to say. But you absolutely need to filter everything that is said to you. Because people will say all kinds of things to you. And I will never forget when I felt like I was ready to go to New York and start pursuing the New York market after 4 years of working in smaller markets. I had a— I wouldn't say a lot. I had a number of people though that would say to me, Aaron, I'm telling you, don't waste your time. Look, there are a million people You know, a million actors who try to break into New York every day. You live in Baltimore, Maryland. Do you really think they need you? They already have so many. And what I learned from that— I listened to what everybody had to say. They, they weren't concerned about me. They weren't worried I was going to get my heart broken. These were some people who, for whatever reason, they didn't want to take that chance, or they couldn't. You know, start pursuing New York, and they didn't want to see other people that they knew try to make it in New York. So, you know, people will say all kinds of things to you. So what you need to do, let's say after an audition, evaluate it. You know, think about, did you do what you wanted to do? Did it feel right to you? Were there changes that you would probably make next time? Did you listen and actually do Whatever notes might have been given to you, and then you have to let it go. No matter what somebody says to you, it might be something great, it might be something bad, but you have to evaluate everything and filter everything in this world. So I wanted to share that with you. If— look, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe, click the notification bell. If you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. And that way we can continue sharing information with more people and helping more people as well. I did promise a bonus video. If you look up here, you will see the link for this. It's a really good video, How I Almost Ruined a Great Headshot Session. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
