Aaron Marcus, an actor and commercial model with 36+ years of experience, breaks down which questions actors should and shouldn't ask casting directors at auditions. He walks through a real audition example and shares practical tips on making choices that land the role.
In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you questions that you absolutely want to ask a casting director at every audition so that you will be better informed and give a better read. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to the Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel, where I share information about my 36-plus years working as a full-time actor and a commercial model. And I help people who are just getting started in the industry and for people who have been working in the industry for a while and want to take their career to the next level. If you haven't done this yet, please click the subscribe button. Don't forget to click the bell, the notification button, so you always know when I upload a new video. And if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up, and that helps share information with other people that this video has information that is helpful to others. Okay, so I had an audition for a TV spot, and, you know, typically for TV commercials, uh, you walk in there and, and, and, you know, it's not that unusual that they don't send out the copy ahead of time. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. And by the way, the copy, those are the words for a TV commercial. For film and television, they're called sides. So walked in there, and I can't give out the name of the product, the company, or any of the lines or anything like that, but I'm gonna use an example. Let's just say it was a mortgage company, and it was a one-liner. And let's just say the line was something like, oh, I didn't know that I could afford to buy a house. You know, something like that. So I'm reading it and I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my character. And a question that kept coming up for me was, I can't tell, is this guy okay with where he's at, with not being able to afford it? Is he feeling hopeful? Um, and yeah, I could have just tried something, but since the, uh, the folks from the advertising agency were at the casting, I decided— To ask them a question. And this was a crucial question for me. The question was, is this guy happy in this moment about, you know, saying that I can't afford— I didn't think I could afford to purchase a house, or is he more hopeful about that because this company might be there to help him out? I just wasn't really sure. Now, I want to make sure that you understand, if this were a film audition or an audition for a TV show, this is not a question I would be asking. I would be making decisions. There are other questions I could ask, but for this, I would have made a decision about this character and presented it and used it for my audition. And if the casting director had a different idea, or the director had a different idea, if the director was there, then, you know, adjustments could be made. But for this one, it's a TV spot, and it's, it's a little bit bit different because I'm really serving the commercial and not necessarily the character so much. So I asked, and basically I said, you know, is this guy happy? What's going on? I, you know, I wasn't really sure. The copy wasn't really clear to me. And they gave me specific information. That information was invaluable to me. And they said, here's what I want you to do. I want you to read it This way, you know, the way that we discussed, 3 times. Then I want you to make a change, and let's go with another idea. Maybe you are a little unsure and you're not, you know, and, and, and you're questioning this thing. Do that 3 times. And then they wanted me to do something kind of in between the 2, and we did that 3 times. And so the reason why I'm mentioning this to you is because Sometimes actors are afraid to ask questions. Now, you never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to ask, so how do you want me to do this? That's your job as an actor. It's your job to make decisions, whether it's what they are looking for. Even if they, you know, a lot of times they don't even know what they're looking for. You know, you just have to kind of bang them over the head with the audition. They go, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like that. But it's your decision to make. So there are some specific questions that you can ask that will help you decide more about your character. Because once again, for film and television auditions, especially if it's a smaller role, quite often the sides that we are sent, you know, it's just, you know, a page or two or, you know, a handful of pages. We're not getting the entire script. For the audition. So we've got to make decisions based on what we see in a couple of pages, and you can make some really great decisions. But sometimes you might need to ask the casting director, or if the director happens to be there, some specific things. Now, some actors are concerned that if they ask questions, they're not going to look professional. Let me just, let me just break this This, this idea, this concept to you. Any question that you ask a casting director that makes your audition better is a great question, is a question that casting directors want to hear. And I'm not saying you'll never run into this, but I can tell you, I have never in, in 36-plus years of working as a full-time actor, I have never run into a casting director after asking a question saying, hey, I'm not here to answer questions, just, just do the audition. Never. So any question that you ask that will give you more information that makes your audition better is one that you want to ask. So don't ever be afraid to ask. And you know, the other thing too is just keep this in mind: the casting director is on your side. The casting director wants you to be great because First of all, most of them I find are very nice people and they want you to be great. They're rooting for you. And they're rooting for you because I find that most casting directors really like actors and, and they want you to do well. And look, even if they don't want you to do well, you know, they're not rooting for you, it's in their best interest for you to give a great read because like us, you know, unless they're a casting director on a long-running television series, they are going from project to project to project. So the way that they get business is by submitting great auditions, and people are liking the reads. So of course they want you to do well. So always feel free to ask any question that gives you more information that will allow you to be a better auditioner for that particular project. Hey, and the very last thing, if you have ever asked a question Uh, to a casting director, please leave a comment below. Um, the whole reason for having this channel is to build a large family of actors helping each other. Look, we're not competing with each other, and I'll probably do a whole other video just on competition, but I truly believe this. We're not competing with each other. And the more we can find other actors who are sharing information and helping each other. To me, it's a much nicer way for me to run my business. And I just like living my life that way as well. So please leave a comment below, whether there was a question that was helpful. If there was a question, something happened by asking it, share it with other people in the comments below. And also, if you haven't subscribed yet, please click the subscription button, click the bell notification button and the like button if you liked the video. And I'm giving you permission, share this video with all of your acting friends, uh, throughout all your social media platforms. Like I was saying, I want to build a place where people can come and learn from each other. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya. See ya.
