Acting Auditions

Acting auditions are processes that often take place when a TV, film or stage company want to find actors and actresses to take on roles in a production. In some cases, a lucky few actors/actresses may be hired without audition but generally getting any kind of work here will involve some form of audition.

The majority of acting auditions are not organised by the actors and actresses themselves but will be organised by their agents. Agents may have been asked to send along people that they think may work in the role or they may be asked to send along specific clients. In some cases auditions will be started off by the agent being contacted by the production team. In others they may have proactively asked for an audition if they know that something is going on.

Acting auditions tend to take two main formats. An open audition is one where anyone can go along and try out for a role if they like even if they have no agent or acting experience. These types of auditions are often a quick way of finding new talent but they can take up a lot of time. Other auditions may be set up by direct invitation or by an agent hassling for a slot. These may take more of a one to one basis.

Most actors/actresses expect to know a little about the role they’ll be standing for before attending acting auditions. In most cases they will be asked to prepare an audition or given a part of the script to work on in advance. In some cases things may take a more informal route and they may audition on the spot.

Nowadays many acting auditions will involve the audition itself being videotaped. This is especially the case with auditions for film or TV productions. Taping an audition performance can be useful as it can be looked at again after the meeting and it also gives the Director or Producer an idea of how the actor/actress will look on film.

In some cases actors/actresses won’t need to go to a series of acting auditions and may be offered a part after their first audition. In many cases, however, there will be multiple auditions to go through. If the audition doesn’t go well at any stage then the actor/actress will be rejected. Successful auditionees will get a call back and may be asked to multiple auditions before the role is decided.