Different Perspectives
Feb. 1st, 2007 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pen_gruntAfter auditioning over 30 actors yesterday, I've decided that I have a lot more sympathy for actors than previously expressed.
Sure, they only have to show up to a 20 minute audition, but if they were in the group right before lunch or at the end of the day there was NO chance they were getting the roles. Frankly, I was tired of hearing the script (that I didn't write) and generally cranky. When one is tired and cranky, actors are not funny. It should be noted here that I was only giving the client my input and "sitting in" so to speak: I had no say in the outcome of the casting nor direction--but I can only imagine that the clients' feelings were similar to mine.
Additionally, while the earliest actors got some general direction and praise from our clients, the later actors got rather nitpicky direction and a longer-and-longer "here's your motivation" spiel. The script was also written to elicit a type of performance that was not at all what the client wanted when the actors came into the room.
For instance: You can't put in a stage direction of [laughing] and then tell the actor that they shouldn't be laughing at something. You can't write [shouting] and then tell the actor that they shouldn't be getting riled up.
Overall, I like doing auditions/casting. It's a nice brain-break, but sheesh, I felt sorry for the poor actors.
Sure, they only have to show up to a 20 minute audition, but if they were in the group right before lunch or at the end of the day there was NO chance they were getting the roles. Frankly, I was tired of hearing the script (that I didn't write) and generally cranky. When one is tired and cranky, actors are not funny. It should be noted here that I was only giving the client my input and "sitting in" so to speak: I had no say in the outcome of the casting nor direction--but I can only imagine that the clients' feelings were similar to mine.
Additionally, while the earliest actors got some general direction and praise from our clients, the later actors got rather nitpicky direction and a longer-and-longer "here's your motivation" spiel. The script was also written to elicit a type of performance that was not at all what the client wanted when the actors came into the room.
For instance: You can't put in a stage direction of [laughing] and then tell the actor that they shouldn't be laughing at something. You can't write [shouting] and then tell the actor that they shouldn't be getting riled up.
Overall, I like doing auditions/casting. It's a nice brain-break, but sheesh, I felt sorry for the poor actors.
