When Audition Specs Are a Mess - Be Yourself Anyway

I have run across so many positive, motivating quotes lately it was hard to choose just what to lean into this week. But it did settle on one, from someone who can really "pump you up."

We are always being told to just be ourselves in auditions.

The problem with that is that there are these pesky audition specs to meet! And these are usually words we’d never say. In fact we spend all day twisting ourselves into pretzels…excited over here, confident over there, oh and now why not let me hear you as an angry leprechaun.

A few weeks ago I had one of those auditions with what I like to call "spice rack" audition specs with everything from allspice to za'atar listed. All the emotions. All the attitudes. I thought, "Gosh, what a mess." But, that tells me a few things. First, there's a committee here. The loudest voice may get to choose who is cast. Second, and just maybe, they'll know it when they hear it.

Now, if they don't know what they're looking for, it does me absolutely no good to go chasing after some mythical idea of what I imagine they'll think is the perfect read.

So first I looked at the script to figure out the story arc. There's almost always one, or we can make up one. The drama/tension/problem/joy at the beginning and the happy/satisfied/confident resolution.

Then I pulled words from their spec that matched both situations. When I used those in my read, they naturally got some of what they said they wanted.

Keep it simple and stay true to yourself.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "What is the point of being on this Earth if you are going to be like everyone else?"

So address those audition specs as only you can, honestly, in your voice. Don't worry about doing exactly what you think the client is looking for. Heck, they probably won't know just what that is until they hear it. So fearlessly put your own spin on it and deliver those lines in your true voice.

A few days later, I saw I got a like! Fabulous! I struck a chord with at least one committee member! No, I wasn't cast in the end, but on the upside - at least I wasn't forgettable.