Every actor starting a career needs to learn this true thing : they need you as much as you need them!
Heck…every seasoned, deeply experienced actor needs to remember this lesson as well…because for the most part, actors who are auditioning inevitably see themselves as victims at the mercy of those all powerful people behind the audition table..”.they ” have the power to hire you or not hire you, ergo, “they” have control over your life…the reality is somewhat different.
In fact , the sooner a working actor understands that he or she actually has the power in the room, the sooner the entire audition experience is transformed from a “them” vs “us” situation into a “let’s see how we can mutually benefit” situation, and in that, there are no losers…there is only a sharing of talent, story telling and goals met or goals not met, depending on the specifics of who needs what from whom.
Let me explain, especially to the working actors reading this:
Casting Directors have a job to do, and in fact their ability to pay their own rent is dependent on how well they do that job,just as your money-earning capacity depends on how well you prepare for each of your auditions. CD’s (casting directors, for short) have a job ro do on behalf of the movie/show directors, choreographers, music directors, who hire them to help them find just right actors for the jobs they have to offer …and they all need just the right actors…a project can survive, thrive or fail on the strength of good and effective casting…so the CD’s job is an extremely important one.
I repeat: the CD’s job depends on each and every actor, singer and dancer that walks into the room…they are counting on you to be good, in fact, your best, at what you have to give to them: your talent, your heart, your storytelling abilities, your generosity of spirit.
This notion of “It is I you have been looking for” is the exact right mindset for the smart actor….not “Oh god, i need this job” or “Please please love me” or “I hope I am good enough for you to hire”, but rather IT IS I YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR…IT IS I YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR PROJECT DREAMS COME TRUE…IT IS INDEED I YOU WOULD BE VERY SMART TO CAST…DON’T LET ME SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS…I’M THE ONE!
In other words, they are lucky to have you walk through that door.
You, at your lovely best, most attractive weight and appropriately made up and dressed, you with the ease and flow of a talent you are confident in owning….accomplishing the lesson of self-knowledge and clear-eyed analysis of who are, what you are, is the name of not only show business’ game, but the game of life as well.
It feels like magic, and perhaps it is, but self knowledge is possible…it just takes time and willingness to suffer through the pain of realization.
The more thoroughly you know yourself, the fewer obstacles will stand in the way of your performing gifts giving themselves to the people privileged to watch you, know you, get you, see you….hire you.
Important to remember: the Truth walks into the room , no matter how much you try to hide it…so find your truth…invest in it…trust it…become it.
It is most powerful to say and believe “It is I you have been looking for” if you have spent time and effort getting to know who that “I” is….and that is the entire key to fully immersing yourself in a theatrical career : know yourself (even if it takes finding the right therapist who can effectively guide you on that discovery journey)….
Because, in actuality, it IS YOU they have been looking for…unique, terrific, powerful, i again say unique, one-of-a-kind you they need….whether they know it or not.
There is no other YOU.
The magic happens when “they” and “You” meet on common ground , feel the vibration of art being created, and You acknowledged as the answer to their hiring prayers .