Man, I was way off…

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by sethcaskey in Posts

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I had an audition last Friday, and in my opinion – did not do a good job.

“A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.”

I had just been given a Glengary opportunity, and I did not feel like a closer.

I called my manager, to let her know the audition was over, and as best I could said, “It was great.”

“Ok, well I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from them.”

I love her attitude. She’s so caring, optimistic and unflappable.

No less than an hour later my phone rings, and sure enough it’s her letting me know that they put a pin in me, and that we should know on Monday whether or not I had booked the part. WHAT?! Seriously?

My self-doubting mind immediately kicked in, and I replayed the audition over-and-over again. Each time, I felt like I could have done so much better.

Flash forward to Monday afternoon when my phone rings again and it’s Tina letting me know that I had in fact booked the job and will shoot the week after Thanksgiving. After calling my wife, and doing the Balki Bartokomous Dance of Joy, I stopped to think about what had just happened and came to the following conclusions:

We’re our toughest critics. As actors, we are not qualified judges of our own work. It’s impossible for us to be objective.
As much as we may think that we have it figured out – there really is no telling what “they” are looking for.
When we stay present, and go with whatever moment presets itself – we open ourselves up to let something greater come out.

So with tomorrow being Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for. One is for the many relationships that I have built over the last two years working at The Actor’s Key. Those relationships are no doubt what got me in the door, and I can only imagine what helped me book the role.

The journey up until now has been exciting, frustrating, thrilling and exhausting. I have wanted to quit and throw in the towel many more times that I’d like to admit. But just like 2009 -I’m not dead yet.

Happy Thanksgiving, and next week I start a new video series on Casting Director Workshops and how to make the most of them as an actor.