Nothing is Certain

Hi There,

If there’s one quality I believe can take a career to the next level, I’d say it’s learning to trust yourself.

The moment-to-moment work needed to make an actor’s performance ring true relies on not second guessing your choices, but making them in the now.

If you’re worried about doing it “right,” or getting a thumbs up from a teacher or casting director, it won’t be your audition. It will be what you think someone else thinks you should do.

And in any given audition, no one really knows for sure in advance what will work. They recognize it when they see it.

So if you want to give a good audition, you have to give the one only you can give. And that comes from trusting yourself.

Cheers,

Jamie

In a game of chess, winning is in our control. All we need to do is make the right moves and we will be successful. But in poker, we’re subject to the fate not only of the cards we’re dealt, but the cards of every other player at the table.

You can make the best decisions, and still have a negative outcome.
It doesn’t mean you made a bad choice.

I think this is something every auditioning actor needs to hear as you send your 78^th self-tape out into the void.

Taking Risks

Over my years of casting, studying, and working as an actor, I’ve accumulated an extensive list of audition “rules” from well-meaning folk:

• Be still.
• Aim both shoulders at the camera.
• Only look at your reader.
• Don’t use props.
• Keep your posture tall.

You can go on YouTube and watch auditions featuring actors who went on to book the role and see that they’re in profile while on camera, using props, and slouched in a chair. Many break all the rules. Because really, there are no rules. It’s all a gamble. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t.

Dacre Montgomery took a massive risk and added a shot of himself dancing to Duran Duran in nothing but a flesh-toned G-String as part of his self-tape audition for the hit series Stranger Things. If that doesn’t break the rules, I don’t know what does. He said in an interview with GQ about the audition:

“Either I’m never going to work again, or somebody somewhere is going to see one thing in me, and they’ll give me a chance.”

Check out the audition here:

https://www.gq.com/story/dacre-montgomery-stranger-things-audition-tape

So what’s the takeaway? Don’t worry about the rules. Build a body of work that rises to the level of your own expectations, not someone else’s idea of what’s “good.” Make choices and take risks—and understand that sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t, based mostly on the taste of the viewer.

Because really: no one knows for sure.

That’s about the only thing I can say with certainty. Well, that and don’t use a real weapon as a prop in your audition. Seriously. Do not do that.

His book Adventures in the Screen Trade, written in 1981, talks about the then mega-hit Raiders of the Lost Ark:

“Raiders is the number-four film in history as this is being written. I don’t remember any movie that had such power going in. It was more or less the brainchild of George Lucas and was directed by Steven Spielberg, the two unquestioned “wunderkinder” of show business (Star Wars, Jaws, etc.). Probably you all knew that. But did you know that Raiders of the Lost Ark was offered to every single studio in town—and they all turned it down?

All except Paramount. Why did Paramount say yes? Because nobody knows anything.

 And why did all the other studios say no? Because nobody knows anything.”

Goldman breaks down the studio system and the process he went through to get some of his most famous films made.  Films such as All the President’s Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

A quick warning—some of the language is jarring for an audience in 2021.

Purchase on Amazon:
https://jamiecarroll.me/adventures-screen-trade-amz

Purchase on Barnes & Noble:

https://jamiecarroll.me/adventures-screen-trade-bn

Purchase from an Independent Bookseller:
https://jamiecarroll.me/adventures-screen-trade-indy

Or, check the stacks of your local Public Library.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I’d also just found one of my favorite resources—featuring a wide variety of folks in the business.

The Interviews by the Television Academy Foundation is a treasure trove of information and insight delivered by top players in their respective fields.

You can search by a wide range of professions: everything from Puppeteer to Agent. Or by genre, collection or topic to name a few categories.

Some of my favorite episodes:

• James Burrows
• Debbie Allen
• Carol Burnett
• And the special tribute to Casting Director legend: Lynn Stalmaster

https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/

And speaking of not knowing: when asked if seeing Ted Danson and Shelly Long testing for Cheers assured the producers that they were the right choice, James Burrows said it could have been any of the three couples testing. They were all good. Forced to pick between the pairs, they just picked those two.

On Camera Lab is designed to be an on-going practice for your development as an artist. This work is structured, specific, and follows a repeatable set of steps designed for actors to craft and hone their own On Camera Technique.

It’s different from any ongoing On Camera acting class out there, and I’m so glad to share it with you.

Actors are encouraged to return to the Lab each month, as long as they are experiencing growth and progress.

The waitlist is ongoing—and since we’re still in a time of economic upheaval, upcoming sessions are still available at a special “relief rate”.

Click here to learn more about the workshop—and find out how to apply.