I was never nervous about auditions until I got into high school. I didn’t really have a sense of stakes, I wasn’t in any theaters that cut actors in the audition process, and We were consistently getting leading roles. However, once We entered the world associated with competition and professionalism as a teenager, my anxiety kicked within incredibly quickly. I would notice my knees shaking during singing auditions, constant fear that I might not be memorized enough for the part, plus sickening embarrassment when practicing skills I actually wasn’t the particular best at.
Recently, as I started thinking back on all this audition stress, I noticed a trend. Whenever I was too scared to stand proud during an audition call, it was because I had been trying to fit in with all the very poised and perfect people I actually heard or saw before me in an audition room that was never friendly. I’d get thrown off by the singular person using the same ballad choice, or even by a couple girls within the waiting room looking vaguely like me. I’d obtain uneasy about both wanting to fit in and stand out, trying to give everything I could offer without looking as well “strange” or “different” from what I thought the director wanted to see. It was becoming a serious problem for me in season casting rooms, so I figured the only way I can move away from this particular anxiety was being authentically myself.
It did not take me long in my life and career to notice that I am a character actor. My acting has always been exaggerated, my performing full of volume and precise diction, plus my dancing as graceful as a whale walking the tightrope. Despite knowing all this, I tried doing terrifyingly formal auditions for very pristine and classic characters with little in order to no musical features. Keep in mind that, although a stretch through usual material can be great, you still have to stay true to yourself. And ideal ballet, strict posture, and no music? That wasn’t something I could make believeable for any movie director, and it certainly wasn’t authentically me. When I realized that this has been the problem, We skillfully narrowed down the casting calls I was applying to. Instead of going to ten auditions and feeling terrifyingly wrong with regard to every role in most of them, I actually went to three that I felt confident I would enjoy. After almost all, if the audition process had been something l felt awful about, the particular show likely wouldn’t feel much less uneasy. Rethinking the types of season casting environments We were volunteering myself regarding felt so much better, and the ones I started going to after our setback allowed me in order to use skills I never thought I could share, such as puppetry, playwriting, and impressions.
Feeling good about what I’m doing is now always my first step in casting call, and in my free time We continuously build on the skills I may not be comfortable in now but want to showcase in the particular future. I’ve been in dance lessons every week so that will dancing can become the strong suit too, plus I’ll become well-rounded within auditions moving forward. I’m extremely grateful for every opportunity that comes our way, but I’m also grateful that will I’ve gained the internal freedom to step away from a good opportunity too. Desperation only made me personally nervous, and those shows were never the right fit. I am not perfect, and it took me the long time to know that other people in these rooms weren’t either- they were just utilizing their own strengths. Now that I’ve found how to use my unique abilities to the advantage, Now i’m starting to really feel more confident in auditions than ever prior to, and I couldn’t be more excited about the future to come.
