Who Auditions Best?

Once upon a time

A woman named Martha

Lead a team of researchers

In figuring out why some people interview better than others.

Why

When hundreds, or even thousands of candidates

All line up to interview for one specific job

Do some stand out over others?

And the results?

Well

Turns out

The people who interview best

Are the people who genuinely care for the role they are interviewing for

Simple enough

But a question that sprouted from the research which plagued Martha was

Why are so many people trying to get a job they don’t really care about?

This question caused Martha to change careers

From recruiting

To helping people move in the direction of work they actually loved

Meaningful careers where they are lead by their internal compass

Rather than spending exhausting years

Or even decades

Doing what they believe they should do.

When I first got curious about this concept

I pulled out my notebook

And looked at the previous five years of auditions

346.

Self tapes, auditions & call backs

In other words

346 interviews

(Side note - this was during my early twenties and included both my Australian & American representation)

However

Out of those 346 auditions

I noticed that I only really cared about 10

And by “really”

I mean I believed with every part of my being

That I needed to play that part

Something in my body just knew I had to do it

And my behaviour followed suit

They were interviews I gave everything to

The late nights, or early morning

The working with coaches, the warming up, the following of curiosity

It just flowed

There simply was no other way

I was doing what I needed to do

To get where I needed to get

So I could give what I was feeling called to give.

And out of those 10 auditions that I really cared about

Interestingly

I actually got 5

So

Roughly speaking

When I really cared about at audition

I had a pretty damn high strike rate

But the other 336 auditions that I didn’t really care about?

3%

To be clear

When I went for interviews I didn’t really care about

I had a 3% strike rate

Mmm

Go for work I really care about and truly want?

50% strike rate

Go for work I don’t really care about and don’t really want?

3% strike rate

Okay

So

The question becomes…

Why the heck am I going for so many things that I don’t truly want?

Ever since noticing this

I have continued to ask myself this question

And yet

Years later

I continue to show up

Show up to things that I don’t truly want

Show up to things that don’t make me feel alive

Show up to things that don’t excite me

Why?

Several reasons

Sometimes

I just feel the urge to play in the reality of our industry

Rather than sitting in my lounge feeling like a stale potato

There’s a yearning to just give something in the room again

Sounds fair enough

However

There are other times

Where maybe I feel like I need to remind casting directors I’m alive

(Sounds like fear is driving this one)

And sometimes

I’m afraid that my agent might forget about me

Or stop sending me things or not bother putting me up for roles

(Sounds like fear is driving this one too)

Now

In this day and age

Just to have an opportunity

That’s pretty bloody wonderful

But

I can’t ignore what makes me feel alive

And sometimes

Something gets sent through

And after months of feeling like a sloth

My body wakes up

No one needs to tell me what to do

Or when to do it

I just dive in

With presence, joy and care

And I know I can’t be alone in this

If I’m noticing that I’m turning up to the vast majority of auditions

For reasons other than being obsessed with the role

Or feeling that deep call to go give everything

Then it’s likely

Other actors are doing this too

Auditioning because of factors other than their love for the role itself

They feel they should because…

They are afraid that if they don’t, their agent will drop them

They are afraid that if they don’t, the casting director won’t want to see them again

They feel afraid that if they don’t, they won’t know how else to pay rent in a few weeks time

And maybe

They feel they need to because they want out of the life or situation they have

And getting that random role on that random show with change things

It will change their living situation, financial situation, maybe even their relationship situation

Classic “when I, then I”

“When I get that role

Then my life will be okay”

I say all this

But at the end of the day

If I’m being honest

I know

I’m going to keep doing this

I’m going to have moments where I chase the result rather than the process

I’m going to rock up because the pay check is just too tempting or needed during that chapter of my life

I’m going to want to get that job filming on an island for two weeks because it will provide a little window of escape from the day-to-day

And I think the words that I’m missing here are

“And that’s okay”

Yes I’m an actor

But more importantly

I’m a human being

And life as a human is not black or white

It’s grey

It’s complex, messy, confusing and glorious

But I really notice sometimes fear drives the yearning to have some kind of a perfect career

A clean, straight and golden trajectory

Some kind of perfect IMDB page with perfect job after perfect job

I have to be honest

I’m a little surprised

When I started typing this morning

I thought I was going to head in the direction of giving oneself permission to only audition for the jobs you truly feel called to

And of course - that’s still an option

And maybe still a wonderful chapter for you to explore if you feel ready for it

But I’ve surprisingly ended up somewhere pretty grey

Somewhere…

Where maybe there’s a bit more permission for the complexities of having an artistic career as a human.

Hope this helps

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