I Want a Free Trip to Italy!

I had a great audition today.

Wait, that felt so good to write, I'm going to say it again...maybe even in all caps with lots of exclamation points...

I HAD A GREAT AUDITION TODAY!!!!!

Its about fucking time, too.

I accredit it all to my wonderfully centering and confidence boosting weekend in Chicago, not to mention Orphannie's friend, Madame Luscious Long Room, who told me repeatedly to just fucking go for it, that this was my time to shine. She was one of those everyday angels who tell you exactly what you need to hear in that precise moment - then again, I tend to think stepping on a crack may indeed break my poor mother's back and that a lightbulb burning out is a sign.

But whatever the reason may be, the fact remains that I had a great audition; I was confident (but not cocky), prepared (but not over rehearsed) and I just went in and did my thing. This audition was for an indie film that's shooting in New York and Italy...ummm, hello! Free trip to Italy? You betcha I'm all over it!

I had submitted my headshot and resume some time ago, and had of course totally forgotten about it, when one day I am surprised by an email asking me to come in for a four minute interview to see if they then wanted me to audition. In a stroke of planning genius, the interview happened to be just after my plane landed from the trip to Chicago (thank god the strike wasn't on or I never would have made it), and after approximately an hour of less-than-sound sleep amidst a birthday party. To make matters worse, Orphannie's printer decided that it would really prefer to print only the last 2/3 of the screenplay, which I was to have read for the interview.

Despite the many strikes against me, I somehow managed to speak coherently enough about the character and my view of her (amazing considering I barely knew my own name at that point) that I was offered an audition slot there on the spot. I evidently used my four whole minutes well.

Due to a miscalculation in time (omission of the grapefruit sized ankle factor), I arrived at the audition one minute late. While this is not a big deal, and no one seemed to notice really, it meant that I had no time to focus and get my bearings. Great. That's usually a bad omen. However, I walked in, with my head high, ready to just play and see what happened. I shook hands, made some sort of comment about hoping they were getting around okay with the strike and all, got introduced to my reader, and boom! We were off and running.

The scene took place in a car; specifically, with me driving said car. Of course the props were 4 chairs, and the "sunhat" (a jacket hood) placed in the "backseat" where it was supposed to be out of reach. The director began by telling me that he really wanted to see me driving the car; he wanted to see the whole strife arising from not only the conversation, but the stress of doing two things at once. Great. Umm, see, I'm an actor, not a fucking mime. I hate having to mime crap at auditions, I think it totally takes away from what's going on between the two people. Then again, that was his point. So I said "sure! absolutely!" and other such "look how easy I am to work with!" statements, and plunged in.

The Chanukah miracle of the year is not oil lasting for 8 days and 8 nights, but the fact that I somehow did not get totally thrown off whatsoever by the whole simulated driving thing - in fact, I did exactly what I'm supposed to do, and used it to my advantage.

After the first take, the director seemed quite pleased and remarked on how interesting and compelling the moments were when I was doing "nothing" (assumedly meaning no dialogue, as let's not forget, I was "driving" after all). He was also impressed that I remembered from an early scene in the screenplay that the car was a stick shift; evidently he did not catch the fact that I kept shifting from neutral to 2nd gear only...or maybe 4th gear came into play once or twice. He gave me feedback for a mere 2 little moments, but generally liked what I was giving him. I did the second take, incorporating his direction, and that was it. Audition finito. He remarked again that I was very compelling to watch when I was just "driving" and on my transitions between moments and overall he seemed quite pleased. I shook hands with everyone in the room again, my reader apologized for messing up my hair and I made some sort of joke about her having actually improved the look, and I was on my way.

I felt good about what I did. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't fraught with self awareness and self criticism. I just went in, did my best in that moment, and left. That was all. No drama, no tripping myself up, just doing what I do best, and having fun doing so.

I think this is a huge lesson to me in what auditions should be.

I walked out of that room knowing that if I do not get this, it will have nothing whatsoever to do with my audition. That's a wonderful feeling. I must try this again.