For All of You Actors?

Question

Any tips on Making myself Stand out in Commercial auditions?
I get alotta auditions.. but i am not booking... i know there are some of you out there getting call backs.. please help me
o and
Its because I cant seem to make my characters come alive
please help!

im not asking about how to break into acting.. i just want to stand out when i am on an audition

Answer 1

Find out who the director for the commercial is. Every commercial director will have a demo reel on his or her website.
Visit the website of the director and see what kind of performances he gets from his actors. Pester your agent to get the information for you. If your agent won't get the information for you, ask them why not. Why would they want to hinder your proactive and serious approach to you job?

If his demo reel is full of quiet, human moments of great emotion, give that kind of read at the audition. If the demo reel is full of wild, whacky, over the top performances, do that.

The director has been specifically hired for that commercial to do what he already does. Time is money on commercials. The client does not want to let a director experiment or practise on their commercial when they are paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for the time slot that commerical shows in.

In my opionion, if you tend to not look similar to the other people auditioning for the same commercial, you could be the "wild card" pick. i.e. The bald guy in with the long haired folks just for variation or, you could be the spoiler. In my opinion, You also may have been sent to the audition just to make the other guy look better and to have the client pick him over you.

This sort of thing, I am told, happens in other industries such as employment agencies, when agency sends out more than one person to the same interview.

If you are Canadian, you may be the "quota union actor" sent in to satisfy the Canadian union quotas (a certain number of Canadians have to be auditioned for each role to qualify the production company to shoot in Canada on a number of issues) before the producers give the job to the American guy they've already greenlighted the project on. This last case happens more in film though and do not get me started on this...grrrrrrrrrr.

Okay, now all those hypothetical situations aside, the primary reason you are getting auditions is that SOMEONE BELIEVES YOU CAN DO THE JOB!!!!!!

Try that directors reel thingy and KNOCK THEIR SOCKS OFF!!!!

As I say to film and tv actors, take care and crack a lens!!!

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It helps when you know people in the buisness. I have a friend whos father produces the show Prison Break and he wants me to be on it. Just go to an audition and make friends with a bunch of people there. Soon you will be on your way! :]

Answer 3

Well, it's good that you're trying to make yourself stand out. Don't be shy about anything and take risks. The greater risks that you take, the more people will remember you.
Oh, and if you decide to strip during an audition, make sure that it makes sense with the monolaugue that you use and that you're stripping with your peice, not in spite of it. Trust me on this one.

Answer 4

The most common errors I see are not knowing the material that you selected and casting continuous glances toward whoever you think is in charge. It looks terrible in the video take...