need to know... how long did it take before you got your first callback or role?

Answer 1

It's different for everybody. Don't compare yourself or your experience to anyone else's. Just hang in there!!!

Answer 2

Hi,

I've learned over the years, a basic concept of communication. When someone asks a question, there is always a reason why they are asking.

So, I will give you an answer that I gave to someone last night who told me that they have been auditioning for a while without getting called back. This promted me to think about a situation I had some time ago. I'll give you a similar answer as I think it could be helpful.

As you know, rejection is part of the game and you definitely need thick skin.

I heard a saying some years ago that I never forgot, which is possible that you have also heard as it is not new. It is the definition of insanity: Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

I remember a period some time ago, when I went to 12 auditions without a callback. When I told my actor friends about it, they told me that 12 auditions without a callback was nothing. They told me that there are actors who go through two or three times that many auditions without a callback. I told them that I really didn't care about the others. I want results!!!

So, I fell back on what I had learned in many years of corporate life. I started to analyze my results. This is so important that I actually included this section in my book. I think actors need to be good at analysis.

First of all, I use an audition log, in which I write down everything that I can remember about the audition and I mean everything: where it was, what part I had to play, what I had to read, for whom, what I had to wear, what time it was, how long it lasted, who was in the room, what their names were, the atmosphere and anything else I can remember. I write everything down that I know before the audition and then write down my impressions immediately afterwards.

I keep track of all my auditions in this way.

Then I created a chart with submissions, where they came from, how many of those submission became auditions, how many auditions became callbacks, how many callbacks became on-holds or first refusals and how many of those became jobs.

Once you have a pretty good sampling and you analyze them well, you can start to see trends. You MUST figure out what's working well and what's not.
Are you getting to your auditions in time to get dressed, read through the copy and be relaxed before you go in to audition?
Do you read well? Do you interact with other scene partners well? ARE YOU STUDYING and have a technique? In other words are you taking classes regularly?

The reason I asked that last question is because I find that there are a lot of actors who want to jump right in and audition without any training. Casting directors can see if you are a trained actor or not. And even if you think you are, maybe you're not trained enough. We MUST ALWAY CONTINUE TO TRAIN. Always!

Anyway, start keeping track of your results and analyze them and see if you can see any trends of times when you get rejected. Are there any similarities to those auditions? Your preparation? Your dress? Were you all sweaty and a shambles when you arrived? Were you late? Was your performance poor? If so, why? Why weren't you ready? Why wasn't it good?

If there is something wrong, you have to be able to figure out what it is and fix it! If you can't do that on your own or find objective critique from someone who knows your work, then you will have a difficult tme in this industry. That is crucial!

During that period that I referred to, I figured things out. I changed my headshots and immediately starting getting more auditions from my submissions. With regard to the auditions themselves, I applied some things that I had learned in some classes and they started to work! I started to get to my auditions a half hour earlier when it was possible, get dressed (in this summer heat, I always take a change of clothes, so I'm fresh), put some make up on around my eyes, get the copy, read it through a lot of times until I know it and then when I go in, I just feel so much more confident and ready. Once I did that, I started getting more jobs and callbacks. My confidence was back. And all the while I was enrolled in acting classes; technique, scene study and improvisation.

I never stop analyzing what I'm doing. This is important and you would be surprised at how many actors just don't do it. It doesn't even cross their minds.

You must learn how to analyze your results. Because one thing is for sure. If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting, so make a change for the better! Figure it out! Don't let them beat you!!!!

Hope that helps!

Tony
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com

Answer 3

I got my first role, outside of school, on first try, in 6th grade.

However, I didn't get my first school role until I was a freshman, and had to do a callback. It was my 3rd time auditioning for a production.

Answer 4

I auditioned 3 times before I got a role. But it was a VERY small part.I have yet to get a part outside of the chorus.

Answer 5

One day in January 1976 I was doing some research at USC, and as I walked up the library steps, I heard a woman asking a stock celebrity interview question of someone. I turned to see who it was, and there sat Dustin Hoffman. They were filming interiors of the library scene for Marathon Man. I was dressed in a button-down shirt and jeans, was in my mid-20's, and fit right in with the extras. I hung around pretending to be one of them, and got used. Sure that they couldn't possibly cut out "my" scenes, after shaking Dusty's hand and telling him what an incredible thrill it was to "work with him,"
(he looked at me oddly), I went home and called everyone I knew long distance. I could ill aford this, as LD was expensive in those days, but after all, this was the boy-meets-girl scene. Not expendible, right? Fast forward to October, and I took my dad to the pic. Danged if they didn't do reshoots on the street in NYC outside the NYU library, where the scene was set. Was I pi**ed! The dark thought occurred that maybe they reshot because I sucked, but they were actually praising me back in January, so it was probably the chance to go for more realism outside the actual library. The day we shot, it was Marthe Keller's birthday, and they surprised her with a cake, which she cut and passed out to everyone, including little old me. I had been in L.A. for about 5 weeks at the time. This came on the heels of being put on the radio by Mr. Blackwell, who was doing a remote broadcast, four days after I arrived. Shucks, I was still living in the motel, apartment hunting, at the time. "Breaking into showbiz is gonna be easy," I thought. Wrong!!

Answer 6

18 auditions