CHECK LIST FOR AUDITIONS:

No matter what you are auditioning for, no matter what your age, no matter whether it's one word or 10 pages, there are some basics that are ALWAYS present and it's this PREPARATION work that is important to do, no matter what the situation. Again, this is for commercials, features, sitcoms, dramas, and EVERY SINGLE AUDITION YOU GO ON... Casting Directors always HATE unprepared actors...DON'T MAKE EXCUSES, always be prepared, whether you have 5 minutes or 48 hours to prepare, you ALWAYS can come up with these important elements.

1. Who are you? Establish the character that the role requires and GO FOR IT 100%. Actors don't get cast, characters get cast. From your interview to the audition to saying goodby while leaving, STAY IN CHARACTER. ...it's a MAGIC TRICK...DON'T GIVE AWAY HOW YOU DID IT!

2. Where are you? There is a LOCATION where the scene is to be portrayed. Bring those sensibilities to your audition. Is it a small room, or a large room...or are you outside next to a roaring river...the script will give you hints, MAKE SURE YOUR PERFORMANCE ESTABLISHES THE WHERE!

3. What are you doing? This is so important to establish the state of mind of your character as far as the activity that they are doing, while at the same time respecting the Casting Director's ability to imagine you doing the activity. Don't mime, but try to establish your activity through your preparation and your performance.

4. Who are you talking to? Is it an individual, is it a group? What is your relationship to that person? BE SURE TO ESTABLISH YOUR RELATIONSHIP by your performance...THIS IS A PRACTICED SKILL, so get into your acting class and work on your relationships.

5. What are your important personality traits? Be quick in your anylysis and establish your characteristics in a precise and simple manner. Your audition should establish who you are in a compelling way.

6. What have you just seen, heard, thought, done, or experienced? What is the moment before? A scene is a moment in time, what was the moment before. If you are out of breath from running, then RUN UP AND DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS just to get yourself physically there. This may be the most important of the items on the check list, so that you enter the scene in the proper state of mind.

7. What do you want? What do you want in this scene? More importantly, what is keeping you from getting what you want? That's CONFLICT, the most important aspect of any scene. The audience watches actors to be entertained and they are entertained by OTHERS CONFLICTS...WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHAT'S KEEPING YOU FROM GETTING IT?

8. What's so funny? Every scene has humor, whether it's the ironic humor of a drama, or the blatant slapstick humor of physical comedy. No matter how DOWN the scene is, it STILL has humor...find that special humorous moment share it in your performance. Of course sitcoms have humor, but even the most violent death scene has an ironic humor to it.

9. Where is the love? Find the love in the scene. It may not be apparent, but there is ALWAYS a love of some kind, even a love for someone or something not apparent to the viewer. FIND THE LOVE IN EVERY SCENE...make sure to give your 3 dimensional performance...no matter what.

10. End with a flourish! Every performance, no matter how small or how big has a beginning, middle and end. Even a ONE WORD performance has an ending. FIND YOUR BUTTON and PUSH it at the end. Whether commercial, sitcom, drama, or WHATEVER, always hold your performance at the end for a beat or two so that they can see that you are finished. It can make all the difference in the world as to whether you get a callback.

11. Understand and know what you are saying and doing in the scene. If you have only 5 minutes, you spend that time going over the copy as much as you can. If you have a day or more, it's important to REPEAT the scene 20 or more times, doing it differently EVERY TIME...Don't lock yourself into your performance until the last minute...be flexible and be SPONTANEOUS!!! It can make the difference in your audition performance.

12. Try NEW APPROACHES every time you work on your scene. The more preparation time you have, the more you are in danger of LOSING YOUR NATURAL qualities... BE THE CHARACTER, and BE THE CHARACTER IN A REAL SITUATION, so that the words and actions don't appear rehearsed...keep trying a new approach until the final audition. Whether you have 5 minutes or 5 days, this will help you be REAL AND NATURAL... Go over these aspects and also, discuss this with your acting teacher or coach...When I coach, I like an actor who has already tried a scene 20 or more times, in 20 or more different ways so that I have something to work with. It's hard to coach someone who has just gotten the material. It's much easier to help analyze the scene when the actor has tried the words different ways. Remember THE WORDS WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT!!! All of the traditional acting methods supplant this knowledge.