Deceptively Simple Auditioning Advice

at auditions just present what you do

“You’re not going there to get a job, you’re going there to present what you do.” -Bryan Cranston interviewed at the Oscars

We come, we act, and we leave. That is the base template of our work. Casting often factors in and depends on things completely beyond your control and outside your knowledge.

Stay in your lane and run your race; auditions are our chance to do our work and show it to others. Let them worry about who books.

And I realize how impossible that seems. Our bills get paid, and our career growth seems to be wrapped up in our books. I get that it feels like it, but the reality is our success is more tied to how much we turn our focus away from such extrinsic motivation when we do our work, between action and cut and curtain up and curtain down.

Booking is not about us. We do not control that outcome (unless we’re the executive producer as well). So when we audition it may as well not exist to us. Do your work, and then go to the beach or something (says the guy who wishes he were at the beach today).

© Copyright February 01, 2017, David August, all rights reserved davidaugust.com

David August is an award-winning actor, acting coach, writer, director, and producer. He plays a role in the movie Dependent’s Day, and after its theatrical run, it’s now out on Amazon. He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, on the TV show Ghost Town, and many others. Off-screen, he has worked at ad agencies, start-ups, production companies, and major studios, helping them tell stories their customers and clients adore. He has guest lectured at USC’s Marshall School of Business about the internet.