by Asia Anderson
(Los Angeles, CA)
QUESTION:
I have been on a few call backs and want to know what are the best ways to land the call back?
ANSWER:
First of all, I’d like to point out that the best way to judge how well you’re doing as an actress or actor is by looking at the amount of call backs you’re getting, not the amount of jobs. That’s because often you won’t get an acting job in the end for a reason that has nothing to do with your acting or auditioning skills. You may not book a role after a callback because the director has a different “type” or because you don’t have the right chemistry with another actor who’s already been hired. Sometimes, especially with independent films, you may not hear back from the director because the project fell through or because a “name actor” wanted the role.
So what matters most is getting the callback. If you get a callback, you’ve done your job at the audition and the rest is out of your hands. That being said, you have to make sure you don’t sabotage yourself at the callback. To have the best chances of landing a callback, your objective should be to be exactly how you were at the audition. You should dress the same and do your hair and makeup the same. You should have the same level of energy and try to perform your scene or monologue the same way you did at the audition. Don’t change your read to show the casting director you have range. If they want to see a different performance, they’ll ask for it. The truth is you don’t know what the casting director liked that made them call you back. If you change anything, you may take away the very thing that appealed to them.
Casting directors hate actors who change their performance at the callback because it reflects badly on them. If you follow this acting tip and do everything the same, you may not get the job for reasons out of your control, but you will get called in again when the next role comes up… and you may go straight to callbacks!