A couple of years ago, I wrote a column called How To Get Blacklisted. Frankly, there are many more ways to get blacklisted than the three I listed back then. But who wants to focus on how to not get called in? We all know there are offices that suddenly — for whatever reason — go cold for an actor. So, once you’ve been blacklisted, how do you get back in the room for another shot?
First order of business has to do with your mindset about it all. Remember that there are almost no bridges so badly burned in this business that they cannot be rebuilt. I’ve seen some truly fractured relationships get put back together for another project down the line. You just never know when you’re going to work with someone about whom you declared, “Never again!”
Yes, you may be absolutely certain that you’re not going back into that casting office ever again, after that last really cruddy audition or inappropriate exchange, but believe me, if that CD needs you badly enough, you will get invited back. How, then, can you shorten the time between when the calls stop coming in and when they pick back up?
Start by doing good work. Consistently. Yes, you’ll be happiest if you remain process-oriented in your mindset, but this industry is inherently results-oriented. There’s a way to work that to your benefit. The more good work you do, the more we’ll remember you for what made us call you in back when times were good. If an actor I used to be crazy about really screws up and I lose confidence in him to such an extent that I stop calling him in on the next few projects I cast, but then I see him in a great new commercial, I begin to think that maybe those “bad auditions” weren’t as bad as I remember them. Perhaps he’s taken classes and has worked through whatever was blocking him when I last saw him. Ah, yes, I had forgotten how charming that particular trait of his was until I saw it again on TV.
Get in a play and promote the hell out of it. Get reviewed. And if the reviews are good, get copies of those reviews in front of the CDs who aren’t showing you a lot of love lately. No, you might not see instant results from doing this (and those CDs who already bring you in are the ones most likely to actually appreciate the reviews or even come see you in the show), but you will toss a pebble into the water. And the ripples from that will reach the shore eventually. If I see that you’re busy and others are appreciating the work you’re putting out there, I may feel I need to take a new look at you.
Have your agent or manager extend an olive branch. “Hey, you haven’t seen Bob on the last four projects you cast. Can we set up a general?” Even if the reply is, “No need. I know his work. Just haven’t had the right project for him, the right role for him, the need for him lately. I still like him. I’ll call him in. Just not right now,” that’s at least some more information about where you stand. If you really are blacklisted in that office (and not just in the middle of a dry spell with that particular CD), perhaps your agent or manager can find out why. “She was insanely rude to my casting assistant at the last session. I don’t care what kind of bad day you’re having; you do not treat people with such disrespect.” That reply is informative and — while you may not be able to do anything about it right at that moment — you now have an idea of what you need to fix, perhaps through a note in which you address the situation specifically.
I remember back in high school, the girl who had been my best friend the year before was now mad at me because I had a boyfriend and had “reserved” that “special” page in my yearbook for him to sign (you know that page. It was the one that was actually an ad for the local florist, but it had all of this great writing room and everyone always saved that page for the most honored yearbook signer — either a sweetheart or a BFF). She took a big fat marker and wrote something really cruel about my boyfriend across that page. I was unhappy, of course, but I got some White Out and my boyfriend and I laughed about it later. This friend and I didn’t speak for the next few months (the last weeks of that school year and summer break) and, when we returned for school that Fall, she called me to apologize for having been so immature.
I heard her out and then said, “I didn’t need your apology, but I accept it just the same. Thank you.” She was stunned. Weeks later, we would talk about that. She said, “I was so mad at you and then I was so childish. And when I came around to apologize, you just didn’t even need an apology. You had already forgiven me. How do you do that?” And I remember saying, “You’re my friend. You had an emotional reaction to something and you acted out before thinking it through. It happens.”
I bring this up now because recently I’ve been CC’d on the emails flying back and forth between a filmmaker and an actor I cast in one of that filmmaker’s films awhile back. Neither party is happy with the other. (Hey, I do my best to populate sets with actors who will adore the crewmembers — and vice-versa — and most of the time that works out. Sometimes, there are personality conflicts. It happens.) The actor is convinced that the filmmaker only CC’d me as a means of damaging the actor’s reputation with me. The filmmaker wants to make me aware of behavior that might give me second thoughts about casting that actor in the future. Here’s what the bottom line is, though: I’m watching a fight happening between two adults who have each — to some extent — behaved in a less than grace-filled manner. Frankly, they probably won’t ever work together again. But will I work with either of them? Sure. Probably both of them, many more times. Because I, like most CDs in Hollywood, look at the results achieved by these professionals (even if they’re not acting like professionals at every single turn).
Certainly, I will file this whole exchange away in my mental database about each of these people, and there may be a time I’m asked whether I would recommend this actor over that actor (or this director to a producer who is seeking new directors), and this information may color that recommendation. But if, in the meantime, this actor reminds me of the amazing potential for stellar work or if this director displays a stunning eye in films down the line, suddenly the drama of this current exchange lessens. The emotional grip the experience has on you really does dissipate with time.
Use that fact to your advantage.
Yes, there will be some people who absolutely cannot let go. They will not only feel as though a professional bridge has been burned, but they will sit at the base of the former bridge and wallow in the ashes, absolutely certain that there is no hope for a future relationship. They’ll decide they so don’t have a shot at coming back into your office that they’ll de-friend you on MySpace and then freak out when they hear you recommended them to a colleague. “Huh? Why did she recommend me? I can’t get into her office. What game is she playing? She hates me.”
No, silly. That’s not how this town works. You’re good at what you do and just because you’re not on one casting director’s “hot list” today doesn’t mean she can’t recognize that you are perfect for another casting director’s project and recommend you accordingly.
This is where that process-oriented mindset can save you a lot of grief. No one wants you to fail. And while there may be people out there who hold grudges like they’re rare jewels, the vast majority of the working professionals in this town are focused on doing good business. So, when you’re someone we think could help a project make some money, you’d better believe we’re gonna put aside the pride long enough to get you back into the office for a shot at that role. No, we won’t forget what got you on the blacklist. But we sure as hell don’t love that blacklist so much that we’d trade a “win” for the project for it.
One of my favorite quotes is: “Energy is currency. How do you wish to spend it?”
If you are spending your energy trying to figure out how to get back into a room you’ve been shut out of, I’d say that’s less fulfilling and less productive than putting that energy into turning out consistently good work elsewhere, trusting that the CD will take notice of that fact and bring you back in eventually.
The fastest way off the blacklist is to land on someone else’s “it list.” Being in demand for doing good work is a self-renewing prize. Have at it!
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000804.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.