Last week, I asked my Twitter followers whether they would want to know when they were second choice in our casting decisions. The overwhelming majority of replies were from actors craving to know they’ve come that close. Because Twitter only allows for 140 characters, some actors replied to me via email. Because some of these replies were so enlightening to me, I wanted to share ’em here.
JillJordan17 — Resounding yes! Please tell us! It’s a little bright positivity in our world of frequent unsaid no’s. (-:
LHollister — I think it’s always nice to know if you got close!
Chairman_B — I think knowing you were second after is fine. I was told I was a front-runner at a callback once and that was not cool.
MichaelRizza — Great question. Yes, I would always want to know. 😉
kellychristophr — Yes, you’ll know you gave a great audition, you’re that much closer to landing it next time, and the pick was outta your control! 🙂
valeriemeachum — I like to know whatever I can know. I’ve had more than one day improved by, “You rock even though we aren’t hiring you.”
gierfo — Yes, any feedback is useful.
audreywalker — Yes. I like to know who did book the job instead of me. Then I can see why and learn from it.
trathbone — It’s one of those things that I might really, really want to know, but I shouldn’t for my own sake.
sethcaskey — Not me. Leads to overthinking.
Jenny_Rich — Yes, it would be nice to know if second choice, and also nice to know why they went with the other person if possible.
AshleyDWalsh — Second place is such a catch-22. It’s nice to know you’re good but frustrating because second still means you don’t have a job.
GirlSascha — Heck yes.
RichHinz — More info is always better, including second/backup. I’d settle for yay or nay (I guess yay would be obvious) after a callback!
SteveVoldseth — Backup for sure. Second choice, not so much, although tracking “near misses” might be good info to add to audition diary.
NiteingGail — You betcha! ‘Tis better to have auditioned and been runner-up than to have not even placed at all. The saddest part of acting is never knowing if you even came close. You think you did great but never hear a word ever again.
CarolineTimm — Yep. I like to know all info. Very cool of you, frankly. 🙂
wonderfulcow — Of course. That means I did something right at the audition. It will only encourage me to do better next time.
Marc_Comstock — I like to know. It’s good to know you made good choices and are probably on the CD’s radar for future submissions.
jasonburns — Better to know you were in the running than not in the race at all.
mr_rab — I do personally. Lets me know I’m doing what I need to when I go in the room. Of course once I missed out on a principal in a Coke Zero commercial and 45-grand by one spot. Could have gone without knowin’ that.
davidnett — Yes on second choice notice: It’s rough not getting a part you wanted, but helpful to know when your work was appreciated.
Jay Ruggieri — I think actors would like to know that they were on the right track with whatever choices they made. It might give them a sense of accomplishment even in defeat. 🙂
First big, non-Twitter response.
Yes, yes, yes. Actors love to be told they were in the running — even if they weren’t (akin to getting a, “That was great,” from a CD after an audition… even if they weren’t great). Obviously, no one books every gig, but long ago I decided that success to me was just doing a good job (the art of performing) and getting validated for it (the commerce of performing. Put ’em together and you have “show business”). So to be validated is always appreciated by an actor. Also, since it’s almost always out of our hands, that just lets us know that we did what we could from our side and it wasn’t meant to be, something else was at fault for the gig not happening.
By all means, if you have the time and energy and chutzpah, feel free to tell an actor they were second choice! Heck, tell all of them that. Nothing wrong with making people feel better about themselves — whether warranted or not. I’m always available for the next one! That’s the good thing about busy, pro-active folks like ourselves: when we say “the next one,” there usually is a “next one.”
Second non-Twitter response.
I’d rather hear second than nothing but I don’t need to know reasons. In other words, if it’s second because the other person flat out blew me away or they wanted to see a different color shirt, I don’t need to hear that because it’s subjective and each meeting is another chance to win the day.
As to why do I want to know second, because, as the casting (compensation) world evolves, more and more jobs might go to second choices just because first offers were turned down.
Thanks for asking.
Mark Burnham
Third big, non-Twitter response.
Personally, in my case, I prefer that interviewers err on the side of Too Much Information. I know not everyone feels this way, but when I am trying to juggle commitments, or lack of them, any information is good information. Scheduling in the entertainment world is really difficult, and every little bit of info is helpful. And knowing that I came close is often enough for me to decide in future to audition again for the same people, when faced with an otherwise difficult choice. Y’know?
I know that it’s hard to do notifications. My previous day job, I was on a lot of interview panels and I know how people react badly sometimes, and how little time the interviewers have to spare, and how shy they can be, and all sorts of factors are involved. I wish there were a way to just say to people, please be polite at all times and accept the notification as good news no matter what, either you have a project or you have the freedom to pursue another one.
But when you hear nothing, because you have to honor the commitment in your schedule until there’s no chance it could come through, and that can lead to logistical nightmares, or at least big issues. And then, actors and CDs and directors all get slammed for being flakes. I wonder sometimes if interviewers realize how almost psychic we have to be in order to schedule our lives and live up to (real or perceived) commitments. ::chuckle:: Kinda not kidding, actually. :-}
It’s such a numbers game, and we have to submit for things where we have no idea if anything will come of it, all the time. When something does come of it, the more information available, the better. It’s like constantly parsing differential equations, any variables you can fill in with specifics, the more accurate your answers will be.
I like to err on the side of empathy, in any case. I know that all sides of the casting table are juggling just as many factors as the others, parsing differential equations with far too many variables in them. All the time.
Is that TMI for you yet? Thanks for asking!
Also, one last reminder that I’m collecting both “daily techniques” tips and “what next for self-produced work” tips for two future columns. Thank you, everyone, for helping to make this a truly interactive experience! Keep the advice to your fellow actors flowing! I’m so happy to share your experiences here. Great contributions thus far. Thanks!
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/001055.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.