Oh, a sad little thing happened over the past six weeks, while I’ve been casting the second season of Bite Me. We invited actors — multiple actors — to put themselves on tape, so they could be in the mix as we were deciding on callbacks (which would take place in front of the producers, director, showrunner, etc.). They were provided sides, direction, an email address to send the link to the footage (however they chose to shoot it, wherever they chose to store it), and every single taped audition was viewed by the director, and his decision dictated whether the actor would be invited to a callback (unless we just totally disagreed, in which case I could lobby for a particular actor I knew he should make time to see, in the room).
Percentage of actors who were given this option who actually followed through and submitted the footage? (Should I mention our director is a young hotshot who already has his first Emmy?) Forty-two. Yup, 42% of the actors invited to do this, did it. To be fair, that percentage is up from when we did this in 2007 for Another Harvest Moon. Way up. Actors are definitely getting hip to self-taping and the tips coming from all over the place are helping make this easier than before. Eco-Cast, as well as any one of the various non-industry-specific hosting services out there, gives actors tools that actually put the power in their own hands.
And that terrifies a whole bunch of actors, apparently.
Now, of course, I’m sure some of the folks who opted not to put their work on tape for Bite Me had actual conflicts of schedule, didn’t click with the material, or experienced whatever other condition that would result in a PASS. Okay. But when I sat down with one of the lovely actors I had asked to go on tape (but who did not), I got to hear what is probably the root issue for the bulk of those actors who didn’t self-tape.
Ooh, this actor wanted to go on tape. The role was HIS. He totally clicked with the breakdown, the sides, the first season — when he checked it out in his prep work. But then he didn’t like his first take. Bad lighting. Poor sound. He could do better. He’d connect with his friend with the cooler camera and get something to me the next day. He knew that’d still be within 24 hours of my request and before we had scheduled callbacks. No problem.
Except then his friend couldn’t meet with him. And when he could, the cable that would connect the camera to the computer so he could get his footage to me was missing. And even though he totally could’ve run a thumb drive over to us, he worried that even asking if that would be okay would be a bad idea. Y’know what, he’d just shoot it again the following day at one of those companies he could pay to do it. He’d make the cost back in an hour on set, if he booked it.
And then that didn’t happen. Yada yada yada.
By the time he and I sat together and talked about this whole thing, the role had been cast, the contract had been finalized, the actor who won the role had been given details about fitting, table read, and zombie prosthetics modeling schedule. This ship had sailed, and in just a matter of days.
“What happened, darlin’?” I asked my actor friend.
“I wanted it to be perfect for you. I really wanted to show you and the team how much I respect this project. And then it was days later, and…”
“Then it was too late,” I said.
“Yeah.”
So, my question is this — and I think the answer has more to do with the issues I touched on during my fawning of The War of Art a few months ago than anything else: How much of what keeps you from doing anything is your Resistance? How much of your lack of follow-through (if you have such an issue) is based in fear of failure, fear of success?
You’re on a “no” to start, right? NOT getting it done means you stay on that “no,” but at least if you do something, you could translate that “no” into a “maybe” or even a “yes.” This is that whole “take your career in your own hands” thing. So many actors feel there are things out of their control. Sure. Some are. Absolutely. So, why not grab the advantages that are within your control?
Oh, I know. Resistance.
Just understand, that’s a choice. Choose the career you want. Don’t worry about the stuff that’s not within your control, but for the love of all that is holy, when something is within your control? Go get it! And if you choose not to, at least say so, early on. That’s at least some degree of follow-through.
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/001414.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.