Hi Bonnie,
Thanks again to you, Robert, and Candice for running the sessions so smoothly for the Paul Ekman industrial auditions and callbacks. It was a treat to be there.
Thinking about my auditions, I had a thought for the “Your Turn” section of your column. Not sure if it’s appropriate or not; I may be the only female in the world who worries about this.
I’m slightly embarrassed to ask this question: What is the protocol (or is there one) for attire worn to callbacks? I come from old-school theatre training, where we were instructed to ALWAYS wear the same piece of clothing for callbacks that were worn to auditions. We heard the horror stories of directors (sitting way back in the house) “looking for the woman in the red dress” who today wore something different and thus did not get the part, etc. Obviously on-camera is a different medium, and we’re right there in the room and on the monitor. Is there advice for this?
Here is what I, a stylistically-challenged female, try to do: recreate the essence of what I wore (and did) in the first audition. Sometimes (frequently) that means I’ll put back on the same outfit I first wore — after all, I chose it because it felt like “soccer mom on a health kick” or “business executive who loves dogs.” But I won’t lie; not knowing if the producers, directors, CDs think I’m weird for wearing the same blouse becomes a little mind taffy… so just wondering: Am I the only one who gets stressed about the callback clothing? Is there an on-camera standard?
I really hope this isn’t too weird.
Have a great week!
Best Regards,
Heather L. Tyler
Ah, you’re definitely not the only one who thinks about such things! In fact, one of my very earliest columns here at Showfax was about Callback Clothing and whether we want you to wear the same thing or not.
As I wrote in that piece, “If it helps others believe that you are delivering exactly what they fell in love with at prereads for you to show up in the same clothing at callbacks, by all means, do that. Help [the decision-maker] with that visual connection to your performance. Don’t create an obstacle for that connection.”
So, don’t overthink it, of course, but there’s absolutely no problem on our end, if we see you in the same (or very similar) clothing for your callback. It could even help a great deal!
Thank you for your kind words about our sessions. This has been a really fun project and I’m delighted to have had the chance to bring you in and to bring you back! 🙂 ’til next time!
Wanna be sure ALL your tools *and* your mindset are in peak form? Let us get you in gear with some FREE training right now!
XO
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Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001293.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.