Auditioning Stories

A few of my actor friends have told me their unbridled stories of going into an audition and taking it to the max. You hear these stories in big films as well. Go see Sean Young's audition tape for "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" and you'll see how desperately she was gunning for the role (it went to Karen Black).
These stories are great. And it's funny how the actor friends love telling them, but the reality...we're only really hearing the success stories. The failures disappear into the ether.

For every guy or gal who pulls their pants down and eats their own socks to impress the casting director there are many more that have banned them from ever returning. These are the stories we don't hear. Want to know why? Because they were never casted.

Though, I'm not adverse to say, I love that level of chutzpah. None of which matters as I'm not casting massive budgeted films. Sometimes, it's just sad. But I will never tell an actor not to do what it takes to get what they want. The ones that it really doesn't work for is if they aren't that way in life. The wallflower isn't going to whip off her blouse in a convincing way to indicate how free spirited she is (the perfect example is Meg Ryan being ridiculously casted as Jim Morrison's girlfriend Pamela Courson). Meg was so uncomfortable, you can see her covering up her tits to Oliver Stone's dismay.

I do get the mentality though, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" And if you are put on their radar, they will more than likely cast you. With one caveat. For those who continue to love pulling down their own pants and sucking your thumb for casting attention, probably should ask yourself if you'd want to be with that person for 12-16 hour days around women? This is now a liability and isn't (unfortunately) as tolerated. I've been on sets where the actor thought it funny to do so. This was in 2008 when it was somewhat still acceptable. The guy most likely O.D.'d somewhere in Hollywood by now. The Babylon isn't that shimmery.

The other thing to consider, if you decide to take it to the limit...this is an industry of talk. By the time you finished your audition, every agency, by lunchtime, will have this story. Whether you consider this good or bad is up to you. Me? How about wow'ing people with just reading the line. Most of the time, to be perfectly frank, most people conceal lack of talent with a gimmick stunt. If these are the ways you get on set, more power to you. You also have a story to tell for the next person who may outdo you in outrageous behavior. From what I hear in the grapevine, most people are annoyed by it. They know the trick. Better to be the first than the next.
If you're lucky to get an audition for a studio, consider that they already decided who they want before you even got there. And it isn't you. So...in that sense...why not?