AUDITIONS, INTERVIEWS AND CASTING
In 1987 Elaine White, an actress, received sponsorship from The
Geoffrey Ost Award and The Mary Henniker Heaton Memorial Trust
for a research project on Auditions, Interviews and Casting. She
circulated numerous directors with a questionnaire asking what
each felt about interviews and auditions, what they expected from
actors and what general advice they could offer. She incorporated
all those essential questions that every actor would like to,
but most never dare, ask (and that I cover in my 'An
Actor's Guide to Getting Work'). For example, question one
was 'Please describe the usual procedure at your auditions/interviews.'
Individual answers ranged right across the spectrum from informal
interview' only, through the full works of not just an interview
but also 'pieces and/or reading and work with the actor', to an
emphasis on the 'use of recalls'. Some advice was completely contrasting,
for example: question seventeen was 'What should an actor bring
to an audition (photos, CV, and so on) and will you usually ask
to see these?' The answers included 'Bring reviews or portfolios/videos'
and 'No reviews or portfolios'. Question eighteen was 'Does it
help if an actor follows up an audition?' Again answers ranged
widely, from 'Yes, it shows interest' to 'No, it's irritating/embarrassing
and time-consuming'.
Elaine received over two hundred responses from directors, including
a few very well known ones. Not only was there a wide range but
even contradictory responses from four pairs of directors working
in the same theatres. Her statistical analysis came to no definite
conclusion and as she commented, 'At the end of the day it seems
that auditionees must suit their presentation to that particular
director, working with that particular company on that day,' but
'It does seem that an actor's personality could be as important
a factor as their technical ability.'
Although over a decade old, this research makes fascinating reading
and most of it is still relevant. You can read, online, a .pdf
copy of the whole report (1.7Mb) by clicking here.
You can download a copy by clicking on the floppy disc icon ("Save
as copy") at the top left of the report's window.
Alternatively, you can download
a copy by moving your pointer over the link above, right-click
(Windows) or hold the mouse button down (Mac) and choose "Save
this link to disc" or "Download link to disc" or
"Save target as..." in the pop-up menu that appears.
Whichever method you choose, the
download will take about 5 minutes using a 56k modem.
To read this file you'll need an appropriate version of Adobe
Acrobat Reader. If you don't have it, you can get it free by clicking
on the logo below and selecting the version appropriate to your
computer's operating system.
Main
Page