I ran into a friend the other day on the bus. She and I were chatting about various acting-related things that had spun out of a conversation about changing hair color and whether or not certain hair colors could encourage more auditions from casting directors. ”But what does it matter?” my friend added. ”It’s not like the casting directors call you to give feedback.” Her comment prompted me to recall a memory, which I shared with her.
A while ago, I had the opportunity to audition for a documentary film about Louisa May Alcott. I really, really wanted the role–though small–because I love historical (or “period”; pick your word…) performances. I felt confident in my audition because I had worked hard on my preparation, spending considerable time researching Louisa May Alcott’s life, studying her experiences and her family . The clientele in the room was polite and professional, and I even had an opportunity for a second take on a portion of the script I had flubbed. Afterwards, the casting director (CD) even made it a point to exit the audition room to tell me my audition was “very good”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and I didn’t get that role or any other.
To my surprise, though, several weeks after the audition I received a phone call from the CD. The reason for the call? To explain why I hadn’t been cast in the role and to apologize. In this case, the hair color did play a part in casting, but my lack of employ certainly was not due to my performance in the audition. Not only was it nice to know the CD remembered me and my performance that day, but the CD earned my professional respect and admiration by taking time to make that one phone call. That is doing work well.
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