summer 2018

Audition, Interrupted

By Mark Sikes

Have you ever had your audition interrupted? Maybe somebody’s phone went off. Maybe somebody walked into the room unaware of what was going on. Or maybe some loud noise from outside the casting office interrupts your scene. All of these things can happen. In fact, all of these things have happened in my office more than once in the past twenty-five years. So how do you take what seems like a disaster into a positive?

Keep reading.

Some might think that once this happens, the audition is over and it just isn’t your day. However, in my experience, just the opposite can be true. What do you do in these situations? As usual, I’m going to advise that you try to turn a negative into a positive and create an opportunity.

The first and most important thing to remember in any of these situations is that it isn’t personal. Life happens. People walk into the wrong room at the wrong time. Phones go off. Noises occur whether you’re in a casting office or on a set. Life happens. Please remember that it isn’t personal. After the thought that it isn’t personal leaves your brain, please immediately remember that you were just handed a great opportunity to show everybody in the room how you handle adversity. When something goes wrong in the room and you handle it poorly, we assume that is what you will do on the set. People who take things personally tend to be consistent.

If someone’s phone goes off or if any unexpected noise occurs in the room you should do your best to keep going. It is not cool that it is happening, but it happened, so go with it. Either integrate the noise into the scene or just ignore it. If somebody else stops your scene to deal with the noise, do your best to laugh it off and go from there. If you get angry or edgy it will cost you even when you are in the right. Somebody screwed up and they hopefully already feel bad, no need to make them feel worse.
What’s to be gained?


The worst and best case of “Audition Interruptus” I ever saw was years ago out in Sun Valley when I was the Head of Casting for PM Entertainment. It was a producer’s callback so we were in the producer’s office with one of our top choices. In the middle of the audition, which called for the actor to play a tough crime boss, the producer’s business partner walks into the office unaware that we were in the middle of an audition. He stops in his tracks, realizes what is going on, and before he can utter a word, the actor, in character, tells him to “get the &^%&% out here!” The business partner quietly backs out of the room, gingerly closing the door behind him. The actor and I finish the scene and as soon as we’re done the producer in the room breaks out laughing and says, “that was my business partner. I’ve always wanted to say that to him.”

We all got a great laugh. He was kidding, of course. And that actor was hired before he could get back to his car. That isn’t to say that you should swear at people who accidentally interrupt your audition. It worked for him on that day in that office because he stayed in character and used it. You find your own way to improvise yourself out of the jam and they will usually be impressed. Breaking character should always be the last resort.

For the record, the majority of times that somebody’s phone has gone off in the audition have been actors that were auditioning. This tends to really throw actors because they know that they’ve just sabotaged their own audition. Producers and directors phones may go off during your audition. But, like at any job interview, maybe wait until you have the job to start holding an employer responsible for a minor faux pas.

You will also find that casting offices appreciate it in the long term. I like to know that an actor can handle these situations with a fair amount of understanding and patience and not lash out over an innocent mistake or accident.
Casting Frontier