Acting Jobs - What's the Difference Between Booking and Not Booking?

This Article takes a quick look at how to deal with the uncertainty of the booking process.

We all audition and we all succeed and we all fail. Unfortunately there is no formalized system of feedback set up for actors so we walk out of a room either thinking that we did great...or not. What is more important is how we actually did and really we will never know how we actually did and what if anything we could have done to make things different. There are so many factors that determine a booking and most of them are out of our hands. What is the difference between a booking and just another audition?

Booking an acting job is always good news, but almost like winning the lottery so I don't make too much out of booking or not booking an acting job...but I did just book one. Actually it's a very significant film called Foxfire, based on a book by Joyce Carol Oates. Apparently it's a popular book and she's a prolific writer. It was made before in 1996 with Angelina Jolie but not well received. This time 'round, it's already been predicted to appear at the Cannes Film Festival...so I'm looking at flights, haha.

So what did I do to book the job? Who the heck knows? I did what I always do...my best. I didn't even book either of the jobs I was up for, so it's really a mystery in this case. That has happened twice to me already this year. I will say this, for the first audition I really worked on listening to the reader. In the past, I was very nervous about forgetting my lines and that is still my tendency, but I practice being very relaxed when I rehearse and listening with my body and trying to not focus my gaze anywhere specifically, just letting my eyes go where they may and 'feeling' it. So I was pleased with the read, but you never know, right?

I actually did the audition for Foxfire back in February, so it took them four months or so to make up their minds...so under these conditions, you see why it makes sense to forget your auditions once they are over. I would have had a nervous breakdown by now if I had been 'waiting' to hear if i booked it or not.

What I'm trying to get at here is that you can do your best auditions and not book and do a not so great one and book, so your main goals should be to just do good auditions. What you look like and sound like is more or less out of your control and in particular so is what other people look and sound like, so it just may boil down to looks, and what are good looks for one project is downright ugly in another, so don't worry about booking. Worry about performing!

Just in case you were wondering, here are a few of the determinants of a booking that you don't have control over.

Appearance - Depending on who they choose for the other roles, your look simply might not work. I have red hair so imagine if they cast all redheads. That would be an entirely different feel (more Steven King).
Personal Preferences - Sometimes, the tastes of the people doing the hire lean a different way. You could do the best audition objectively, but art/entertainment is a completely subjective process and 'beauty' is in the eye of the beholder. Preference is something no one is ever going to discuss so you will never know if that is the reason you don't book. Imagine, "You were the best auditioner, but we just like someone else better".
Politics - Hiring decisions can boil down to favors/nepotism/backscratching and so-on. These things are behind the scenes but I guarantee you will lose and gain many jobs in your life because of them.
Role Unavailability - I have read about people being cast in a role that I auditioned for before I even had the audition. Sometimes the decision has already been made or an offer is out and they are seeing people 'just in case'.

Good luck and be a hacktor.

Hi, My name is David Patrick Green. I've been a TV and film actor for the past seven years and have created a system to speed up your results and "get more acting jobs". I also have an MBA from the University of Southern California so I'm applying business principles to acting to reduce the time and cost of having the acting career you want in Hollywood or any other 'wood.

Learn more about yourself and how you can accelerate your acting career success at http://www.hackhollywood.com/

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