Are You Self-Sabotaging Your Auditions?

We’re gonna be talking more about auditions in March so it felt appropriate to re-release this article as a jumping off point. Enjoy!*Note: If you watch the video, keep in mind that it is from 2023, the year that I thought using cute GIFs to illustrate my points was the most brilliant idea ever for going viral on YouTube. Oh, Amy….I think we’re all grateful that I’ve moved on from that phase. 🤣Actor friends, listen up because there’s something that we need to stop doing in our auditions ASAP.We need to stop talking ourselves out of the role before we’ve even auditioned for it.“Oh, I’m not quite right for this. I don’t really play characters like this very well. They probably want somebody more...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”When we do this, we psych ourselves out completely and we basically are subconsciously saying to ourselves, “I can’t do this.” and then sure enough, our audition suffers.We put all of this distance in between us and the character.We kind of play at the character instead of fully investing and fully inhabiting them.We have a generic idea of what this person is supposed to be like, but we don’t bother getting into specifics because we feel like, “Oh, this isn’t really something that I do. It’s more over there and I’m more over here“ instead of creating a grounded, real person.I used to do this to myself all the time, but I have one story to tell you that really changed everything for me, where I consciously recognized that I did this to myself and I said, “No. No more. I’m stopping this pattern. I’m not doing this to myself anymore.”I got a series regular audition to play the mom of an 18-year-old.My history in Hollywood is always being told that I look very young, and that’s a great problem to have, but it can kind of mess with your mind as you’re starting to play characters that are actually your age.Of course, all the “old Amy patterns” showed up and I was going, “Oh, I’m probably too young for this” or “I don’t know if I really play moms very well” and that would have led me to back off of that performance and kind of keep it over there and I’m over here, right?Instead, because I was aware of this thought pattern that I have, I very consciously did everything that I could to convince myself that I was absolutely right for this role.I started saying stuff to myself like, “I could very easily, biologically, have a child this age. That’s not difficult.”I looked up the show and I realized that the character I would be playing the sibling of, we look very similar and I was like, “Oh, I could absolutely play that person’s sister, not a problem.”I am a mom. I tapped into all of that, my own life experience, which is exactly what we’re supposed to do as actors.I sold myself on how right I was for that role.And I sold myself on it so much that when my husband came in to read with me, we were reading the scene and he was like, “You’re doing great with this. I really like this character for you, like, this is awesome. I think you’re too young for this—”I cut him off immediately.And I was like, “No, no, no. I’m not too young for this. I am absolutely right for this because of X, Y, and Z.”I had convinced myself that I was right for this role so much that no one could talk me out of it.And that’s what I think we all need to do for every single role we audition for.When we get the audition, we are right for that role.In the end, it was a great tape. I was very proud of that tape. I was proud to submit it.It did not lead to a booking in the end, but it did lead to several additional auditions with that casting director and writing team, so I know that the work that I did in that self-tape is what was able to shine through, because I didn’t talk myself out of the role and I didn’t shy away from it.I didn’t pull back.I invested fully.I went all in on it by convincing myself that I was absolutely right for the role, even though I didn’t quite believe it to start.I did everything in my power to make myself realize, “No, this is my role right now. I’m going to do this. I’m going to make this mine.”The moment you get an audition, you are right for that role.While you’re working on that audition, that character’s yours. You got the part for the audition.How do you play sexy? How do you play confident? How do you play shy and weak?Whatever the role is that you think you’re not, what’s your version of that?Own your performance. Show your work. Build your reputation in this industry.That’s all we have to do at the end of the day.How are you right for this role?Ask yourself that question and I think you’re off to the races and your work is going to be better for it.And now, your moment of mindfulness…Get my Pre-Audition Focusing Meditation 🎧I’ve created a free meditation to help you get out of your head and into your character so that you can rock your next audition. It’s going to help you calm your nerves, let go of distracting thoughts — “How can I book this? What do they want?” — and focus in on what your character wants, what’s going on in the scene, so that you can present your best work every time.Let’s chat! ☕️If you’re ready to transform your actor mindset, let’s connect in a complimentary session. Rest assured, this is not a “sales call.” I’m not Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. In my world ABC means “Always Be Celebrating!” 🥳This is a chance for us to connect and for you to walk away with some specific, actionable ideas that you can start applying right away to shift and strengthen your actor mindset.Think of it like an audition where you are the production team. I’ll show you what I do in the role of “coach” by actually coaching you, and then you get to decide, “Does my production need a mindset coach right now, and is Amy right for this role?” Sounds fun, right? Get full access to The Aligned Actor at thealignedactor.substack.com/subscribe