I had my very first Skype audition this week!
I have put myself on tape in the past, but when you do that you can take as many takes as you want and edit it down to just be the best one. When you have a Skype audition, it’s pretty much as close as you can get to a regular audition, just done virtually.
This audition was for a national campaign that I actually auditioned for several months back. But my agent resubmitted me when she saw that they were looking again and the casting team remembered me and had me audition again! So that made me really happy.
The script was pretty short (only about 10 lines), so I didn’t stress about working on it too much. If I practice too much, it sounds canned and not natural.
Because the casting team is based in NYC, my audition was a bit earlier than I’m used to. But it was fine since I get up early most days.
Since I was only going to be seen from the chest up, I dressed nice on top but wore my workout pants (with bare feet) on bottom.
I spent the 15 minutes before the audition time practicing my lines and making my computer screen as empty as possible. I didn’t want any weird distractions (or noises) while the audition was going on.
When the audition time came, I opened up Skype and waited for the audition call to come it. That was more nerve-racking than waiting in an audition room.
I had moved my laptop to be in a place with better lighting and a blank backdrop, and when I saw how I looked on the Skype call I think I made the right choice.
The audition went very much like a regular audition. We chatted at first about some things, they asked me if I had any questions about the material, and then I auditioned. I had to do it twice because the first time I made a mistake, but the second time went well (I think).
The only thing that might have been a bad choice on my part was the bottom half of my outfit. They needed to see as much of a full body shot as possible. Since my house is so small there is only so much room that I could back up into. So they never saw that I was barefoot (unless they are reading this blog is which is always possible), but I wish I wore better pants.
I had my script up on my computer screen instead of printing it out to hold in my hands. I think that was a good choice. And when I was auditioning I made it so I couldn’t see myself on the call. I don’t want to watch myself acting while auditioning. Maybe some people like that, but I don’t. I’m not a fan of watching myself on screen at any time. But by hiding myself on my side of the call, I was able to audition without any additional stress or nervousness.
And within a few minutes, my audition was done and I was able to get ready for my day job.
If I get a callback, it will be in LA, so that will be nice. That would be in a week or two, so hopefully I hear back soon. And it doesn’t shoot for about a month so there is plenty of time before they have to make their decision on this. That’s a bit unusually since most auditions are for projects shooting in a few days.
Either way, I survived my first Skype audition and now feel prepared to do them again in the future if I need to.
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