Jack Plotnick has spent the last decade as a working actor in Los Angeles. In film, he has appeared opposite Ben Stiller in MEET THE FOCKERS, Ian McKellen in GODS AND MONSTERS, Renee Zelwegger in DOWN WITH LOVE, and Sally Field in SAY IT ISN’T SO. Jack was a series regular and supervising producer on the Lifetime Television comedy LOVESPRING INTERNATIONAL (12 episodes on the air), which he also occasionally directed. He was also a regular on the Comedy Central cartoon series DRAWN TOGETHER and the FOX TV show ACTION. Other television includes recurring roles on RENO 911, JOAN OF ARCADIA, ELLEN and RUDE AWAKENINGS and has guest-stars on HOUSE, EASTWICK, THE MENTALIST, among others. Jack executive produced and starred in the feature film GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS, released theatrically by IFC Films, and now on video by MGM. Along with his two co-stars, he won 2003’s BEST ACTOR AWARDS from LA’s OUTFEST Film Festival and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

The following is a chapter from his free ebook New Thoughts for Actors. He teaches regular workshops in Los Angeles (and periodically in New York) and coaches privately. Email info@jackplotnick.com to get on the mailing list for his weekly $20 drop-in cold reading workshops and monthly $5 Lecture for Charity.

At the Audition

In the Waiting Room:

A lot of actors think the preparation is over once they arrive at the audition.  They’ve worked out everything they plan on doing with the scene, so they just sit in the waiting room, letting their brain do what it will.

A lot of negative thoughts come up while waiting for your turn to audition.  If you don’t deal with these thoughts, you will bring them into the room with you, and they will screw up your audition.

While you’re in the waiting room, be keenly aware of your thoughts.  What is your vulture saying to you?  Then disarm the vulture’s thought with an affirmation.

Everything I think before an audition is carefully placed there by me.  My number one task in the waiting room is to disarm my squawking vulture.  This is most important in the moment just prior to entering the audition room.

In the waiting room, I like to keep to myself for the most part.  This is out of respect for the other actors and myself.  If an actor is putting out an energy that you find disruptive, just find another place to sit.

Refrain from comparing yourself to the other actors.  Just wish them all “white light”.  Do not try to cast the role in your head.  None of you may get it.  Just be yourself and have fun.

Remember:  You’re not there to get this part; you’re there to have a relationship with the casting director.

At this point a lot of actor’s go into a kind of “last minute panic” mode.  You can see them quietly, and sometimes frantically, running through their performance.  They repeatedly speak the lines over and over to themselves.  I believe this is a last ditch effort to “control” the outcome of the scene.

You should fight your desire to do this.  Besides, it is an illusion to think you can control how the scene will go.

Feel free to continue studying the scene.  I find that my best discoveries concerning a scene happen right before I go in.  I ask myself, “What’s really happening in this scene”.  I’m not looking for some deep, metaphysical definition of the scene.  I’m simply looking for the obvious things that many actors overlook, such as what true-life activities are taking place, which will be fun to play.  For instance talking on the phone, which is such a simple reflexive act in real life, but a joy to play in an audition.  I look forward to something like that.  I think, ”Oh good, I get to answer a phone.  I know what that is.  That’s easy.  I look forward to experiencing a phone call in this scene.”  And then I approach it as if it were an improv about that circumstance.

Why not give yourself a little massage?  It will relax you, and you are your tool for the art you are about to create.

Before every audition I like to do a simple exercise.  It’s a classic one that every actor has learned.  Drop down from your waist; take slow, deep, relaxing breaths, and roll back up slowly, one vertebrate at a time.  Michael Caine says he often does this before he films a scene.

What are your routines before an audition?  Are they all needed?  Is there anything you feel you need to do, that maybe you don’t?

I used to smoke a cigarette before each audition.  I didn’t like the fact that it had become a habit, but I was scared to stop.

Elaine Stricht, a fabulous performer and an admitted recovered alcoholic, says that she never performed without drinking first.  She said the reason why she drank before performing onstage was that she didn’t want to “go out there alone”.  She didn’t trust herself.  Because she didn’t have a relationship with her higher power, she was under the illusion that she was alone.

But you’re not alone when we perform.  If you allow it, your higher power (or The Magic of Acting) is there guiding you.  Plus, the audience is doing half the work by projecting upon you everything they know about the character.

I’m so glad I broke that habit, and now I see not smoking as a way to acknowledge my trust in my higher power’s presence in my audition.

If you’ve been doing the affirmations, but are still having a difficult time releasing your negative thoughts and anxiety, try the following visualization:

Imagine yourself going in the room the way you’re feeling, but make it even worse.  See a frenzied look in your eyes as you forcefully shake hands with the casting people, desperately trying to get them to like you.  “Hi!  Please like me!!  I NEED THIS JOB!!!”

Then, visualize the performance you’d give under those circumstances; tense, stunted, awkward and watching yourself.

This image will be so repulsive, that it’ll make you say to yourself, ”Ugh!  I’d rather do anything but that! …Screw it, I’ll just be myself and not care what they think.  …I may not have all the answers, but I know where the road I’m going down leads to, and I’m not gonna take even one step in that direction.”

Suddenly, it seems that all the pressure just rolls off your shoulders and you’re able to enter the room free of anxiety and with an attitude of “fuck it.”

In the Audition Room:

When you enter the audition room, sometimes it’s a good idea to notice a few specific things about your surroundings.  I like to look at whatever’s hanging on the walls, and REALLY see it.  This gets me out of my head, and into the room.

People ask me if they should make small talk before their audition.

For years I had this same concern; that I wasn’t doing enough in the room before my audition began.  This fear was only exacerbated by my then manager who would fill me full of panic by saying things like, “You gotta go in there and ‘WOW’ them from the outset.  Show them your personality!  Make sure they really remember you!”

So I asked my friend, a working actress, what she does, and she gave me some great advice.  She said, “Just be your authentic self.  If you don’t want to say anything, then don’t.  If you want to; then do.”  She explained to me that you can’t “fake it”.  There are some people that are naturally gregarious and just love to prattle on with their audience before they audition.  They should feel free to follow their heart and be themselves.

Personally, I don’t like to converse before my audition.  I like to go in, do my joyful work, and leave.  I think it’s the professional way to approach it.

Now, I certainly am happy to chat for a few moments if they begin a conversation, but the truth is, in general, they’re very busy and after a quick hello, they’d like to just see your audition and get home before dark.

And I never shake hands unless they offer.  I’ve been told by casting directors that they’d probably rather just wave so as to not catch the myriad of colds and flus that travel through handshakes.

Let me reiterate, an audition is not the same as the finished/filmed/edited product.

A lot of actors make the mistake of trying to perform the scene as they envision it will look in the finished film or TV show.

THIS IS A MISTAKE.

All this will do is kick up your need to get all the words right, keep it moving, and make it look like a nice, smooth, polished product.  In other words, it’s a completely result-oriented direction to come from.

The casting people know that a performance in a finished film is made up of many “takes” of each line (usually 5 to 10).  The editor chooses which “take” of each line they want to print in the movie.  That’s how they build a performance.

The casting people need to see that you are an actor who will give the editor plenty of different “takes” or “choices” to pick from and edit with.  They need to see that you are coming not from a place of “control”, but a place of “playing”!

They’re looking for those electrical, magical moments of “spontaneity”, NOT someone who is going to freeze their performance and do it the same way each time.

Don’t strive to give the performance as you envision it will be seen in the movie.  What this does is create a need for “perfection”, which stifles spontaneity.

You mustn’t want your audition to be perfect!  Your ego knows it is an impossible feat, and trying will only create tension and fear.  You want to be loose in the room, so “electric” and “magical” choices can SURPRISE you.  After all, a great movie is made of many lucky accidents caught on film.

I was recently talking with a successful writer/director who said that he knows if he’s interested in someone after the first ten seconds.  (Please don’t let this freak you out and make you think, “Well, then I must really WORK IT in the first 10 seconds!”)

On the contrary, what he means is that he’s more interested in “the water you’re swimming in”, then in some perfect idea of the result of the scene.

He is interested in actors who are able to joyfully be themselves and approach each scene as if it’s really happening to them.

For goodness sake, you could accidentally drop your sides, lose your place, fumble to find the right page and then continue and STILL book the job.  The casting people don’t need it to be perfect.

If you are swimming in playful, spontaneous and honest waters it doesn’t matter how many “mistakes” you make.

You should approach your auditions this way from the outset, but certainly, if you audition and are given a chance to do the scene again, make sure to allow the scene to be different.  You do this by being “in the moment”, which only means that you are free of anxiety, not “controlling”, and reacting spontaneously not only to what the other character is doing but to your own thoughts and feelings.  This is the “jumping out into darkness, and trusting the net will catch you”, that makes great acting.

A lot of actors are able to risk and take chances while rehearsing, but come to the audition they freeze the scene up, play it safe and control it.

One way to combat this impulse is to say to yourself right before the audition, “This isn’t not how I’m really going to do it.”  Or, as the well known actor/teacher, Jeffrey Tambour, suggests, “Do it badly.”

These suggestions can really help you to let go of your need to control.