Every actor I have ever spoken to on the subject of commercials either hates doing them or loves it. Actors all seem to have a very different yet distinct point of view on auditioning for commercials and they usually depend on if they book them or not. Commercial auditions are funny because you probably spend a lot of time driving there (most commercial auditions happen to be in Santa Monica at 5 pm… really?!), then looking for parking, paying for parking, and finally waiting to be seen. And when the casting director finally sees you, they are with you for all of 20 seconds. This can be frustrating for actors especially when they haven’t known themselves to book the role when it comes to commercials. Here’re a few tips on how to up your chances of being cast in a commercial that you are spending all of this time to audition for!

1)       Treat your commercial auditions the same as any other theatrical one. All of the complaining I did earlier about driving to Santa Monica, not finding any parking, etc… was more of an attention grabber than anything. Auditions are auditions and that is that. When you are starting out in the industry (or don’t have the career that you want), every audition is important! This means that you have to be well prepared for each and everyone that you go out on. Commercials can get you some HUGE recognition, not to mention, pay for a large portion of your life. When you get an audition for a commercial it has to be just as exciting and interesting as a theatrical audition. Otherwise, the Casting Director will see that you are uninterested and go for someone else.
2)       Make a strong choice. When you are auditioning for a commercial, there may not be a lot of lines, or action, or anything to speak of. This is where your choices come in handy. When you audition for something that has fewer lines than you are used to, or maybe even no lines at all, it is extra important that you make a solid choice in whom your character is and what they are doing. When you make an interesting choice in the character the casting director will be more interested in what you are doing as you will stand out more.
3)       Improvise. When you have one line or a few actions, you have two options. You can say the line the way it reads in the script without changing it at all or adding any flare to it. Or you can make it your own by adding a little something special to it. This is where improvising comes in handy. You can make things funnier, more interesting, and pop a lot more when you improvise something in there that the Casting Director has not seen a million times that day.

      All in all, commercial auditions can be VERY worth it. When you treat them like any other important audition you get and make sure that you create a character for the role, you will probably find that you have greater success in getting called back, and hopefully booking the role.