Sitting in the waiting room for an audition used to be awkward for me when I was young. I wanted to go and talk to the other kids that were there auditioning for the same thing but yet the competitive beast of a young 13 year old girl inside of me told me that they were the enemy, and to be as distant from them all as possible. Then, as I grew older I discovered that apps on my iPhone were the easy way to stay busy in the waiting rooms. I downloaded all of the typical games (i.e. Candy Crush, 2.0.4.8, Temple Run, etc…) and I would play and play and play to my little heart’s content. This became my m.o.: walk into the waiting room, sign in, sit down, and play a game. I knew it was a habit that would eventually have to be stopped when I found myself dreaming about playing said iPhone games (that’s a story for another time, though).

As I grew up, and became the young professional lady that I am today, I challenged myself to stop playing iPhone games in the waiting room and try something else out for a change. This resulted in me sitting there awkwardly staring at people, and looking away as quickly as possible when they stared back. As testing as this was, I found it to be more of an acting exercise than anything. Initially, I was always super uncomfortable looking at the different girls waiting to audition for the same thing that I was about to go up for, then, as I grew more familiar with this new method of entertainment in the waiting room, I played around with it and found it actually helped relieve some nerves before my audition.

Now, when I walk into the waiting room, I try my best to not take out my phone and instead, do something to extrovert my nerves and feelings. I say hello to the girl sitting next to me, I admire the lady’s shoes in front of me. I do things that I would normally do with people whom I didn’t consider to be my competition. At the end of the day, it may not even be anyone in the room with you who gets the part, they could have auditioned earlier that day, the day before, or not even auditioned at all. So I have found that the best way to make sitting in the waiting room for your audition as non-awkward as possible for everyone involved, as well as a way to feel the most comfortable before auditioning, is to be kind to everyone there and communicate as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. No harm can come out of being kind to another auditioner.

If every Los Angeles actress had the new years resolution to just be a little sweeter to the other girls in the waiting room, the world of auditioning would be a better place for all, don’t ya think? #bekindinthewaitingroom2015 #actressesunite (two hashtags I just came up with out of nowhere, but that I humbly think could change the world of acting forever).