Auditioning is great for many different reasons. Being able to get in front of a casting director and show them how you decided to portray the words on the script you were given by your agent or manager is something that you should be excited about! It gives you an opportunity to make a new friend in a casting director. I am not talking about the type of friend you would go get dinner with, rather a friend who thinks you would be perfect for a specific role and calls you in to audition for it. Although having an audition is a great and very exciting process, there are several steps to being cast in a major production. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that isn’t always known about, or thought of by an actor. So, here are some of the different types of audition processes you may go through this pilot season!

1)            Pre-read: This is when the casting director is not as familiar with you as they would like to be before bringing you in to audition for a role. They may not be sure that you are the right pick based off of your demo reel, or the headshots that your agent or manager has given them. This is usually done in the form of a self-tape audition that you send in. This is absolutely not a bad thing; it is just the casting director looking to get a better feel for who you are as an actor and as a performer.
2)            Audition: Probably what you are more familiar with, the audition is the process of getting to read for the casting director and getting them to see what amazing skills you have as an actor! This is where you get to walk in and charm the pants off of the casting director and let them know you’re here for business.
3)            Callback: A second audition, basically, where the casting director, producers, and director have decided who the best candidates are from the pool of many people that auditioned. Making it to the callback is an awesome accomplishment and something that should be celebrated. It means that you did your job in the audition.
4)            Callback for the Producers: The next stage of the callbacks, where you typically walk into a very crowded room full of people who are tied into the project you are auditioning for and where you need to show them that you are the right person for the role. There can be several stages to these callbacks and they may want to see you more than once.
5)            Screen Test: This is usually where you are put on camera with another actor to audition for the same project. The screen test is where the casting director and producers want to see how you fit with another actor and if the chemistry between you is something that they want to see on the big screen. Screen tests are a big deal because they are usually one of the final stages in the audition process.

     There can be more or less steps to the audition process depending on several factors but the important thing to know is that you should always be as prepared as possible. Make sure you know your lines and that you are treating every step of the process like it is the last one you are going to be going through before booking the role. Walk into the room comfortably, and ready to get some acting work! Auditioning for roles is a super fun process and can also take a lot of time. You may send in a tape for an audition and not hear back for up to a month (sometimes more) so stay professional and never give up!