Auditioning for Oliver Stone - Economics and Acting

FADE IN:

So late on a Friday…late as in after 6pm, I get a call from my agency about an audition for an Oliver Stone movie, “W”. The audition is on Monday and this is all happening at warp speed, so details will follow shortly. This is just an ‘are you available’ call. Yes, I’m available. I’m pretty much always available…except…by the way, the audition is in Shreveport, LA. I’m in Austin, Texas.

CUT TO:

AN ASIDE: Let me inform those from other areas of a reality of acting in the Texas, or probably any regional market: You sometimes have to travel for auditions. Most auditions are either in Dallas, Houston or Austin. Sometimes, if the actors are lucky, the production will hold auditions in all three locations.

Many times, the actor, IF he/she choses to audition, is required to travel to the audition location. That’s life in a regional market. If I don’t like it, I’m free to move or quit the business or anything in between. I’ve made many, many trips to Dallas and Houston to read for a role.

The trip to Dallas is a 2.5 hour trip by car. Casting directors in this market do what they can to make this situation more palatable for the talent. Most times, the casting directors in Dallas, for instance, try to audition Austin actors late morning or mid-day, giving them time to drive up in the morning.

Most of the time I’ve gotten to read for the director without a pre-read, so right after the audition, it’s time to hit the road and beat the traffic back to Austin. It makes for a full day, but is very doable. In the event that there is a pre-read involved, hopefully the callback will be later the same day so a second trip is USUALLY not required.

CUT BACK TO REAL TIME:

A dilemma. “Tell me more”, I say. Details, details…what is the role…does it sound interesting, something I’m ‘right’ for? And importantly, IF I get this part, how many days work can I expect? Actors (not star actors) are paid by the day or by the week and these rates are based on a ’scale’ negotiated by producers and Screen Actors Guild in our collective bargaining agreement. (Negotiations on a new contract are upcoming…another matter for another day).

CUT TO ANOTHER ASIDE:

I suppose I should make this clear: Auditioning for an actor is like any other professional applying for a JOB. There is commerce involved in this equation. As a professional actor, I’m not only seeking to work and fulfill the need to act, I’m looking to actually make a living at the profession. I have bills to pay, a family to feed. I need to make some kind of PROFIT. Profit doesn’t always have to be monetary, by the way. At least not in the short term.

CUT BACK:

More than once in this space I’ve mentioned (some might say, whined) about the loss of film work to the fine state of Louisiana. So, the opportunity to actually get to pick off some of that work might seem like a no brainer. And, to be frank, if I were closer to 20 than 60 years old, IF I were a beginner who was enthralled by just the thought of the POSSIBILITY of standing in front of Oliver Stone or someone similar it probably would be a no brainer.

But I’m not closer to 20 and the opportunity to audition has to be weighed, at least partially, in the context of both professional enhancement and economic viability.

This is getting longer than I had intended so….to be continued: Is Turning down an audition EVER a good idea?