funny bone

Remember what it felt like in high school on the day of the SATs? You’d been prepping all year for this (maybe longer), private coaching (if you grew up in West LA) on the various techniques, taking PSATs periodically to get a rough idea, pumping yourself up to get into the right mind frame or better yet –

THE ZONE.

Knowing that with every right step you are that much closer to the college of your dreams… In this moment you have complete control over –

YOUR FUTURE.

That’s what it’s like to make it to the Network Test for a TV pilot.

You’ve already:

• wowed the Casting Director at the pre-read
• gotten new notes
• impressed the director and producers in the second round

You’ve spent a day in a work session (with the director and the CD) where (if you’re lucky) you’re told “you’re in first position” (hush hush) going into the Test, and now all you need to do is produce one more time with confidence and specificity.
And it’s nerve wracking.
(Think Johnny Drama’s last audition on Entourage.)

Then… after sitting in a folding chair in the hallway for over an hour with 3 or 4 other actors competing for the same part, your nerves become almost palpable.

Palms start sweating –

Your thoughts are firing so fast your iPod can’t even tune them out –

“Do I remember my lines?”
“Do I remember my lines?”
“Do I remember my lines?”

Your heart beats faster –

FASTER

FASTER

FASTER

And then, finally (and almost dreadedly at this point)…

“Evie Stewart!”  is called.

The Casting Director kindly ushers you into the small theater with lime green walls where 20 Suits “anxiously await” this performance of yours –

• checking their watches
• finishing up inside jokes
• reading their Blackberries

Um, hel-lo?!

You look to the writer and producers who comfort you a bit with their empathy. They silently root for you to pull something magical out of this very stifling situation.

You’ve got ONE chance and your future DEPENDS on it.  Things look dim.

But there’s a New Light in the Scary Tunnel

Fox is mixing things up this season and network screen tests will now be seen on camera only, never in person. OMG!!

Oh, and posterity — check this out —

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Koj93Api_4

Pros and Cons (and Worries) for the Actor

On one hand, now I’ll get feedback in the room, which I can then use to make the next take even better until we get the BEST reading out of me and put that on tape for the Suits. (And my reel?) Good.

On the other hand, everybody looks different on screen than in person (fatter?!), and without that personal interaction and connection in the room (and my secret perfume), there’s a chance my “star quality” won’t read on screen. Bad.

Of course there’s a little (lot!) added pressure to make sure my hair, my makeup, and my wardrobe are all “camera ready” but that’s true for both types of auditions.

Still – I hope it’s going to make things much easier on actors in the end. For me, it’s a relief to know I can have a second or third take if I want it. AND it’s less pressure (and more supportive) to be in a room of people (like the CD who’s taping me) who already love me and want me to get the part.

I hope that this is going to make the whole process more

fun and creative…

Two words I certainly never associated with the word “test” in the past.

(What series would you have loved to star in? Let us know in the comments…)

6 responses to “Actors Taped on Network Test”