May 13, 2025 • 9 mins
Headed back into the room? This Fast Lane episode delivers a crash course refresher on how to handle in-person auditions like a pro. From first impressions to last-minute nerves, we’re covering everything you need to know to show up prepared and confident.
📌 Perfect for:
Actors returning to in-person auditions New performers navigating the room for the first time Anyone who’s ever wondered: “Am I doing this right?”
🚪 Topics covered:
Audition room etiquette: what to do (and what not to do) How to handle running late or unexpected curveballs Entering the room with confidence
This episode is part of our Take Fountain: Fast Lane series—quick, actionable advice for actors who want to level up their craft and career, one focused skill at a time.
Want to give this episode a watch? Check it out in our channel on YouTube
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello from Hollywood.
My name is Anthony Boyer.
And I'm Jess Canty.
And today on Take Fountain,
we're gonna talk about audition terminology.
Not so very long ago, we used to do this insane thing
where we would transport our bodies to a room
where the casting directors would sit
(00:21):
and we would interact in person like humans.
Yeah. Um, and sometimes that still happens. Yeah.
We do sometimes still have in-person
Auditions. Sometimes
the casting office is actually given the budget
to be able to rent a space and sit in front of an actor
and give them a direction and redirect.
(00:41):
If you can tell our tone, it's
because we both desperately miss this worlds.
We think that, you know, it's so beneficial for casting
and actors to get to know each other in person.
We feel for our friends in casting who are now in this world
where tape is the norm
(01:02):
and they, they aren't given the opportunities.
Production isn't given the, or the budget. Yeah.
The budget and the opportunity to, to see actors in person.
So, you know, this is absolutely not us in any way throwing
any shade on casting.
Uh, it's more that the budgets have have shrunk to a place
(01:22):
where they aren't allowing
for this really important interaction in our opinion.
Yeah. I think I'm just old. Yeah.
I'm just like, remember how it used to be.
But, so sometimes,
especially in two specific instances,
you may still get an in-person audition.
Number one is gonna be commercial audition.
(01:42):
Many of those are in person. And number two is for theater.
Many theater auditions are now in person,
or at least have the option of being in person.
Right. So if I'm Johnny actor
and I've been sending all these self tapes out into the
world, and now someone wants me to go to
200 South La Brea Yeah.
And do a commercial audition, what do I do?
(02:05):
How does that work? Yeah,
Absolutely. So you definitely
want to plan for traffic. You definitely,
You're gonna hit every red light. Exactly.
Yeah. You definitely want to,
if your audition is at two 30 in your head,
your audition is at two 15.
Yeah. Right. So you wanna,
you definitely wanna get there early.
Um, it doesn't usually make sense
to get there way too early. No.
(02:26):
And the fact you might be in the way,
you might be a problem if that happens. Yeah.
Yeah. So, you know, 10
to 15 minutes from your actual scheduled time is sort of
what we recommend, so that you can walk in
without feeling rushed.
You are likely going
to encounter some kind of sign in sheet.
Mm-hmm. This is a requirement from sag.
They have to actually take note of who is coming in
(02:47):
and at what time.
Um, these days, a lot of times they're digital.
They used to be actual paper sheets.
You will be in a waiting room, likely.
Um, sometimes it is outside of the casting office itself.
Sometimes it is within the casting office,
and then the actual audition room is a separate space.
(03:07):
Sometimes you can hear the audition that is going on
with the other people next to you in the waiting room.
So be prepared for that.
Sometimes you will be in that waiting room
and the casting associate
or casting assistant is sitting at a desk sort
of in front of you.
They're tapping away on the computer. They're,
Or in theater, some sort of monitor. Yeah.
(03:27):
Yeah. So they're sending out other auditions,
they're working, but they know who's in that room
and they may have an ear on what's
going on in the waiting room.
So we always like to remind everyone
that your audition begins the second
that you pull into the parking lot,
and it doesn't end until you actually leave the studio.
(03:49):
Leave the lot, leave the space.
I mean, you never know who
could be listening to. Yeah.
I mean, I mean, many productions actually specifically
will have people planted to kind of
monitor the room a little bit too.
But don't let that freak you out.
Really what it's about is being respectful
to your fellow, you know, your coworkers.
(04:11):
Basically what it's about is setting professionalism,
you know, being professional and,
and that's your chance to prepare to go into the room,
which is where you really want to perform.
Right. And so I think throwing away that time before Yeah.
Really robs yourself of that time in the room. Absolutely.
And so let's talk about once you get into the room, um,
(04:34):
I think especially given the lower volume
of auditions people have in person,
I think some people start to panic a little bit.
Right. And I think it's really important
that you know, that that time.
If you ha if someone else has paid for a room
and given you six minutes inside of it, that's a gift.
Right. Take that time. Yeah. That is your time.
(04:55):
You know, make sure that like you're, you're don't,
don't go before you're ready.
I mean, don't be ridiculous. Right.
Don't like eat up people's time. Right.
But like own the space. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Own the room. I, that's another turn you'll hear.
I can't agree with you more that, that time,
that space is yours.
If you practice the audition sitting,
(05:17):
because the scene calls for it sitting
and you walk in the room and there is a camera set up
and that there's a chair in the corner,
but it's not in front of the camera,
and you wanna do your audition sitting, ask if you can sit.
Right. Yeah.
It's, you, it drives me crazy.
I'll be honest, when I would audition people
and then everyone like, can I sit?
(05:37):
Like, yeah. I would rather, can you not? Yeah.
Can you just not sit, I mean,
And maybe tell you that you can't, they may tell you
that you can't but it,
but I say that as an example of
this is a collaboration.
Yeah. This is your space, this is your time, your space.
It is not, casting is not on a pedestal.
They need your amazing performance
to solve their problem just as much as you need the job.
(06:01):
And so taking, you know, they'll, there may be a little bit
of banter at the beginning, obviously keep that
about the weather, about, you know, something kind
of innocuous brief
And inoffensive Brief and in inoffensive that's great.
But after that, if you need a, you know,
if you need 30 seconds
to just look at your sides one more time,
(06:22):
and if you need to turn around and step in the corner
and take a breath before you start your audition, all
of those things are the owning the room.
Yeah. And then specifically if you're,
if it's a musical theater audition,
you're gonna wanna speak to the accompanist.
You're gonna wanna make sure your tempos are correct.
If there's any, if there's any tricky cuts in the music,
if there's anything that might be difficult to follow,
(06:43):
make sure you're on the same page.
If something goes awry, stop and ask to start over.
It is very important that you feel comfortable doing that.
A lot of people start to feel like, well it's,
it's spiraling outta control.
It's getting away from me. But what can you do? Yeah.
All you can do is stop and reset.
Everyone's gonna be fine with that.
(07:04):
We wanna make sure that you're giving a good audition,
your audition, so don't feel like, you know, oh no,
things are going wrong and now I'm stuck with this.
Right. And so, speaking of things going wrong, what happens
if I get there and I'm late?
Yeah. So hopefully if you are running late,
you have safely pulled over for a second and texted
(07:28):
or emailed or called your agent
or manager to let them know that you are running late so
that they can get in touch with casting on your behalf
and let them know that you're running late.
So that is the first thing. So hopefully casting already has
the expectation that you're gonna be
a little bit behind, right.
In the event that somehow you can't get in touch
(07:48):
with someone, or there isn't a way to safely pull over
and communicate that you definitely just want to
not be bursting into the audition space
or, you know, office freaking out
making a big scene.
Yeah. I think being professional, everybody understands,
(08:10):
obviously you wanna apologize,
but you don't have to make a huge deal about it usually.
Right. They're often and running late. Right.
You don't want to count on that.
But most of the time, if it's five, 10 minutes,
you can probably get away with it.
The reason why you don't wanna be late,
as we've talked about in another video, is that
(08:33):
time is quite literally money in the entertainment industry.
And so anytime you're late, you're kind of signaling
that you might also be late to set.
Right. And so how you handle being late
is just as important as not being late in the first place.
Yeah. I, I wanna go back over
what you said too about not like, just like bursting in and,
(08:55):
and, and putting that anxiety out.
Like if you're five minutes late,
I would rather you be five minutes and 30 seconds late.
Right. Um, with that 30 seconds being comporting yourself
outside and like making sure that like,
okay, I'm breathing, I'm here.
Like 30 seconds, 20 seconds additional is not
gonna, you know what I mean?
Like, if you're already a little bit late,
you can be a little bit more late just to make sure that,
(09:18):
'cause what happens is a lot of times is someone's late.
That becomes what the audition is about.
And I think it's really important that, again,
you just like, make sure that you're being professional.
You make sure that, you know, you're respecting people's
time the same way you want your time respected.
Um, and yeah, just don't, don't make it about that. Right.
Thanks so much for watching.
Hello from Hollywood.
My name is Anthony Boyer.
And I'm Jess Canty.
And today on Take Fountain,
we're gonna talk about audition terminology.
Not so very long ago, we used to do this insane thing
where we would transport our bodies to a room
where the casting directors would sit
(00:21):
and we would interact in person like humans.
Yeah. Um, and sometimes that still happens. Yeah.
We do sometimes still have in-person
Auditions. Sometimes
the casting office is actually given the budget
to be able to rent a space and sit in front of an actor
and give them a direction and redirect.
(00:41):
If you can tell our tone, it's
because we both desperately miss this worlds.
We think that, you know, it's so beneficial for casting
and actors to get to know each other in person.
We feel for our friends in casting who are now in this world
where tape is the norm
(01:02):
and they, they aren't given the opportunities.
Production isn't given the, or the budget. Yeah.
The budget and the opportunity to, to see actors in person.
So, you know, this is absolutely not us in any way throwing
any shade on casting.
Uh, it's more that the budgets have have shrunk to a place
(01:22):
where they aren't allowing
for this really important interaction in our opinion.
Yeah. I think I'm just old. Yeah.
I'm just like, remember how it used to be.
But, so sometimes,
especially in two specific instances,
you may still get an in-person audition.
Number one is gonna be commercial audition.
(01:42):
Many of those are in person. And number two is for theater.
Many theater auditions are now in person,
or at least have the option of being in person.
Right. So if I'm Johnny actor
and I've been sending all these self tapes out into the
world, and now someone wants me to go to
200 South La Brea Yeah.
And do a commercial audition, what do I do?
(02:05):
How does that work? Yeah,
Absolutely. So you definitely
want to plan for traffic. You definitely,
You're gonna hit every red light. Exactly.
Yeah. You definitely want to,
if your audition is at two 30 in your head,
your audition is at two 15.
Yeah. Right. So you wanna,
you definitely wanna get there early.
Um, it doesn't usually make sense
to get there way too early. No.
(02:26):
And the fact you might be in the way,
you might be a problem if that happens. Yeah.
Yeah. So, you know, 10
to 15 minutes from your actual scheduled time is sort of
what we recommend, so that you can walk in
without feeling rushed.
You are likely going
to encounter some kind of sign in sheet.
Mm-hmm. This is a requirement from sag.
They have to actually take note of who is coming in
(02:47):
and at what time.
Um, these days, a lot of times they're digital.
They used to be actual paper sheets.
You will be in a waiting room, likely.
Um, sometimes it is outside of the casting office itself.
Sometimes it is within the casting office,
and then the actual audition room is a separate space.
(03:07):
Sometimes you can hear the audition that is going on
with the other people next to you in the waiting room.
So be prepared for that.
Sometimes you will be in that waiting room
and the casting associate
or casting assistant is sitting at a desk sort
of in front of you.
They're tapping away on the computer. They're,
Or in theater, some sort of monitor. Yeah.
(03:27):
Yeah. So they're sending out other auditions,
they're working, but they know who's in that room
and they may have an ear on what's
going on in the waiting room.
So we always like to remind everyone
that your audition begins the second
that you pull into the parking lot,
and it doesn't end until you actually leave the studio.
(03:49):
Leave the lot, leave the space.
I mean, you never know who
could be listening to. Yeah.
I mean, I mean, many productions actually specifically
will have people planted to kind of
monitor the room a little bit too.
But don't let that freak you out.
Really what it's about is being respectful
to your fellow, you know, your coworkers.
(04:11):
Basically what it's about is setting professionalism,
you know, being professional and,
and that's your chance to prepare to go into the room,
which is where you really want to perform.
Right. And so I think throwing away that time before Yeah.
Really robs yourself of that time in the room. Absolutely.
And so let's talk about once you get into the room, um,
(04:34):
I think especially given the lower volume
of auditions people have in person,
I think some people start to panic a little bit.
Right. And I think it's really important
that you know, that that time.
If you ha if someone else has paid for a room
and given you six minutes inside of it, that's a gift.
Right. Take that time. Yeah. That is your time.
(04:55):
You know, make sure that like you're, you're don't,
don't go before you're ready.
I mean, don't be ridiculous. Right.
Don't like eat up people's time. Right.
But like own the space. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Own the room. I, that's another turn you'll hear.
I can't agree with you more that, that time,
that space is yours.
If you practice the audition sitting,
(05:17):
because the scene calls for it sitting
and you walk in the room and there is a camera set up
and that there's a chair in the corner,
but it's not in front of the camera,
and you wanna do your audition sitting, ask if you can sit.
Right. Yeah.
It's, you, it drives me crazy.
I'll be honest, when I would audition people
and then everyone like, can I sit?
(05:37):
Like, yeah. I would rather, can you not? Yeah.
Can you just not sit, I mean,
And maybe tell you that you can't, they may tell you
that you can't but it,
but I say that as an example of
this is a collaboration.
Yeah. This is your space, this is your time, your space.
It is not, casting is not on a pedestal.
They need your amazing performance
to solve their problem just as much as you need the job.
(06:01):
And so taking, you know, they'll, there may be a little bit
of banter at the beginning, obviously keep that
about the weather, about, you know, something kind
of innocuous brief
And inoffensive Brief and in inoffensive that's great.
But after that, if you need a, you know,
if you need 30 seconds
to just look at your sides one more time,
(06:22):
and if you need to turn around and step in the corner
and take a breath before you start your audition, all
of those things are the owning the room.
Yeah. And then specifically if you're,
if it's a musical theater audition,
you're gonna wanna speak to the accompanist.
You're gonna wanna make sure your tempos are correct.
If there's any, if there's any tricky cuts in the music,
if there's anything that might be difficult to follow,
(06:43):
make sure you're on the same page.
If something goes awry, stop and ask to start over.
It is very important that you feel comfortable doing that.
A lot of people start to feel like, well it's,
it's spiraling outta control.
It's getting away from me. But what can you do? Yeah.
All you can do is stop and reset.
Everyone's gonna be fine with that.
(07:04):
We wanna make sure that you're giving a good audition,
your audition, so don't feel like, you know, oh no,
things are going wrong and now I'm stuck with this.
Right. And so, speaking of things going wrong, what happens
if I get there and I'm late?
Yeah. So hopefully if you are running late,
you have safely pulled over for a second and texted
(07:28):
or emailed or called your agent
or manager to let them know that you are running late so
that they can get in touch with casting on your behalf
and let them know that you're running late.
So that is the first thing. So hopefully casting already has
the expectation that you're gonna be
a little bit behind, right.
In the event that somehow you can't get in touch
(07:48):
with someone, or there isn't a way to safely pull over
and communicate that you definitely just want to
not be bursting into the audition space
or, you know, office freaking out
making a big scene.
Yeah. I think being professional, everybody understands,
(08:10):
obviously you wanna apologize,
but you don't have to make a huge deal about it usually.
Right. They're often and running late. Right.
You don't want to count on that.
But most of the time, if it's five, 10 minutes,
you can probably get away with it.
The reason why you don't wanna be late,
as we've talked about in another video, is that
(08:33):
time is quite literally money in the entertainment industry.
And so anytime you're late, you're kind of signaling
that you might also be late to set.
Right. And so how you handle being late
is just as important as not being late in the first place.
Yeah. I, I wanna go back over
what you said too about not like, just like bursting in and,
(08:55):
and, and putting that anxiety out.
Like if you're five minutes late,
I would rather you be five minutes and 30 seconds late.
Right. Um, with that 30 seconds being comporting yourself
outside and like making sure that like,
okay, I'm breathing, I'm here.
Like 30 seconds, 20 seconds additional is not
gonna, you know what I mean?
Like, if you're already a little bit late,
you can be a little bit more late just to make sure that,
(09:18):
'cause what happens is a lot of times is someone's late.
That becomes what the audition is about.
And I think it's really important that, again,
you just like, make sure that you're being professional.
You make sure that, you know, you're respecting people's
time the same way you want your time respected.
Um, and yeah, just don't, don't make it about that. Right.
Thanks so much for watching.
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