Practice makes perfect…

This week I have had to do some more auditions for one of the roles in “Polish Bar.” The film starts shooting in Chicago on the 2nd and I need back-up ideas for one of the roles, just in case I don’t find someone in Chicago for it. The role is very specific. Here is the breakdown:

[SLOBODANKI KOWALSKI] Male, a 40-60 year old Polish immigrant, Slobodanki is a gay man who is the emcee/comedian at the strip club; he wears a bad toupee and just enough eyeliner and rouge not to offend the blue-collar crowd at the Polish Bar. He also is a general employee, moving liquor and cleaning up — but when he gets flirty with Tommy, he’s asking for a beating, and he gets one…SUPPORTING

Ideally I am looking for a Polish actor (with working papers) for this part. He has to sing and speak in Polish, but more importantly he has to feel like he could inhabit the Polish immigrant world of Chicago. He has to be flamboyant, charming and tragic all at the same time. The one actor I like, Carlos Leal (www.carlosl.com) who is not Polish but speaks five languages, gave an outstanding audition, unfortunately for me he booked a television series in Spain, so he is no longer available in March. I held auditions on Friday and there were maybe two contenders but neither of them had the creativity that Carlos put into his audition.

Out of the 10 actors who were booked in for the audition (I called in 25 actors), all of them came in telling me how difficult the material is and that they didn’t have enough time with the material. I booked these actors in for the casting last week. They all had the script and sides, how much time do they need? I know the sides are hard, but I also know that I had an actor do an amazing audition, nail the character and he never complained that the material was difficult.

This illustrates something that I tell actors all of the time: PRACTICE! When you think you have practiced enough, DO IT AGAIN! Do not come into a casting office complaining that you did not have time or that you are not prepared. How do you think that makes me think of you? Do I want to recommend an actor who did not prepare or makes excuses? I want you to come in do the best you can, be polite, thank us for the audition and seem like you are enjoying the experience. If you put me at ease, I will feel more compelled to find out more about you, even if the audition is not that great, if I see potential, I can ask you to come back with the notes I give to you. However, if I see disinterest or sense that you are not capable of sustaining a performance then most likely you will not be getting the role.

Also, in general, actors whose second language is English, must practice 100 times more than an English speaking actor. I have to know that a foreign speaker of English understands the material or else emotionally they will not read on screen.