If you’re an actor in Los Angeles and need help or some tips for your next audition, continue to read this short article now. The information in this article will help you release stress, and increase your chances of success.

1. Avoid developing the habit of becoming a 20-take wonder

If you have the practice of taping each scene ten–twenty times before nailing it, you are severely hurting your future. On set, and certainly not in a live audition room, you will never get twenty kicks at the can. Pro tip: conduct practice scenes and mock auditions in which you analyze the script and tape scenes as frequently as possible to hone your ability to reach to those golden moments in less and fewer takes. Progress is made via practice.

2. Avoid engaging in unprofessional behavior

Maintain respectful and professional decorum even while you are at home. Allowing yourself to acquire frustration or other negative behaviors while taping at home is not a good idea. By normalizing that energy and conduct throughout your process, it will manifest on set, in the waiting room, and even in your own energy body in the audition room. Pro tip: treat your reader as you would any on-set colleague (whether it’s a roommate, friend, cat, or spouse). Practice patience, developing the ability to give direct, compassionate feedback and direction, and developing the habit of being soft on them and yourself during times of high pressure or stakes, and that behavior will be available to you when it counts.

3. Avoid being so focused on execution and delivery that you lose sight of presence and play

Remind yourself how much you enjoy what you’re doing! True, this is your job, but it is also more. This is your work of art. Your calling. Being an actor is an incredible talent. Avoid being so consumed with completing it that you forget to enjoy it. If you can enjoy your own work today, from the comfort of your own home, while no one is looking, you will continue to do so on that sound stage. Pro tip: once you’ve gotten everything set up and ready to go, pause for a second before your first take. Take a look in the mirror, into your own eyes, and remind yourself why you’re doing this. None of us is ever certain which audition will be our final. Keep an open mind and allow yourself to have fun.

Enjoy your tapes and your talent, and you’ll create an environment conducive to the industry doing the same. Contact us for help with your next audition.