Auditioning For Film And Television In 2026

When I first started auditioning for film, you had to go into the office. I lived in Los Angeles, where you had to find parking and sit in the lobby and see all the same people looking just like you. You’d be sweating & nervous, having strong butterflies. Then once you’d get into the room, you’d realize the casting director really was rooting for you. They’d give you these great notes, and you could really feel how the tone was supposed to feel. This was so helpful and informative, and as much as I hated having to drive and park, it made you feel like an actor because you were going out and seeing other actors and seeing your competition and realizing you had to focus and be great in the room to beat out your competition. I loved this competitive feeling I would get from being in that kind of auditioning space. It kind of felt more like a sport, because the adrenaline would get so high. Of course, sometimes after the audition you might cry or throw up a little because it went so awful. And you might get to your car and beat your steering wheel because of how poorly you did, and then you’d have to drive home with that mood— which made for a long drive home.

In today’s world, we are so comfortable in our process of auditioning. We’re in our cozy little houses or studios, drinking the drinks we want to drink or snacks we want to nosh on. We set up lighting that looks good for our own eye and hair colors. We are doing as many takes as we possibly can to get it perfect and to show what great performers we are. There’s something about this that just feels stale and boring and doesn't give that theatrical “show up and go” feeling that I love. If I had to pick between the two, it would be hard. Although I loved getting to know the casting directors better, I had to miss so much of life having to drive and sit in these rooms, and it felt hard to keep a steady job and keep my life moving. Nowadays you just spend an hour in the studio and then you’re back to your normal everyday life. But the downside is that you never know if you were on the right track with the characters, and you might not ever know what happens with the project. You wonder if it even matters.

I’m still working out how to make my audition feel compelling from my studio. I love having a real actor reading with me giving me notes, feeding my ideas. Ultimately I'm a performer and love performing in front of people. So the sterile studio feeling numbs me out and feels unimportant to me somehow. I'm grateful for every audition because it’s an opportunity to work. And I've definitely booked things from taping in my studio. But I hope that one day we get to go back into the room more and reconnect with the humans making art. Laura Cayouette wrote a blog about this and I had to as well. See her blog here: https://laura-cayouette.ghost.io/is-self-taping-a-waste-of-time/

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