The Audition Process.

I gave a little talk a couple of weeks ago to my Equity Branch; Equity, as a lot of people know, but not everybody does, is the actors union. It used to be called British Actors' Equity Association – the word union is not mentioned just like SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) and other Equitys or is it Equities? Maybe!!

I didn't take much time to prepare as I was learning lines for my play but, even though it was off the top of my head, I think it went well.

My branch, by the way, is The North West London Branch. The talk was about my time in Los Angeles and the difference between working there and in London – and there is a difference!
First of all when you get there you notice that it is a 'company town' in fact some columns in the Los Angeles Times are called that – Company Town.

There is a lot of help available for professional actors and anybody in the film business and from the Samuel French Bookshop on Sunset Blvd there is everything for the beginner to the old sweat of an actor who has been at it for years – like me.

I had to start all over when I got there; for a start off lots of American actors take classes, have acting coaches and are generally ready for work. They never leave the house without a head shot/résume in their bag and some even have sets of clothes in the car ready for any audition.

The British actors when they arrive might think this is pathetic and in fact a friend of mine said that actual word when we walked into Frenches.

At Samuel Frenches they have books of instructions published monthly on how to audition, what the agents are looking for that month, how casting directors are and what they like, what they don't like or how do they like to be approached.

I remember 2 things from the books and the thing all casting directors seemed to hate was actors coming in to meet them and asking if they could borrow their stapler – you are supposed to arrive with your 8'' x 10'' head shot stapled to the back of your résume and not leave it till the last minute.

Another thing I noticed for one casting director was 'do not touch the CD.' Of course I thought this was something to do with the CD player but no; do not touch the casting director (the CD) in case you pass something on – always wait to see if they want to shake hands with you – now, as my father used to say, what would that give you?

Yes, he would say, a pain in the shite!!

Getting back to the audition process; now when I say this I don't mean all British actors but a lot of British actors are a bit precious when it comes to the audition. A friend of mine went for an audition here in London and there were only 2 other actors up for the job; that would never happen in America. When he got there he noticed written next to one of the other actor's names were the words 'will not read under any circumstances.'

Reading is when you read the script to the director to give him an idea how you would play it – an audition in other words.

Needless to say that actor didn't get the role; I know who he is but I won't mention his name, but the guy who got the part - and it was a Disney film made in Britain - was David Jason; he didn't mind reading.

The basic audition is when you stand up in front of a director and perform a monologue; I don't know anybody who has ever been hired doing this. I did it when I got into drama school and I had to do a Shakespeare piece, a modern piece and recite as poem.

The other times I tried it I failed miserably.

There was a book called For the Actor and one called For the Actress which were full of monologues; I don't know if they're still available.

Sometimes a director will call out 'do you need a chair?' Some actors take it and talk to it.

When you do TV or a film you just meet the director and read.

But in America actors still do that monologue; they don't seem to mind. Some of them have been in series and they still do the monologue and/or read.

The actress Barbara Hershey was brilliant in Hannah and Her Sisters for Woody Allen and ten years later she saw they were casting Portrait of a Lady and the director didn't think she was right for it so she inundated her, Jane Campion, with letters and head shots and was eventually given an audition. Not only did she get the role she was nominated for an Academy Award.

I was on my holidays once in Devon and I made the mistake of calling my agent – no mobiles in those days. She asked me if I could come back to London the following day to meet a director at the BBC and of course I said yes.

When I met him I found the role was tiny and I made the mistake if saying 'You called me all the way back from Devon for this little bit.' Of course I didn't get the part.

Another director told me he didn't take much notice of a reading and I wondered why he had asked me to read.

When I net Ned Sherrin for a job in the theatre he wouldn't let anybody see the script till they got inside his office. When I met him I was supposed to sit back and go through it in my head before reading it to him – didn't get that either. To be honest I got the feeling he had already cast the role and was going through the motions.

I have met directors who have hired me without asking me to read at all and a few times I didn't meet the director till the first day of rehearsals or shooting.

In America you know what you get – unless you are a really big star, an audition.

I went to lots of seminars in Los Angeles to meet casting directors who would say that directors called actors in to read that they knew very well and who they had worked with; they did this because it was for a different type of role and they wanted to see how they would cope with it. I like that idea it's about as far removed from the John Ford typecasting that you can get.

By the way I like nearly all John Ford's films.

In America they like you to be natural, be yourself and behave – not act.

A tip the coaches give is not to keep looking into the eyes of the person you are reading with; this is not natural. People look around when they are talking to others; sometimes you look at people when they are talking but there is nothing so unnatural as staring at someone.

Another thing they like to hear is your natural voice. Some say when an English actor comes in they ask where the character is from and what does he sound like. They will say 'like you.'

I have heard someone say 'put two English actors together and they will be talking about accents in no time.'

The actor in Hollywood, travelling around in their car with a few changes of clothing and a few different head shots, is ready for an audition at a moments notice. When they get the call they will arrange to get the 'sides' from the Internet (it's a union rule that you have to have the sides – the bit of the script you will be reading from – 24 hours before your audition) and then, if they have one, and many do, they will call their coach and have a private lesson with the script.

It's a full time job in Hollywood – it's a company town.