Turn Your Passion Into Your Career!
There is a widespread and misleading notion that commercial acting is a “different” kind of acting from “regular” acting. That commercial auditioning is all about having the right “look,” getting a paycheck and collecting residuals so that you can afford to do your “real” acting elsewhere. If you genuinely believe that auditioning for commercials doesn’t call on you to bring forth the same skills, talent & passion you might for a theatrical audition, then you have taken your first step toward not being a successful commercial actor.
Acting is acting, plain and simple. It’s about finding personal truth within the material; it’s about finding “you” somewhere inside that script, inside that role, no matter how different it may initially seem from who you think you are. And here’s another tip: Auditioning for commercials is NOT about selling products. It’s not about “pretending” to be interested in something you are not. If commercial auditioning is about selling anything, it’s about selling you. It’s about finding the emotional truth in any script, any story, no matter what its subject. It’s about allowing that story to be filtered through your absolutely unique set of experiences, your singular view of the world, and sharing that with us. If you can allow yourself to bring your maximum level of talent and skill — to allow yourself to be wholly vulnerable in a commercial audition –then you will be on your way to not only standing out from others and giving us what we are so desperately searching for, but you will also be on your way to creating a fanbase of casting directors and clients who will want to see you again, who will want to find you work because they “get” you.
Even more, if you can embrace commercial auditions as acting challenges, as creative opportunities, you will fall in love with the process — not because it is a means to an end, but because you are revealing a part of yourself; a one-of-a-kind interpretation of the material that speaks to who you are. And because it is acting, real acting… and that is your passion. –Hal Masonberg
