A lot of people will tell you that showbiz SPARKLE is something that can't be cultivated - that you either have it or you don't and, for sure, some people are lucky and seem to be born with an innate ability to stand out from the crowd, turn heads, get attention and generally make you sick! But seriously, like anything in life - if you study hard and work at it, you can achieve results, and developing your Sparkle Factor is no different.
Look at the following Acrostic definitions for SPARKLE
ACTIONS
Serious
Punctual
gAble
Reliable
Keen
Likable
Energetic
ACTIVES
Smile
Posture
Attitude
outine
Knowledge
Lure
Enthusiasm
These two lists make up the essence of SPARKLE. It is your job to demonstrate, in the short space of the audition, that you are all of the items on the ACTIONS list - and you can do that by making sure you display all 7 ACTIVES.
So, let's look at the secrets of the 7 ACTIVES one by one:
SMILE - And the World Smiles with You
It may sound simple but learning to deliver a confident and catchy smile is one of the best tricks you can master when auditioning. When you walk into the audition room you will of course be nervous - and we will look at tackling audition nerves later in this course - but that first moment of contact with a casting director is key.
A first impression lasts and there is a reason that the best advertising in the world blasts us with perfect toothpaste smiles to promote products: BECAUSE SMILES CREATE A POSITIVE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE in the recipient.
Firstly remember this, if you have arrived late to an audition and you walk in apologizing you cannot be delivering a winning smile. You may try an apologetic smile but that creates a completely different emotion in the director.
Also, under pressure most of us raise a small ‘nervous smile' - the kind that evokes a little empathy or pity in the receiver but you need to scratch that from your audition repertoire and start focusing on something bigger, more confident and more effective.
There are many types of smile - from the brashly confident (NOT good for meeting the casting director) to the shy and timid. You Audition SMILE has to be somewhere in between. Confident, charismatic and genuine - it will tell the casting director that you are aware why you are here, and ready to give him your best shot.
Make eye contact as you smile and give your ‘performance smile' - that smile you give on stage when you want to warm the audience, when the adrenaline is pumping inside you and you feel totally ‘in control'. That's the smile you have to find and take into the audition room with you. Think about the Fight and Flight response we talked about earlier - think yourself out of the audition room and onto the performance stage and let the smile come out. And remember, a good smile starts in the eyes. (You can practice this in front of the mirror)
Delivered correctly the SMILE ACTIVE reassures the casting director that you are Serious, Punctual and Keen - 3 of the 7 ACTION boxes you need to get checked.
POSTURE - Your body talks too.
From the moment you walk into the audition room the casting team are sizing you up. Not in a bad way. Not in a judgmental way. But in a purely physical way - do you physically look right for the role on offer
However, there are two sets of signals that you send off when you walk into the room and, while the casting team are consciously focused on the obvious - physical - characteristics; your height, weight, hair color etc., you can send out a whole set of positive messages with the metaphysical traits of your being
How you carry yourself into an audition is surprisingly crucial to your success. First impressions last - as I have said before - and a casting director will remember their first impression.
Walk in with confidence. Hold your head high and keep your back straight. Don't fidget or twitch and be sure that you make eye contact.
With the POSTURE ACTIVE you get one chance to score points on the ENERGETIC ACTION.
Your physical body needs to give off a healthy energy that suggests you are confident and capable. (Even if you are auditioning for the role of a drug addict, a cripple or a frail elderly person - differentiate the actor from the part.) Arrive as YOU and make sure that the "YOU" the casting director first meets is strong and poised.
ATTITUDE, as they say, is everything.
The ATTITUDE ACTIVE starts with arriving on time and being prepared, however it is one of the more difficult ACTIVES to display in the short space of time you get in the audition room.
What attitudes are casting directors looking for? Well, just look at the ACTIONS list. As well as an actor with talent, a casting director wants to hire someone who will take the work seriously, work hard, be fun to work with and take direction. Therefore you need to try and display these qualities in your audition.
(First you need to make sure you truly possess these qualities. You can't fake these! If you are difficult to work with, totally temperamental, think you know best and want the world to work around your schedule then you'd best give up auditioning now!)
Don't argue with the casting director, don't tell him that you have played this part before and know it perfectly and don't boast about what you have done before - let your resumé do that for you (More on resumés later.)
Be humble, but not submissive.
Be confident, but not pushy.
Be patient and be responsive.
- I have seen actor's throw fits in the waiting room because they felt they had been kept waiting too long - they never got cast!
- I have seen actor's question the casting director's request to have them Cold Read saying they didn't know that was going to be required - they never got cast.
- I have seen actors who made weak apologies as to why they were not at their best today but to trust their past experience not their audition - they never got cast.
- I have seen actors spell out parts they will and won't do, and days they can and can't work, before they audition - they never got cast.
Margie Harber, in her book "How to get the part - without falling apart" categories 5 types of uncastable actors at audition:
Ms. Shy: She arrives with sweaty palms and a mousy voice, can hardly make eye contact with the casting team and you wonder why she ever entered Showbusiness
Mr. Obnoxious: He arrives and takes over the room shaking hands with everyone with a vice like grip and an overbearing laugh
Ms. Attidue: From the moment she arrives she seems to give off the air that this production is beneath her and they'd be lucky to get her rather than vice versa.
Mr. Intense: His smoldering sexuality borders on creepiness and you are not sure if he is manically funny or just a maniac.
The Robot: Appears totally detached from everyone in the room - including himself. Lacks any emotion and seems to be just going through the motions.
If you see your current audition style in any of those categories then we have some serious work to do. If not, then hopefully you are already castable - you just need some fine tuning.
Displaying the right attitude from the time you arrive in the audition till the time you leave will help the casting director check the following ACTION boxes on your tick sheet: Serious, Punctual, Keen, Enthusiastic. That's 4 out of the 7! Attitude really is everything - almost!
Think of the American Idol audition rounds.
How often do you hear Simon comment on someone's attitude "You are confident without being obnoxious", "You come across really well", "I think the public will like you". You hear him make more such comments about good performers that get selected than you do of their talent. It's the way they come across that gets them the ticket to Hollywood - and it REALLY matters in every audition you walk into.
We'll look at the next 4 elements, R - K - L & E, in the next part of Twinkle Twinkle Be A Star
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