What kind of audition for tiny part?

citychik

citychik

Hiya,
I'm in the process now of setting up auditions for my current project (short film) and I'm in a bit of a quandary. There is one character I'm casting that can be any age from 40s to 60s, and I posted a breakdown and got some good submissions. I don't know anyone personally who fits the type, so I needed to put the word out. The problem is that the character really only has one line in one scene, but will be prominent in another scene -- so I don't know what kind of audition to give them. All the other roles will have adequate sides for actors to read, and I have experience auditioning people for these types/ages, so I'm not nervous about those auditions. But for some reason I'm feeling silly asking these actors to come in and just read one line to me (though the role is an important element in the script).

How should I handle auditions for this one role? Should I: a.) write something a bit longer especially for the audition; b.) ask them for a monologue; or c.) have a group audition where they interact with other actors (not sure how to do group auditions, but...).

All suggestions welcome!
 
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A while back I wrote a few pieces for use in auditions, a monologue and two sides, both androgynous. They are written so I can set them up differently to see what an actor can do with them. For instance, I can say "okay, for this side, your father has just died, and you hated him." or I can say "your father has just died, and he was your best friend." Same lines, but different takes. These are what I use while holding auditions for things like the 48 Hour Film Project where the script doesn't exist yet.

You could have him just do the one line, or you could have him do more (a generic monlogue or sides) and think of the audition as not only for this movie but for potential future projects as well.

I keep the headshots, resumes and audition notes for anyone who has ever auditioned for me. You never know what might crop up in the future.
 
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Have the guy read the line for the scene for you--if you can do this digitally by having him film and upload to YT, that could work great. You can also have him read a larger scene from another character just to see if he can act. Cast him based on another character's sides...that's done all the time.
 
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M1chae1 said:
. . . if you can do this digitally by having him film and upload to YT, that could work great.
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That's just whack. It's not just about doing a line reading - jeez, it's about interaction with people. The actor will have a scene where she may not have lines, but will relate to other actors. I also want them to come in so I know if I want to work with them or not and see what kind of vibe they have in person.

I was just worried about giving the actors enough to do in the audition. I'll just have them read their lines and another characters' lines as well. Thanks to all...
 
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I sometimes don't have actors read at all at an intial audition. I ask them to stand in front of a video camera, then I say, "Ok, you have 90 seconds, go". I do callbacks based on that. At my last audition I was only reading for 1 character (only 2 characters in the whole film), so i actually did give them sides and have them read, but if I was auditioning for 6 or 8 roles they wouldn't read at all at the first call.
 
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citychik said:
That's just whack.
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I'm doing a short and I casted the whole movie that way (getting collage/university students to show up for an audition right before exams/during mid-terms is HARD) plus the leading female I got is currently in another city. I checked out who I cast by looking at what work they had done in the past and for a few cases, contacted directors they had worked with and ask, are they good / not a pain in the a** to direct.

Only one guy I casted I actually have worked with (for photography) so I will make for an interesting weekend; now that said it may all back-fire in my face but I have a Plan B (B is for Brothers) if an actor flakes or is total crap. So other than the female lead I'm not overly worried about who does what part, as long as I have someone to say the lines and do the actions.
 
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Graeme said:
I'm doing a short and I casted the whole movie that way (getting collage/university students to show up for an audition right before exams/during mid-terms is HARD) plus the leading female I got is currently in another city. I checked out who I cast by looking at what work they had done in the past and for a few cases, contacted directors they had worked with and ask, are they good / not a pain in the a** to direct.

Only one guy I casted I actually have worked with (for photography) so I will make for an interesting weekend; now that said it may all back-fire in my face but I have a Plan B (B is for Brothers) if an actor flakes or is total crap. So other than the female lead I'm not overly worried about who does what part, as long as I have someone to say the lines and do the actions.
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Oh, hey, I'm not saying that casting actors totally from what you see online doesn't work. I've done it. But it depends on the type of production & level of experience one wants in the actors. In this thread, however, I was asking about AUDITIONS, so the idea to just look at videos of people on YT is kinda whack. In this circumstance, for me, anyway. Why would I ask about auditioning people if I wanted to look at videos to make my decision? I did look at videos to see whom I wanted to come in to audition. I already had the room reserved, appointments made for the lead actors to audition, and will also see some people for supporting roles during those two days. Those smaller roles are the ones I focused on while asking the question of what to give them. I wound up writing a little extra stuff so they at least have a page of sides to read.

Auditions take place this Sat. & Mon. - I hope I find the right people and won't need to hold any more after this.
 
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Yeah I agree, doing an actual audition is the correct thing to do, but I'm doing a short where only 1 actor has any real stage time, so why do a whole audition if the longest part is only 10 minutes? (Next longest is around 3 minutes and so on).

For a minor part, all I'm saying is don't spend 2 hours casting a part for 5 minutes of the movie by holding a physical meet & greet. You can do it, it is the right way, I just think its a lot of effort for small gains.
 
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citychik said:
Why would I ask about auditioning people if I wanted to look at videos to make my decision?
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Oh, and I'm whack now? :) Kidding...

Listen, it's for one line. Looking at their resume, and having them do a video audition is absolutely reasonable. Doing a video audition is just that...an audition. You asked about auditions, and I gave you an option. I've done a ton of video auditions...for small companies, big companies...digital auditioning is really picking up. You don't have to cast someone instantly from it...use it as a screening process. If you like the person, call them in for a 'callback' so you can meet them in person.

*shrugs*
 
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Graeme said:
Yeah I agree, doing an actual audition is the correct thing to do, but I'm doing a short where only 1 actor has any real stage time, so why do a whole audition if the longest part is only 10 minutes? (Next longest is around 3 minutes and so on).

For a minor part, all I'm saying is don't spend 2 hours casting a part for 5 minutes of the movie by holding a physical meet & greet. You can do it, it is the right way, I just think its a lot of effort for small gains.
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Huh? I would never take "two hours" to bring in a bunch of people just for a one-line role. I scheduled 2 days of auditions for my three leads, and allotted some audition time for the smaller speaking roles (which I don't consider minor - they're quite important although they have less to say).

The character I asked about in this thread is very prominent in a non-speaking scenes, and would have to interact (silently) with lots of people so I wanted a sense of them in person. For the audition, I added a few more lines to that character's speaking scene and liked it so much I added them to the script. Now she has four lines. The tough part now is figuring out whom I want, because I have too many good choices. The auditions went pretty well.
 
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