Is it uncommon to cast somebody based solely on their reel without an audition?

iamWZA

iamWZA

Active member
I imagine auditioning takes a lot of time and money, so what if you find your perfect actress without an audition? Is it uncommon to offer them the part without going through a proper casting process? I don't want to approach an actress who has some experience in film acting and come across completely amateurish (I am completely amateurish but I don't want to seem it). Any advice or previous experiences would be appreciated!

Will
 
iamWZA said:
I imagine auditioning takes a lot of time and money, so what if you find your perfect actress without an audition? Is it uncommon to offer them the part without going through a proper casting process? I don't want to approach an actress who has some experience in film acting and come across completely amateurish (I am completely amateurish but I don't want to seem it). Any advice or previous experiences would be appreciated!

Will
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Unless their 'reel' includes material that is so close to your project, I think it is somewhat short sighted, and may lead to problems in the production, unless you also include 'rehearsals', which are a form of 'audition'... but if contracts have been signed, money exchanged, dismissing an actor during 'rehearsal' may be problematic.

So, an audition would at least take some of the risk out.

Actors audition all the time... for big projects or little projects, and more often than not even with 'big name' actors and attendant projects... In the Trivia on IMDB it is often listed how many actors/actresses auditioned for a major role in some production...

It would 'amateurish' in my opinion not to audition.

For the most recent short film I directed, the group had a number of actors, and some had some sort of 'acting' credit... I still auditioned potentials for the 'lead' roles...
 
It's not black and white, and you must ask yourself a number of questions. Would it be easy for you to hold auditions? Is there a pool of talented actors in your area? Does this actress truly fit the role you want her for or are you just being lazy? Have you met this actress and talked to them to get an inkling of whether you would work well together?

Ultimately all that matters is that you do what's best for the project. If that includes moving forward without auditions, then go for it. There are and always have been numerous films made where the lead was not auditioned, but in those cases it's very important that you mold the role to fit the actor.
 
There's a big difference between an audition and an open audition. Selecting a couple of candidates on the strength of their reel and auditioning just those few is not costly at all. If your actor or actress is not in your area you can send them materials to work from and have them email you a video of the audition. There isn't much cost, certainly compared to the cost of realizing you might have made a mistake.
 
Interesting. Cassius - so you'd say it's not unusual to audition that way? What materials are we talking about here?
 
It doesn't have to be a formal audition, but I would never pick an actor without at least an in person interview and discussion of the project. I need to at least know if I can get along with them personally, communicate productively or manage them efficiently without excessive hassles.
 
Razz16mm said:
It doesn't have to be a formal audition, but I would never pick an actor without at least an in person interview and discussion of the project. I need to at least know if I can get along with them personally, communicate productively or manage them efficiently without excessive hassles.
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Definitely. That would be ideal - some kind of internet/video audition and then a meet up to set things in stone. As long as that doesn't come across as unprofessional. Has anyone had experience of that casting method? By the way Razz, your next post better be a good one! Here's a premature congratulations on your 1000th post!
 
iamWZA said:
Definitely. That would be ideal - some kind of internet/video audition and then a meet up to set things in stone. As long as that doesn't come across as unprofessional. Has anyone had experience of that casting method? By the way Razz, your next post better be a good one! Here's a premature congratulations on your 1000th post!
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Of course it's not unprofessional. This kind of thing happens all the time in the industry, and in fact I would say it's the norm for some big directors. They know who they want and meet with the actor to see if it would work out. The important thing is to build that relationship of trust with the actor and to get them excited about the project.
 
Cassius said:
There's a big difference between an audition and an open audition. Selecting a couple of candidates on the strength of their reel and auditioning just those few is not costly at all. If your actor or actress is not in your area you can send them materials to work from and have them email you a video of the audition. There isn't much cost, certainly compared to the cost of realizing you might have made a mistake.
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Is it uncommon? No. But it is definitely unwise.

Cassius is right. I have auditioned people in my home. I've even auditioned people in parking lots of malls. I auditioned Austin Herring, who I cast for the male lead in 'Tangled Web', in the parking lot of a Dunkin' Donuts.

You can have the actress submit an audition on video, using a scene from your script. I had one actress send an audition video done on her cell phone. Skype is another low cost possibility. Auditions submitted on video don't give you a chance to see how the actress responds to direction, whereas a Skype audition would.

Audition her. You'll be glad you did. And it's much more professional,
 
Also forgot to mention, if you are afraid of seeming unprofessional because of only auditioning one person, there is no reason the actress ever needs to know if she was the only one. Even if you think she's the one, it would probably still be wise to do some sort of "audition" just to get a feel for how the two of you work together. Nothing will ever let her know that she's the only one you did that with.
 
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