Why An Acting Audition Is The Real Job - Michael Laskin

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Michael Laskin has been a working professional actor for over 40 years in film, television, and the theatre - from SEINFELD to BIG LITTLE LIES and a great deal in between. He has worked extensively off-Broadway, and at some of America’s leading regional theatres, including The Guthrie Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Geffen Playhouse, The Seattle Repertory Theatre, and The Mixed Blood Theatre Company.
Additionally, he was awarded a Fringe First Award at The Edinburgh Festival for playing “Richard Nixon” in TEA WITH DICK AND GERRY, which went on to a successful run at London’s Roundhouse Theatre. Michael also starred in the Canadian premier of the Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Talley’s Folly” and his most recent stage work was the American premiere of the one-person play, ALTMAN’S LAST STAND in Los Angeles. A recipient of a Bush Fellowship with The Guthrie Theatre, he was also awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from The University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s theatre department where he received his bachelor’s degree, Michael also has a masters degree in theatre management from The University of Minnesota. Additionally he’s taught acting at USC, UCLA, Queen’s College-Cambridge (UK), The Actors Centre (London), Art Center College of Design, Kennesaw University, the University of Minnesota, the Hawaii International Film Festival, and South Coast Repertory Co.
He’s had the privilege of working with some of the great artists in film and theatre, including Barry Levinson, Stephen Frears, Walter Matthau, John Sayles, Paul Mazursky, Bob Rafelson, Michael Langham, Robert Duvall, Roy Dotrice, and many others.
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[@ronineditor9920]

As a director, I don't hire a casting agency for most projects, I do it myself because I know exactly what I'm looking for. I put the post out, it gets picked-up by managers/agents, then I get submissions through Actors Access. For my last project, I got over 1,500 submissions for one role (based on LA, of course). That's where the similarities end for how I cast... other producers get off on the attention, that feeling of being wanted, people clamoring for your gig and they do in-person cattle calls because they love that energy for their ego. Personally? I value actors' time and realize these are humans usually struggling to make rent. I go through the submissions and sort them to only with demo videos (no video and I don't consider). Then, the headshots but I realize their headshots rarely look like them so I watch the videos. I don't care about the level of project but I just want to see - is it recent and can they act? I truly don't care about credits. Then I sort them... we get a 1-6 scale, I keep my 1-3s. Like with the 1,500 submissions, if it's a huge, huge group, I widdle it down to about 50-100. Then I request self-auditions, usually the most challenging scene. If I'm in a hurry, I will Zoom and read with the final 10-20 or if I have time, I'll then read them in person to see their vibe in the room, if there's a hint of attitude. (One time, I was doing a music video before the self-tape era, and had to bring in 50ish people, I posed as the PA signing people in to see their attitudes with 'just a PA' and some people were awful.) Then I just see who the best actors are and who I want to "hangout" with for a couple weeks, like, who's going to be cool to be around? Making films is supposed to be fun and I've been doing it for decades this way and it's been fun every time. Also, off-topic but this is to the actors out there... DO NOT WORK FOR FREE!!! You have a skill that you spent so much time investing in. Don't fall for the "free, but IMDB credit/exposure " or "Sundance film!" nonsense. It never works out and you NEVER even get footage. I tell this to so many actors but they don't listen, then get burned, "Sorry, you were right." Why shouldn't you do a free/exposure project? If they can't even afford anything for you, are they paying for a good DP, sound, editing, writer, lighting gear, etc...? No, they're amateurs. Ask them to see anything they've done and there either will be nothing or something God-awful (layered with excuses). There's nothing wrong with starting but they need to work on their craft like you did. Even on my most shoestring budget, I always pay my crew and actors above scale. Why? Just because it's "my" passion project... it's just a job to someone else. A friend of mine helped crew a short film of mine, basically a PA, but he didn't want money... I told him, "No, you're taking this $400 because I would have had to hire someone else and I'm glad it was you."

[@georgeorwell4931]

This a great point of the guest, " The audition is the job". Never thought of it as that. It shows how the industry is changing, and the possibilities and potential of the new process in film.

[@luthohans]

Thank you Sir!

[@kaimuwin433]

The last casting I did was live, far more difficult than recording myself to send out for a casting call for sure!

[@alohatraveler]

Appreciate this interview. Great perspective for those of us trying to break into the business

[@jeffsteitzer6005]

Michael Laskin is a VERY smart fellow.

[@otsogiants]

Fantastic interview and one of the best descriptions of a 'bold choice' that we hear so often about but with little clarity.

[@TheFeelButton]

The audition is definitely the job and every job is an audition for the next job. Cheers Film Courage!

[@thetamoramay7331]

Very helpful. Thank you so much.

[@cobymarcum1442]

I ❤ self taping for auditions. Especially if a project isn’t sure if they’re interested in me as an actor. If a project is seriously interested in me, I don’t mind driving in to audition in person. Similarity for a first audition when I’m casting for a project, it saves me and actors a ton of time for me to review self-tape submissions. I can tell sometimes in 15 seconds if someone is a fit for the character they’re auditioning for, or if they’re a better fit for a different character in the project that they’re not aware of. I’d be a terrible director if I couldn’t recognize what I’m looking for at light speed because when we’re shooting I have to make decisions in real time. If a director cannot make up their mind if they’re interested in you or not for your acting services, the experience of shooting with that director could be even worse because it’s possible that they don’t know what they’re looking for from you as an actor. I worked with an experienced director once and the audition was extremely short. I remember thinking, either I nailed it and I have exactly what the director is looking for or I’m not at all what the director is looking for and there is no point in the director wasting my time or theirs by lengthening the audition. I got the job and the director chose me as the lead with 8 or 9 other supporting actors for the scene. The director was great to work with, and this was partly because he knew exactly what he was looking for while we were shooting and he gave me clear instructions on what he wanted from me. (Funny note: On set my character drives up in a truck, stops and gets out of the truck to greet his friends. The director told me, “Don’t be shy about getting up to speed, then brake firmly to stop before you exit the truck.” So I did just that. Then the director said “Okay maybe not that fast.” 😂 He said the other actors were driving too slow in different scenes and he had to keep telling them to speed up. Then he said, “That doesn’t appear to be a problem for you so maybe slow it down a little.” 😊 I rode a sport motorcycle to the audition and auditioned in my motorcycle jacket (per his request) so when he said “go a little fast” initially, I knew what he meant. 😂

[@Wordsley]

These Rock!

[@MrSTVR]

14 pages? Who needs 14 minutes to decide if someone fits a role? Sincerely doubt anyone actually has the time or patience to watch a hundred 14 minute self-tapes. That's just a waste of so many people's valuable time, but especially the actors when their tapes will probably have made their point in under 3 minutes.

[@MichaelLaskinStudio]

Exactly.

[@porcoroxo_original]

Hey guys! I from Brazil, I have chances to be director of Warner Bros, Paramount? I study in university of Saint Luis

[@filmcourage]

Thanks for watching! Here is a guy from Sweden who now works in Hollywood: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJason2HrrWqibc

[@filmcourage]

Do you view the audition as the job?