# Tartie Takes: Auditions

An episode of [And That's What You REALLY Missed](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1645980188), 2 Mar 2026, 34 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/67adaf3b-fc3c-4c67-9613-af12015fa842/a8eb4cfd-d6aa-48d9-9e33-b40100453b31/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=d5f905ac-eb40-4fc6-9d03-af120160041a

The job of an actor is to hear NO a lot and not take it personally! The life of an actor is not for the faint of heart! Jenna and Kevin share the ups and downs of auditioning! From self-taping to callbacks, producer sessions, to the emotional rollercoaster of testing and chemistry reads! Plus, they share personal stories of the great roles they almost landed and the reasons they were given for not snagging roles in "The Flash" and "The Magicians!" For fun, exclusive content, and behind-the-scenes clips, follow us on Instagram @andthatswhatyoureallymissedpod & TikTok @thatswhatyoureallymissed! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: And that's what you really missed with Jenna.
[0:04] Speaker 2: And Kevin an iHeartRadio podcast.
[0:09] Speaker 3: Welcome to you, and that's what you're really in this podcast.
[0:11] Speaker 3: Hello Kevin, Welcome back for another Tarty Take episode.
[0:16] Speaker 4: Welcome everyone.
[0:18] Speaker 3: I would like to talk about something today, great, something
[0:24] Speaker 3: that has I've had a love hate relationship for a
[0:27] Speaker 3: really long time.
[0:28] Speaker 4: Oh it's a hate hate relationship for me. Yeah.
[0:32] Speaker 3: I think it's hate hate for me, and I think
[0:34] Speaker 3: it's almost there's some love in there, more love and
[0:36] Speaker 3: there for.
[0:37] Speaker 1: You than there is for me.
[0:39] Speaker 3: Oh really yeah, yeah, what are you talking about, Jenna?
[0:45] Speaker 3: We're talking about auditioning, just the word. As an actor,
[0:52] Speaker 3: we are perpetual and forever auditioners.
[0:56] Speaker 1: That is our job.
[0:58] Speaker 3: We have to get really good at here no a
[1:01] Speaker 3: thousand times and not taking it personal or taking it
[1:04] Speaker 3: personal and moving on. Auditioning looks like a lot of
[1:09] Speaker 3: different things for a lot of different projects, a lot
[1:11] Speaker 3: on a lot of different mediums.
[1:13] Speaker 4: Right.
[1:13] Speaker 3: Theater is different from film and TV, and I think
[1:18] Speaker 3: we should just talk about like what it's like from
[1:20] Speaker 3: the moment it pops up and how it's changed over time,
[1:24] Speaker 3: because I think it's such an interesting thing that people
[1:26] Speaker 3: hear you talk about, but they.
[1:27] Speaker 1: Don't actually know what goes into it.
[1:29] Speaker 4: So the whole process.
[1:31] Speaker 2: I also think there's differences between like the type of project,
[1:37] Speaker 2: even if it's TV. Even within TV, there's different types
[1:41] Speaker 2: of auditioning commercials, like it's a whole voiceovers. Yeah, so Jenna,
[1:49] Speaker 2: when you receive how does the audition process start?
[1:53] Speaker 4: Okay, general, and let's talk about TV film.
[1:56] Speaker 3: Okay, right now, TV film oftentimes most major, majorly, I
[2:01] Speaker 3: will get an email in my inbox. Every once in
[2:04] Speaker 3: a while I'll get a call from my manager and
[2:06] Speaker 3: my agent and be like, we have this thing, you know,
[2:08] Speaker 3: and kind of vetting or there's something that we need
[2:10] Speaker 3: to talk about before it happens.
[2:12] Speaker 1: But mostly I will get an an email in my inbox.
[2:16] Speaker 1: I will say.
[2:17] Speaker 3: Audition, self tape request now back in the day before,
[2:22] Speaker 3: like around Glee time, because also it was also self
[2:26] Speaker 3: tapes for LA because I was in New York. But
[2:29] Speaker 3: oftentimes back in the day, you would go, you would
[2:33] Speaker 3: go to an audition and audition.
[2:36] Speaker 2: I mean that's how it had always been, like yeah,
[2:40] Speaker 2: nine for me at least being in LA, ninety nine
[2:42] Speaker 2: percent of the time you go in the room, you
[2:44] Speaker 2: go in the room and so like the landscape has changed,
[2:48] Speaker 2: like post COVID, which is very strange, and we have
[2:50] Speaker 2: not really gone back to help.
[2:52] Speaker 1: I don't think we will.
[2:55] Speaker 3: And there's okay. So there's a lot of different versions
[2:58] Speaker 3: of this, right, Like you could go in the room
[3:00] Speaker 3: and it could be just you and the casting director,
[3:02] Speaker 3: which is kind of like a preread where you don't
[3:05] Speaker 3: meet anybody from the team of the TV show or film.
[3:09] Speaker 3: They're putting you on tape, they're working with you, they're
[3:11] Speaker 3: seeing if you know you might be right, and the
[3:14] Speaker 3: casting director wants to put you in front of the
[3:16] Speaker 3: team as an option because it's also their job to
[3:20] Speaker 3: bring them the best viable options for this role, right,
[3:24] Speaker 3: the best of the best. So anyway, I digress, But.
[3:30] Speaker 2: Well, no, it's like if one hundred people are being
[3:33] Speaker 2: seen for a given role, then the casting director and
[3:36] Speaker 2: maybe a casting associate will then narrow it down to
[3:40] Speaker 2: let's say twenty.
[3:41] Speaker 3: Five yep, and then you go to like a callback
[3:45] Speaker 3: or a producer session sometimes the same thing, right, And
[3:49] Speaker 3: you go in and you read and there's either producers
[3:51] Speaker 3: or director or some version of the two that are
[3:56] Speaker 3: in the room with the casting and you're reading, and
[3:59] Speaker 3: you're you're trying things where you're not. Sometimes they'll ask
[4:02] Speaker 3: you to do things differently, or sometimes they'll just have
[4:06] Speaker 3: you read it and that's enough or it's not, you know,
[4:08] Speaker 3: and and that's it. So is your experience different from this?
[4:14] Speaker 3: Is that how you receive your auditions?
[4:17] Speaker 2: Yes, I mean it's pretty much the same. You get
[4:19] Speaker 2: the email you and you get sent scenes. So sometimes
[4:22] Speaker 2: it's one scene, sometimes it's four scenes. You don't, you don't,
[4:26] Speaker 2: you don't really, it's it's different. It's never it's usually
[4:31] Speaker 2: never too long now there's a new coul in place,
[4:36] Speaker 2: or it can't be over a certain amount of pages.
[4:38] Speaker 3: And it also doesn't legally or need to be memorized.
[4:42] Speaker 3: That is not a requirement. It says it on the script.
[4:45] Speaker 3: It's like, you do not need to memorize these lines.
[4:47] Speaker 3: But of course people do whatever they want to do
[4:51] Speaker 3: all their own process.
[4:52] Speaker 2: You get your scenes, say usually are watermarked with your
[4:54] Speaker 2: name on them, and then that's what you're doing. And
[4:56] Speaker 2: so sometimes when you go in for let's say a callback,
[4:59] Speaker 2: or like I would say for me and Jenna, because
[5:03] Speaker 2: we've been on TV, we get to usually skip the
[5:06] Speaker 2: first couple of rounds nowadays sometimes yeah, and so like
[5:11] Speaker 2: before you just go straight into the producer sessions, you
[5:13] Speaker 2: wouldn't be doing that first.
[5:16] Speaker 1: Read, the pre read.
[5:18] Speaker 2: But I will say the there's an advantage and disadvantage
[5:21] Speaker 2: to all of that too, where the casting director knows
[5:25] Speaker 2: exactly what the creative team is looking for. So when
[5:28] Speaker 2: you go in for that first round you're getting they're
[5:31] Speaker 2: helping you, they're.
[5:32] Speaker 3: Helping value you are getting you, They're passing on the
[5:36] Speaker 3: information to you.
[5:37] Speaker 2: So if you do get a callback, you then now
[5:40] Speaker 2: have that. Now, if you're going in cold for the
[5:42] Speaker 2: first time and it's a producer session, you're starting at
[5:45] Speaker 2: a disadvantage in that way because you don't have the information. Yes, yes,
[5:49] Speaker 2: and so usually you go in and they'll sometimes work
[5:52] Speaker 2: with you, sometimes not. If they don't, it's usually a chop.
[5:55] Speaker 2: And then after that so this also depends, Like let's
[5:58] Speaker 2: say this is a series regular role.
[6:00] Speaker 4: You then.
[6:02] Speaker 2: Go in, Well, you usually have to test and so
[6:08] Speaker 2: that has also changed. So when we tested for Glee,
[6:11] Speaker 2: they were always in person tests. Yeah, you'd have a
[6:14] Speaker 2: studio test and a network test. For Glee, the studio
[6:19] Speaker 2: and network happened to be under the same company. But
[6:21] Speaker 2: like let's say Modern Family, the network was ABC and
[6:25] Speaker 2: the studio was twenty century Fox, so it's two different things. Yeah,
[6:31] Speaker 2: and that was so for Glee, I had four auditions.
[6:35] Speaker 1: Now what do they do now when you test? Like
[6:38] Speaker 1: what's the difference?
[6:38] Speaker 3: So you tape and they test off a tape and
[6:42] Speaker 3: everything is tape now right, So like now we're in
[6:44] Speaker 3: self tape mode where you get the audition in your inbox.
[6:47] Speaker 3: We'll talk about the preparation between that and then you
[6:52] Speaker 3: are putting yourself on tape. When that what that means
[6:55] Speaker 3: is you are either setting up something in your home.
[6:58] Speaker 3: You either some people have studios things in their back
[7:01] Speaker 3: house that they set up with a backdrop and lighting.
[7:04] Speaker 3: Some people do it on their couch or whatever. And
[7:06] Speaker 3: then some people go into a studio where you can
[7:09] Speaker 3: pay for ten twenty thirty minutes for somebody to read
[7:13] Speaker 3: with you take the clips and then send them, you know,
[7:16] Speaker 3: off to your agent and off to the casting. So
[7:19] Speaker 3: there's different ways to do this now and options, but
[7:22] Speaker 3: you are doing it yourself.
[7:24] Speaker 2: And I think personally, like there's pluses and minus to
[7:27] Speaker 2: all these things. I would get terrible nerves. So I
[7:31] Speaker 2: hate auditioning and person agree. However, I'm much better in
[7:35] Speaker 2: a room with people agree because they seem necessarily just
[7:38] Speaker 2: about how you're doing the scenes. It's about you know,
[7:43] Speaker 2: and when there's a tape, it's like you have your one.
[7:46] Speaker 2: I mean, you can do as many takes as you want, obviously,
[7:49] Speaker 2: but you're going based off of whatever you feel like
[7:52] Speaker 2: doing and you're not getting any notes. And I'm someone
[7:56] Speaker 2: who loves notes. Yeah, and like I can. I liked
[7:59] Speaker 2: to get direction. I like to implement the direction. Say
[8:02] Speaker 2: that's my favorite part of acting.
[8:05] Speaker 3: Yes, give it to me, let me fix it, let
[8:08] Speaker 3: me change it, let me take a transition here. I'm curious,
[8:13] Speaker 3: like a lot of people think, like you get an
[8:15] Speaker 3: audition and you have all this time to prepare, you
[8:18] Speaker 3: get these ten pages, and you're like, you know, you
[8:20] Speaker 3: get to do it, and you send it in a week.
[8:22] Speaker 3: Oftentimes this is like you have twenty four hours to
[8:25] Speaker 3: forty eight hours to send this in, right. Sometimes it's
[8:28] Speaker 3: a little bit more. Sometimes it's over the weekend, which
[8:30] Speaker 3: is also worse. And sometimes it's like you know, sometimes
[8:35] Speaker 3: it's a really fast turnaround, so you're getting this in
[8:38] Speaker 3: your inbox and the panic that ensues inside of me
[8:42] Speaker 3: when I get a self tape request. I mean I
[8:44] Speaker 3: don't get them anymore. I've paused on auditioning altogether right now,
[8:47] Speaker 3: but I literally would get like panic because my whole
[8:50] Speaker 3: day then would be enveloped in anxiety in learning these lines.
[8:56] Speaker 1: Who's going to shoot it for me? When am I
[8:58] Speaker 1: going to prepare for it? What am I going to wear?
[9:00] Speaker 3: How am I going to look? How many times is
[9:02] Speaker 3: it going to take? And then sending it in and
[9:05] Speaker 3: just letting it go with God? How much time do
[9:16] Speaker 3: you take to prepare? Do you like to memorize your lines?
[9:20] Speaker 3: Do you panic like I do?
[9:22] Speaker 4: I don't panic.
[9:23] Speaker 1: That's great, it's great for you.
[9:25] Speaker 3: I'm really happy for you, really happy.
[9:28] Speaker 2: But I've always and we've talked about this, but I've
[9:31] Speaker 2: always found for you, it's like I feel like you
[9:35] Speaker 2: have like a really good I think instinctual understanding of scripts,
[9:39] Speaker 2: Like I think I think you read things, no, but
[9:42] Speaker 2: I think you doubt it is the thing. So I
[9:45] Speaker 2: actually think whenever I've helped you with the self tape
[9:47] Speaker 2: or anything, it's like when you're like, ugh, I don't
[9:49] Speaker 2: want to do this, I don't care about this.
[9:51] Speaker 4: I haven't even really learned it.
[9:52] Speaker 1: You're better, yeah, yeah, yeah, inskind of what we'rethinking.
[9:55] Speaker 2: Yes, like when you get out of your own way,
[9:57] Speaker 2: like instinctually, like I mean, you're great either way, but
[10:00] Speaker 2: I think you psych yourself.
[10:02] Speaker 1: Out, Yes I do. That's the anxiety.
[10:05] Speaker 2: I probably do the opposite. I have gotten better. I
[10:08] Speaker 2: put myself back into like acting class a couple of
[10:12] Speaker 2: years ago. It's great, right, And it's been because I
[10:15] Speaker 2: wanted to really take it seriously because I hadn't.
[10:17] Speaker 4: Taken acting class since I was like sixteen or something.
[10:20] Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was I love it, and it taught
[10:27] Speaker 2: me to really appreciate all of it and not be
[10:31] Speaker 2: so scared of auditions just because, like I think I
[10:33] Speaker 2: understand what I'm doing a little better now.
[10:35] Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
[10:37] Speaker 2: I also think like doing it doing theater has really
[10:40] Speaker 2: helped with that as well.
[10:42] Speaker 4: I don't know why.
[10:42] Speaker 2: I think I'm just more in practice. Like when you're
[10:45] Speaker 2: you don't have you don't get auditions all the time either,
[10:47] Speaker 2: by the way, you can go months or weeks without
[10:50] Speaker 2: getting auditions and so.
[10:51] Speaker 3: So out of like the muscle real right. I also
[10:55] Speaker 3: feel like, sorry to interrupt you, no good. I also
[10:58] Speaker 3: feel like I actually when I don't know and I
[11:00] Speaker 3: haven't learned it and I do it like the joy
[11:03] Speaker 3: is in actually, like I understand, auditioning is a gift
[11:06] Speaker 3: now in this like mature piece of my life where
[11:08] Speaker 3: I'm like, you know it is this is like a
[11:10] Speaker 3: chance to get in the room and get in front
[11:12] Speaker 3: of somebody, some actors who are aspiring, like don't even
[11:15] Speaker 3: get that shot right, like to be seen. So like
[11:18] Speaker 3: that in my my head, I understand it's actually it's
[11:22] Speaker 3: the logistical pieces that stress me out more than the
[11:26] Speaker 3: actual abs execution of the thing. Like I have fun
[11:31] Speaker 3: when I shoot and I do things and I laugh,
[11:33] Speaker 3: and especially like when I do it's somebody like you
[11:34] Speaker 3: that like gets it and you know, like we just
[11:37] Speaker 3: we do it. But I do have a funny story though,
[11:40] Speaker 3: So like during COVID, I was making David do all
[11:42] Speaker 3: of my tapes because like, who else is going to
[11:44] Speaker 3: do them for you?
[11:45] Speaker 1: My husband, and.
[11:46] Speaker 3: He's not an actor at all, And there were times
[11:48] Speaker 3: where he would he would do it and he would
[11:51] Speaker 3: laugh and ruin the take for me because he think,
[11:53] Speaker 3: like the script is so ridiculous, or he would he
[11:57] Speaker 3: would do it and we'd get to like the last
[11:59] Speaker 3: pay age and like the last few lines, and he'd
[12:02] Speaker 3: be like, I'm messed up.
[12:03] Speaker 1: We have to start again, and I I don't know
[12:09] Speaker 1: that there's anything that brings me more anger than that,
[12:16] Speaker 1: like that this isn't about you.
[12:18] Speaker 3: It's like, just keep going camera, nobody nobody cares. Nobody cares.
[12:23] Speaker 3: I've messed up about fifteen times in front of camera,
[12:25] Speaker 3: so don't worry about it. But I just that was
[12:28] Speaker 3: a funny story because because of COVID, we were asked
[12:31] Speaker 3: to do all of these things. We're all trying to
[12:32] Speaker 3: get jobs still, and yet we're asking like people who've
[12:37] Speaker 3: never done this in their entire life to help us
[12:40] Speaker 3: do these things like you become the casting or you
[12:42] Speaker 3: become like your own cameraman. You're lighting everything. So anyway,
[12:46] Speaker 3: that was funny. But what was I saying that? It's
[12:50] Speaker 3: the it's the logistical part. But I'm glad that you've
[12:53] Speaker 3: found a new I feel like you've really found like
[12:56] Speaker 3: a confidence that.
[12:59] Speaker 1: Has allowed you to like relax in a room that
[13:02] Speaker 1: you didn't have before.
[13:04] Speaker 4: Sure, I think also Beta Blocker's.
[13:07] Speaker 1: Well, of course we all we love those.
[13:12] Speaker 2: The other thing is you're right, I when I downplay
[13:16] Speaker 2: or like don't prep for enough. Is the setup of
[13:19] Speaker 2: it all like logistically of like finding a good place.
[13:23] Speaker 2: I see other people's self tape setups, and it's it
[13:25] Speaker 2: looks beautiful, stunning. Mine always looks like I shot it underneath,
[13:29] Speaker 2: like the stairwell we're herring.
[13:31] Speaker 1: Pottering, Yeah, exactly like it.
[13:34] Speaker 2: I don't put a lot of thought or effort into that,
[13:37] Speaker 2: which maybe I should work on. I'm just to like
[13:40] Speaker 2: circle back to like how testing works now too. I
[13:43] Speaker 2: mean it's been like that even pre COVID, which I
[13:46] Speaker 2: do think again, I was like.
[13:47] Speaker 4: Oh, that's great.
[13:48] Speaker 2: They'll just take your audition tape that they initially loved
[13:50] Speaker 2: because when you also you'd go into a room, they'll
[13:52] Speaker 2: tape it so they can look at it, send it
[13:54] Speaker 2: to whoever they need to send it to, and then
[13:57] Speaker 2: they'll show that to the studio, that to the network.
[14:01] Speaker 2: And it's happened to me before. Where as Glee was ending,
[14:04] Speaker 2: I was testing for another show, and this has happened
[14:09] Speaker 2: a couple times. Now it's down to me and like
[14:12] Speaker 2: maybe one other person, and I also just like a
[14:16] Speaker 2: side note. You know when you have friends or yourself
[14:20] Speaker 2: or an actor and people don't necessarily see you in
[14:23] Speaker 2: something doesn't mean that you are not working, because auditioning,
[14:29] Speaker 2: most of the time is the only.
[14:30] Speaker 4: Time you're ever going to get to play that character.
[14:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, and so like the amount of prep you have
[14:36] Speaker 2: to do, like Jenna says, it can be consuming. It
[14:38] Speaker 2: takes up your whole day, and if you're doing your
[14:40] Speaker 2: due diligence, it takes several days.
[14:42] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[14:43] Speaker 3: You really just memorizing, right, Like you're working through the character.
[14:47] Speaker 3: You're finding out what's going on in the scene. You're
[14:49] Speaker 3: figuring out what you want, what the other person wants,
[14:51] Speaker 3: You're figuring out where the beats are, You're figuring out
[14:53] Speaker 3: all that. You're breaking down this entire thing to try
[14:56] Speaker 3: to create this world in these.
[14:58] Speaker 1: Three pages that you get sometimes last. Right, So that
[15:02] Speaker 1: is the the in between. Sorry, keep going.
[15:04] Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, in an industry, I believe the statu is
[15:07] Speaker 2: like one percent of people in our union are working
[15:10] Speaker 2: working yep. Yeah, and so it's a lot of people
[15:13] Speaker 2: vying for all the same jobs.
[15:15] Speaker 1: We're professional auditioners.
[15:17] Speaker 2: Yes, that's what we do ninety percent of the time,
[15:20] Speaker 2: and then we actually get to, you know, do a job.
[15:23] Speaker 4: It's great.
[15:24] Speaker 2: But the thing is, it's like you know when you Also,
[15:27] Speaker 2: we talked about this if you've missed it. It's like what
[15:30] Speaker 2: happens also before you test, which becomes such a mental issue,
[15:36] Speaker 2: is that you negotiate your entire contract so before before,
[15:41] Speaker 2: so that way, if you get it, you can't all
[15:43] Speaker 2: of a sudden go back and ask for more money
[15:46] Speaker 2: or ask for whatever. You know, so it's all agreed
[15:48] Speaker 2: to beforehand. So when you're if you have to physically
[15:52] Speaker 2: go into a room to test, you know exactly how
[15:54] Speaker 2: much money you're making, you are potentially making, Yeah, what
[15:58] Speaker 2: it could be because it's really opoly money. It's not
[16:00] Speaker 2: your money because you haven't gotten.
[16:02] Speaker 3: It yet, right, and your world could just be shifted
[16:04] Speaker 3: in one with one yes, right, And so then the
[16:07] Speaker 3: stakes are so high and yeah, you have to Your
[16:11] Speaker 3: job is to drown that out as much as possible.
[16:14] Speaker 3: Do the work, go in and deliver whatever you want
[16:17] Speaker 3: to deliver from this role, and show them that you're
[16:20] Speaker 3: the best person.
[16:21] Speaker 1: I think the thing that like a.
[16:22] Speaker 3: Lot of people and a lot of young actors that
[16:24] Speaker 3: I've been, you know, they ask for advice about auditioning,
[16:27] Speaker 3: is like that they these people really are rooting for you,
[16:31] Speaker 3: most of them, right, Like these people want to you
[16:34] Speaker 3: to walk in the room and be the person that
[16:36] Speaker 3: they're looking for. It makes their job a lot easier, right,
[16:39] Speaker 3: or at least a really good option. They're like, this
[16:41] Speaker 3: is an exciting option that we can bring to the
[16:45] Speaker 3: table and have these creatives look at and say like
[16:47] Speaker 3: this is this will help our project come to life.
[16:49] Speaker 1: I think on the other side of it, like.
[16:51] Speaker 3: Now having done this and you know, in small doses
[16:56] Speaker 3: of like been on the other side of the table,
[16:58] Speaker 3: it's so true, like you want these people to be good.
[17:02] Speaker 1: You want these people to succeed.
[17:03] Speaker 3: You want and if they're not doing if it's not
[17:07] Speaker 3: for this project, you're never forgetting that person for the
[17:10] Speaker 3: next one. If you deliver and you're you know, you're
[17:13] Speaker 3: right for something else. So I do think that there's
[17:16] Speaker 3: this like thing that people are like, oh it's you.
[17:18] Speaker 3: You're rejected. You know you're not good enough. Like you
[17:20] Speaker 3: have to walk away from that and leave it at
[17:22] Speaker 3: the door and be like, this is what I can offer,
[17:25] Speaker 3: This is who I am, this is what I can
[17:27] Speaker 3: bring to you.
[17:28] Speaker 1: I'm I'm bringing you all of my good gifts.
[17:31] Speaker 3: And if that's not enough for this one and it's
[17:33] Speaker 3: not right for this one, leave it at the door,
[17:36] Speaker 3: thanks so much.
[17:37] Speaker 1: Let's let's go on to the next.
[17:38] Speaker 2: You know, a lot of it too, is like the Intangibles,
[17:42] Speaker 2: where which is really frustrating a lot of the time because,
[17:45] Speaker 2: like you do all the work to prep for it,
[17:49] Speaker 2: you walk in the room and then sometimes it's just
[17:52] Speaker 2: like a vibe thing totally, or it's just like they're
[17:55] Speaker 2: having a bad day and you remind them of their
[17:57] Speaker 2: ex or something.
[17:58] Speaker 3: You know, really yeah, and so, or the person that
[18:03] Speaker 3: you're supposed to read with, or that person that got
[18:05] Speaker 3: cast that you're supposed to be their wife you're taller
[18:08] Speaker 3: than yes, or your hair color doesn't match the person,
[18:12] Speaker 3: you know what I mean, or the kid doesn't match you. Like,
[18:14] Speaker 3: there's so many variables that like you cannot control. I
[18:18] Speaker 3: mean probably more than just like more than you walking
[18:22] Speaker 3: in the room and being the right thing for it. Yeah,
[18:24] Speaker 3: have you ever chemistry tested before? I have chemistry testing
[18:28] Speaker 3: for people who don't know is what it sounds like.
[18:31] Speaker 3: You go in and if there's somebody you're seeing partner,
[18:33] Speaker 3: or somebody you're going to be playing with a lot
[18:35] Speaker 3: in the show or whatever, you read with them, and
[18:38] Speaker 3: it's fun and it's also so stressful.
[18:42] Speaker 4: Because it's also really important.
[18:45] Speaker 2: I think, sorry to bring up Peter rivalry again, but
[18:48] Speaker 2: I think people have brought up the two leads chemistry
[18:52] Speaker 2: and there's like a comment, you know, how they were
[18:54] Speaker 2: talking to the creator after their chemistry reads about how
[18:58] Speaker 2: they felt about one another, And it's one of those
[19:01] Speaker 2: things where like you have to walk into a room
[19:04] Speaker 2: and somehow manufacture chemistry in about five minutes.
[19:09] Speaker 1: Totally, Totally.
[19:11] Speaker 2: It's a really weird thing because you don't want to
[19:13] Speaker 2: have to force chemistry with people, and you wanted to
[19:16] Speaker 2: just happen. But like we've all seen it. You've watched
[19:19] Speaker 2: TV shows or movies where people simply don't have and
[19:22] Speaker 2: they're all doing all the right things, but there's that
[19:24] Speaker 2: thing they don't have between them. I know they're supposed
[19:28] Speaker 2: to be in love, but I don't feel it.
[19:30] Speaker 3: And we watched Rachel mcadam's you know, notebook audition on
[19:34] Speaker 3: the internet a million thousand times, right, you've seen it,
[19:37] Speaker 3: Like number one, she's talented, it's only on her, but
[19:39] Speaker 3: like there's a clearer chemistry between the two that they
[19:41] Speaker 3: were both delivering in that room that it's like electric
[19:44] Speaker 3: and you're like, that's it, right. Did you have good
[19:49] Speaker 3: experiences chemistry testing?
[19:50] Speaker 4: Did you find it both?
[19:52] Speaker 2: Like I did it one for this movie and I
[19:56] Speaker 2: got paired with this actor that I grew up loving
[20:01] Speaker 2: still do. But I was like a little throwne because
[20:04] Speaker 2: I didn't one. I didn't know it was going to
[20:07] Speaker 2: be like that. It was my first TIGN chemistry reading
[20:10] Speaker 2: and we went in together and he was like so
[20:13] Speaker 2: intense and like physically intense and like, which was great.
[20:17] Speaker 2: I just was two in my head about it. Yeah,
[20:21] Speaker 2: But then I've had other times where it's just been wonderful,
[20:24] Speaker 2: Like I didn't get in my head about it and
[20:26] Speaker 2: we had a great time. Have you had any like
[20:36] Speaker 2: really devastating Here's the other thing you sometimes hear about,
[20:43] Speaker 2: Oh this person almost got cast in this movie, Like
[20:46] Speaker 2: what would.
[20:46] Speaker 4: That have been?
[20:47] Speaker 2: Are there any things that you've auditioned for that you've
[20:49] Speaker 2: almost gotten that you're like, I wish I got it,
[20:54] Speaker 2: or like, oh it makes sense why I didn't get it,
[20:56] Speaker 2: or just or auditions that really stayed with you that
[20:58] Speaker 2: you really wanted and you never Yeah.
[21:01] Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure I haven't thought about this in
[21:03] Speaker 1: a long time, but.
[21:04] Speaker 4: It's probably healthy to just block it up.
[21:06] Speaker 3: You know, there was I remember there was one, and
[21:09] Speaker 3: I think it's also because like the whole thing was
[21:10] Speaker 3: worked up so much, like they want you. There's there's
[21:14] Speaker 3: also this mental thing like when you get to a
[21:16] Speaker 3: certain level of like you've worked enough, they're like they
[21:20] Speaker 3: know who's coming into the room. They've seen your work
[21:22] Speaker 3: on Glee or wherever, they've seen you, and they are
[21:26] Speaker 3: like they know you, or they think they know you.
[21:29] Speaker 3: And there was one job that they're like, this is
[21:34] Speaker 3: like pretty much like it's it's probably you, right, like
[21:39] Speaker 3: they want you, they want this to work, and you
[21:42] Speaker 3: go in and I go in and I worked with
[21:44] Speaker 3: an acting coach on this one. Sometimes you work with
[21:46] Speaker 3: coaches sometimes you don't like whatever enough you have time
[21:48] Speaker 3: or don't. I worked with a coach. I went in,
[21:53] Speaker 3: I nailed the audition. There was no country read. I
[21:59] Speaker 3: really like folks about it. I thought I was going
[22:01] Speaker 3: to get it.
[22:03] Speaker 1: I didn't get it. This is like two there's actually
[22:07] Speaker 1: two auditions like this.
[22:08] Speaker 3: There is Gossip Girl and the other one, the one
[22:11] Speaker 3: I'm talking about, is The Flash. It was supposed to
[22:15] Speaker 3: be Barry's love interest, and I remember being like, I know.
[22:19] Speaker 1: Grant this is great like blah blah, and then.
[22:22] Speaker 3: They were like it's too gleig close, like we just
[22:25] Speaker 3: can't do it, And I was like, is that the
[22:27] Speaker 3: reason er?
[22:27] Speaker 1: Is that your excuse?
[22:29] Speaker 3: So then there's all this mental games you're playing with
[22:31] Speaker 3: yourself as an actor.
[22:32] Speaker 1: Like was it just because I was bad? Like did
[22:34] Speaker 1: they not like me at all?
[22:35] Speaker 3: Like?
[22:36] Speaker 1: Or is it great? Like did it was an easy
[22:38] Speaker 1: excuse for them? So there's just all this stuff And I.
[22:40] Speaker 3: Think I remember being like so bummed about it because
[22:42] Speaker 3: number one, it was worked up in my mind that
[22:45] Speaker 3: like it was an easy get and then not feeling
[22:49] Speaker 3: like I deliver it and then being told no, Like
[22:51] Speaker 3: that's the mental gymnastics that you go through when you
[22:54] Speaker 3: go through stuff like this, Right, There's been like so
[22:57] Speaker 3: many times where I've like Gossip Girl, I was going
[23:00] Speaker 3: to be in Blair's like crew, the role was supposed
[23:03] Speaker 3: to be bigger than it ended up being.
[23:05] Speaker 1: I wouldn't have been able to do Glee so it
[23:07] Speaker 1: worked out. So there's just like things like that, And
[23:10] Speaker 1: then there's also like.
[23:13] Speaker 3: I mean, I'm trying to think, I'm sure there's other
[23:15] Speaker 3: ones that I was like holding on. I remember there
[23:18] Speaker 3: was one that I was like, I need this, I
[23:21] Speaker 3: want this so bad, and I didn't get it.
[23:22] Speaker 1: I can't remember what it was. Do you have stories
[23:24] Speaker 1: like that? Do you have like one or like a few?
[23:28] Speaker 3: Yeah, I remember a few for you. You've tested more than
[23:32] Speaker 3: I have.
[23:33] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's really like random.
[23:36] Speaker 2: Well, the most recent one, it was a couple of
[23:40] Speaker 2: years ago and I tested for TV shows between me
[23:46] Speaker 2: and one other guy, and it was one of those
[23:48] Speaker 2: things where they were just using my audition tape from
[23:51] Speaker 2: the initial audition, so it almost felt like it wasn't
[23:54] Speaker 2: even happening.
[23:55] Speaker 1: Yeah, just you're being told about it.
[23:57] Speaker 2: Yes, But then again it's like, well, this is how
[24:00] Speaker 2: much money you're going to make.
[24:01] Speaker 4: I'm like, oh no, I want it.
[24:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, and I didn't get it. But when that happens,
[24:07] Speaker 2: then I'm like, Okay, who's the other guy? And we
[24:10] Speaker 2: were so different. I'm like, okay, they're looking for somebody
[24:15] Speaker 2: very different. Fine, And then you know there's that little
[24:18] Speaker 2: thing of like I didn't get picked up so that it
[24:22] Speaker 2: always happened.
[24:23] Speaker 4: But at the end of Glee they were making that show.
[24:27] Speaker 1: Magicians, Magicians.
[24:28] Speaker 3: I remember, I remember this one for you. I actually
[24:31] Speaker 3: I'll never forget this one.
[24:32] Speaker 2: And I was obsessed with that book and I heard
[24:36] Speaker 2: they were making that a TV show, and I hit
[24:39] Speaker 2: up my people and I was like, Hey, what's going
[24:42] Speaker 2: on with this? And so they're like, look, they're struggling
[24:46] Speaker 2: to find somebody. They've been looking for months. They had
[24:49] Speaker 2: someone that they thought they wanted, which was Kiaren Colkin,
[24:54] Speaker 2: and then the network wouldn't approve them. Ah, and like, okay,
[25:01] Speaker 2: we got you an audition and it was on the
[25:03] Speaker 2: Paramount lot. It was yes, it was, it was not.
[25:10] Speaker 2: It was one building down from our production offices.
[25:13] Speaker 1: Okay, I remember that, okay, And.
[25:15] Speaker 2: I worked with Telly right before. I like did it
[25:18] Speaker 2: with Telly, And I'm like, I know this character. And
[25:21] Speaker 2: I go in and I meet like the executive producer
[25:25] Speaker 2: blah blah, and it was you know me, I always
[25:28] Speaker 2: think I suck. And I was like, it was a
[25:29] Speaker 2: really great audition.
[25:30] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and you're one really great Yeah.
[25:33] Speaker 4: It was like one. It was a great audition.
[25:35] Speaker 2: And they were like, okay, we want him to test
[25:39] Speaker 2: and it was like me, I think in five other
[25:43] Speaker 2: guys and then we go to the NBC Universal building
[25:49] Speaker 2: and I go in and by the time I get there,
[25:52] Speaker 2: like Okay, well we've cut. We're not having three of them.
[25:56] Speaker 2: We're only having three people test. Now, it's like, okay,
[25:59] Speaker 2: from six to three, like those odds go into the room.
[26:04] Speaker 4: Not a great audition.
[26:06] Speaker 2: And so this audition, knowing as well is that this
[26:09] Speaker 2: is going to be taped and this is what's going
[26:11] Speaker 2: to be shown to the yes.
[26:16] Speaker 4: And it just wasn't you know, I felt it. I'm like,
[26:18] Speaker 4: it's just as good.
[26:20] Speaker 2: And then they come back like that day or the
[26:22] Speaker 2: next day and like, Okay, it's only down to Kevin.
[26:24] Speaker 2: We've gotten rid of everybody else. And I'm like, okay, Drake.
[26:29] Speaker 2: But the network has the same issue with him that
[26:31] Speaker 2: they had with Karen, so we'd like to have him
[26:36] Speaker 2: the like and like you said, this happens all the time,
[26:41] Speaker 2: Like the creative team wants him, everybody wants him. And
[26:44] Speaker 2: my manager has always been like, don't tell me that
[26:46] Speaker 2: because it's always a bad omen. But we want to
[26:50] Speaker 2: work on him, work on it with because this character
[26:53] Speaker 2: changes over the course of the series.
[26:54] Speaker 4: Right, So they were making sure.
[26:56] Speaker 2: They know I could do a They're making sure I
[26:58] Speaker 2: could get to by and I'm like, okay, totally got it.
[27:02] Speaker 2: And so we're working out with the Glee schedule and
[27:04] Speaker 2: also how this would work out. For me to even
[27:07] Speaker 2: get approved to do this, I had to go to
[27:08] Speaker 2: Ryan to be like, look, if I get this, I'm
[27:11] Speaker 2: going to need to be off for like two episodes
[27:12] Speaker 2: to shoot this pilot. But it would be such a
[27:15] Speaker 2: gift because if it gets picked up, I'd go straight
[27:17] Speaker 2: from shooting Glee into shooting Maticians.
[27:19] Speaker 4: I would have a job.
[27:20] Speaker 1: Oh.
[27:21] Speaker 2: And he was like, He's like, I fully support you
[27:24] Speaker 2: whatever you need. I'm like, okay, great. But then to
[27:27] Speaker 2: have me come back in to work on it was,
[27:28] Speaker 2: you know, scheduling anything outside the Glee schedule was damn
[27:33] Speaker 2: near impossible. Yeah, we finally got it worked out, right,
[27:37] Speaker 2: I'm going back and forth. I'm working at Glee and
[27:40] Speaker 2: I'm at home and I'm like, what's going on. It
[27:42] Speaker 2: takes like three or four days, and we finally get
[27:45] Speaker 2: it set. Okay, Kevin can come in for like these
[27:47] Speaker 2: three hours on like a Friday before we even start shooting,
[27:51] Speaker 2: you know, like yeah, and then that night after it
[27:57] Speaker 2: was like a week of going back and forth and
[27:58] Speaker 2: I was literally got rid of everybody else.
[28:00] Speaker 4: It was just down to me. They come back and
[28:04] Speaker 4: they go we're going to pass on Kevin.
[28:06] Speaker 1: No, no, Kevin, I no, Kevin, that's the worst.
[28:12] Speaker 2: We're going to go back to somebody. We auditioned months
[28:14] Speaker 2: ago and they offered it to Jason Ralpho ended up
[28:17] Speaker 2: doing it. It was obviously great.
[28:19] Speaker 1: Yeah, how did the show? Did it get made?
[28:21] Speaker 3: Yeah?
[28:21] Speaker 1: It was known for like six seasons. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Oh.
[28:25] Speaker 3: I remember the one that I wanted. It was a
[28:27] Speaker 3: pachinko on Apple TV. Oh. Yes, it was a role
[28:31] Speaker 3: that was like quintessentially me and I.
[28:33] Speaker 1: Got to the director.
[28:35] Speaker 3: They worked with me, and then they were like, oh,
[28:37] Speaker 3: we're rewriting the role. We're not going to add it
[28:40] Speaker 3: until season two or three.
[28:45] Speaker 1: Oh, Kevin, this is like the stuff that like, though.
[28:50] Speaker 3: I always I bet, I think that those are the
[28:53] Speaker 3: ones that really make you question, like, this is the
[28:57] Speaker 3: stuff is what like you persevere and you continue to
[29:01] Speaker 3: act or you don't like this is the crap.
[29:03] Speaker 1: That like, I think you have to.
[29:07] Speaker 3: Like any advice that I've heard from like older actors
[29:11] Speaker 3: who have been through it, seeing it, left the business,
[29:13] Speaker 3: come back done. The whole thing is like keep going
[29:16] Speaker 3: making art if you don't love it. When you're not
[29:19] Speaker 3: making it like do something, you know, find something else,
[29:22] Speaker 3: because like it's so tough, it's so tough.
[29:26] Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is like and like you said,
[29:28] Speaker 2: the biggest piece of advice I give to people too,
[29:30] Speaker 2: is like, you cannot take this personally because like what
[29:34] Speaker 2: I found out about the magicians, for example, it was
[29:37] Speaker 2: one person at the network. It's one person and for
[29:40] Speaker 2: whatever reason, they didn't with me. No, no, and you
[29:45] Speaker 2: can't do anything about that. You show up, you do
[29:48] Speaker 2: the best you can, and then all right, yeah, I know,
[29:53] Speaker 2: but I mean it happens all the time, like Austin
[29:57] Speaker 2: had some really rough It's also crazy because you know,
[30:01] Speaker 2: you audition, You can audition all. You can go for
[30:04] Speaker 2: a year, two years without working, and you're auditioning and
[30:08] Speaker 2: you get close several times. Or like the weird thing
[30:11] Speaker 2: is like what happened to Austin. I won't bore you
[30:13] Speaker 2: with this whole thing, but like you know, it was
[30:16] Speaker 2: like a slow year and then all of a sudden,
[30:18] Speaker 2: within two weeks how many others was up for three things,
[30:24] Speaker 2: casting for two of them, and then a movie yes,
[30:29] Speaker 2: and then he got drawn on one of them. Same
[30:31] Speaker 2: thing that sort of happened with me. It was one
[30:33] Speaker 2: person that wasn't sure everybody else because when you have
[30:36] Speaker 2: you know, a hard time finding someone. Yeah, they're like, okay, yes,
[30:39] Speaker 2: this is good enough, we'll do it. And then and
[30:42] Speaker 2: then the writer's strike happened, so.
[30:43] Speaker 4: It all went away.
[30:44] Speaker 1: Oh no, it's so hard, it hurts so bad.
[30:50] Speaker 4: Yeah, well, that's not even talking about theater, Jenna.
[30:54] Speaker 1: I know.
[30:55] Speaker 3: I think we leave that for another session, because theater
[30:58] Speaker 3: is a beast of an audition process. It's similar, though
[31:03] Speaker 3: there's but it's a very standard like one, two three.
[31:06] Speaker 3: You go in for the casting, you go in for
[31:07] Speaker 3: casting and creatives, and then you go in for a.
[31:10] Speaker 1: Final callback is what they call it.
[31:11] Speaker 3: And you know, there's a million stories of people being
[31:15] Speaker 3: pulled around like us and Genian Film and you know,
[31:18] Speaker 3: doing workshops and getting through to the end and then
[31:21] Speaker 3: being replaced.
[31:22] Speaker 1: Right away or the role gets rewritten out.
[31:25] Speaker 3: But it's even more stressable because like it never well,
[31:28] Speaker 3: not more stressable, but it was always in person, and
[31:31] Speaker 3: then they're singing involved most of the time, and then
[31:35] Speaker 3: there's like.
[31:36] Speaker 1: You gotta do it again, and you gotta do it again,
[31:37] Speaker 1: you gotta do.
[31:38] Speaker 3: It three times, and then now it's like self tapes
[31:41] Speaker 3: as well, which makes it even harder is like you're
[31:43] Speaker 3: singing to in auditions, you were singing with a pianist
[31:46] Speaker 3: or kind of a companist, and now it's like self
[31:48] Speaker 3: tapes too, where you're like singing to a drop ucks,
[31:51] Speaker 3: you know, accompaniment that's like at the tempest set tempo,
[31:55] Speaker 3: there's no room for anything, and like it sounds terrible, You're.
[31:59] Speaker 1: Like, what you kidding?
[32:01] Speaker 3: So anyway, we can leave that for another time. But
[32:03] Speaker 3: thanks for sharing some of these vulnerable moments, because auditioning
[32:06] Speaker 3: really is so vulnerable and I hate it, but oh
[32:10] Speaker 3: it sucks.
[32:11] Speaker 2: And every now and then you run into like really
[32:15] Speaker 2: wonderful casting directors who really understand how horrible it is
[32:20] Speaker 2: for an actor.
[32:21] Speaker 3: Make it really easy for you, and just are there
[32:24] Speaker 3: to champion you and make you want to win.
[32:28] Speaker 1: Exactly.
[32:29] Speaker 2: Alison Jones who casts like The Office and Jeed Apatow
[32:33] Speaker 2: stuff like a lot of comedy stuff. Alison Jones is
[32:37] Speaker 2: a hero and like gave me a chance pre Glee
[32:41] Speaker 2: before anybody else would for no reason.
[32:45] Speaker 4: But you hear that about.
[32:47] Speaker 2: Her a lot, and there's a lot of casting directors
[32:49] Speaker 2: like that out there, and it's that's why I'm like,
[32:52] Speaker 2: you should be getting an oscar for casting. It's it's
[32:55] Speaker 2: such a skill, it's such a talent. Yep, and it
[32:59] Speaker 2: just means a lot to an actor who's showing up
[33:01] Speaker 2: and being coulnortable.
[33:03] Speaker 1: Agreed. Yeah, you guys.
[33:05] Speaker 3: We have any email addressed if anyone wants to send
[33:07] Speaker 3: questions or thoughts in for these new tarty take you know,
[33:09] Speaker 3: episodes and if you have any ideas and that's what
[33:12] Speaker 3: you really miss pod at gmail dot com. You also
[33:15] Speaker 3: can always dm us or you know, comment on Instagram.
[33:18] Speaker 3: Later this week, we're going to talk about when you
[33:21] Speaker 3: get the job and money's involved.
[33:25] Speaker 1: What is that? What is that? Well, come back next time.
[33:29] Speaker 2: And that's a truly missed Thanks for listening and follow
[33:32] Speaker 2: us on Instagram at and that's what you really miss pod.
[33:35] Speaker 2: Make sure to write us a review and leave us
[33:37] Speaker 2: five stars. See you next time.

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