You are mid-audition and you notice the Person on the Other Side of the Table writing something.
It’s not about you.
You are singing your face off and the Person on the Other Side of the Table flips your headshot over and looks at your resume.
It’s not about you.
You are emoting your heart out and the Person on the Other Side of the Table looks at their phone.
It’s not about you.
You are given adjustments and nail what the Person on the Other Side of the Table was asking for, but you never get the call.
It’s not about you.
You are told by Someone that you were the Best Person They saw all day, but Someone Else books the job.
It’s not about you.
You go in for five callbacks, and everyone seems to be on Team You, but Someone Else books the job.
It’s not about you.
There is so much about casting that is not about you, and once you absorb that on a cellular level, auditions and casting and this whole crazy business make a smidgen more sense.
You are a human with good days and bad days. Sometimes you nail the audition, sometimes you stink up the room. Likewise, the People on the Other Side of the Table are humans with good days and bad days. Sometimes they are nice and sometimes they are rude. Sometimes they are outranked by someone who has a different idea about how to cast the role.
Then there are situations where casting falls into place because of one pivotal role. The best kid for a role is cast, so the adults must be cast to look like that kid’s family. Or vice versa, an adult actor is cast in a parent role, so the kids cast as her children have to be in the neighborhood of her appearance.
There are budget considerations. And politics – there are always politics of one sort or other; “Suzie Q’s family has donated a lot to this theatre, we need to find a way to use her in this show.”
It happens in school theatre programs. It happens at community theatres. It happens in professional theatres and in film.
So while you need to work on your craft and prepare for the audition appropriately, an essential skill is letting go of the results, because when it comes to auditions…
It’s not about you.