Audition at USC
I do enjoy these. I love school, and if I had the means, I’d go forever. It’s not just the education, it’s also that it’s full of people who have ambition, drive, and discipline. Their lives are full of promise and dreams of making a difference in the world. There are, of course, some privileged slackers, some uninterested dullards, and a few self-destructive hedonists. But in my experience, and at the schools I’ve attended, the majority want to learn, and thirst for knowledge. It’s an intoxicating environment.
So, I happily grabbed my backpack Tuesday afternoon and headed downtown. I was there to read for the part of a guy who is bitter about being cut out of his mother’s will, and takes drastic action to try to get his share. An interesting role, but the director was a bit flustered. Her reader got sick that morning, then she was forced to change rooms at the last minute. She made the best of it, but since she was reading the script most of the time, she didn’t see any of my reactions to her reading, which is a big part of any scene between actors. If both (or all) of them are working hard enough, the audience will be just as interested in the person who isn’t talking as in the person who is. I guess that’s why they’re filmed.
