You've got five minutes. You've busted your buns to get there, 'cause that's where the jobs are. Now it's 300 seconds of dynamite or forget it.
Most actors understand this - when it comes to auditions. But they treat interviews like spinach - something to get past to the good stuff, the dessert: the "cold reading" (audition).
Sure, cold readings are vital, but if you think being a "good interview" isn't important, you don't understand this industry. Jobs often come directly and solely from interviews. Director Noel Black: "That small talk is very important; in some cases more important than the reading... A lot of directors don't even read people. They'll talk to an actor for five minutes and base their decision on whether to cast the actor on what they think of the actor's personality."
Fortunately, interviewing, like cold reading, is a skill that can be learned - with practice.
DOING A PERSONALITY INTERVIEW
Hell and bad interviews are paved with good intentions...
"They just want to meet and talk with you," says your agent.
"What the heck does that mean?" you ask yourself. "How do I behave? What do they want?"
An old high school lecture on "Proper Job Interview Technique" comes to mind, and, obediently, you take the pinstripe approach: you sit up straight, answer all questions succinctly, are very businesslike, get to the point, give all your credits, speak only when spoken to...
... And the other guy gets the part.
Want to be a good interview? Tear up those high school notes, drop any preconceptions you may have had, and start with an attitude that may startle you: no matter what, never treat an interview as if you are applying for a job.
The purpose of a show business interview is to meet the interviewer and introduce your look, type, voice and - especially - your personality to him. That's all.
Forget going to interviews as a job applicant looking for work. Just go to meet and talk with the interviewer, using the techniques we'll describe below, with a friendly and relatively easygoing approach. (We'd like to change the name from general interview to general conversation.)
In short, don't do a "business" interview - do a "personality" interview - by applying the following five ideas:
- Be interesting;
- Be interested;
- Have a conversation;
- Control the interview;
- Be (the better part of) yourself.
Don't confuse this with coming on like gangbusters. If you're naturally quiet, fine - be quietly interesting; as theatrical casting director Ron Stephenson says, "I don't think coming in and bubbling all over the place and bouncing off the walls is the answer."
At the same time, as theatrical casting director Paul Bengston says, "If an actor just comes in and stares at me it puts me off because I don't know what to do. I really don't." Or, as producer Buddy Bregman puts it, "Don't clam up. The producer or director will think, if you don't have anything to say to him, you won't have anything to 'say' in the picture. If you're shy take a class or something, because shy people just aren't going to make it."
- Be interested: Don't talk to the title (casting director, producer, etc.), talk to the person. As television stage manager James Hamilton says, "If people see you only want something from them, it turns them off fast. They see it all the time and they get so tired of it."
- Control the interview: The interviewer may control the questions, but you control the answers.
- Be (the better part of) yourself: "On an interview, don't try to be something you're not," advises theatrical casting director Jerry Franks. If you're up for the role of a villain, and apply for the job by trying to behave like Boris Karloff, the interview will be a disaster. You'll come off phony and affected. If you're a brooding Nicholas Cage type, don't try to act like Robin Williams; if you're a bubbly Goldie Hawn type, don't try to be a cool, aloof Faye Dunaway - no matter what you think they want. "I think you get in to trouble when you try to second-guess what I'm looking for," says one casting director. "All you can do is to give us you and be true to that."
However, notice we added "be the better part of yourself." If you're a miserable rotter, we'd suggest behaving as you did last August, on that one day you were fun to be around. Being a spoiled child because you've decided "that's me" is not being yourself, it's being self-indulgent - at your own expense.
BEFORE THE INTERVIEW
There's no dress code for an interview. Clean and neat is good. And, as theatrical agent Miriam Baum says, "Lay low on the jewelry."
Also note: come-ons are turn-offs. If the interview is with an agent there's no reason for you to be wearing an outfit that makes people wonder if you're out trying to get in or vice-versa. Even if it's a look-see for the role of a hooker or gigolo stay within the bounds of good taste.
ARRIVAL
Always, always bring a resume and photo with you, even if you're sure your agent has already sent them ahead. But offer them only if asked, so you won't seem too eager. (Keep them discreetly tucked in a purse or briefcase.) Don't bring your book (a book of photos, used by models). Booooring. Besides, acting is not modeling. (You might bring your book to an interview with an agent, but only offer it if asked.)
Arrive early or forget it. "I never hire people who are late for readings," says director Andrew McCullough. "They often have brilliant excuses, but I'm afraid they'll be late to the set, so I don't hire them." Give yourself plenty of "get lost" and "get set" time. "Get lost" time is for getting stuck in traffic or running all over the lot, looking for the right office. (We've yet to understand the directions given us by those friendly, helpful guards at the gates. We're sure they write tax forms in their spare time.) "Get set" time is for catching breath and thinking about what you're going to do.
(By the way, if you drive onto the lot, here's some good advice from theatrical agent Pat Doty: "When you arrive at the studio and get out of that car, switch on 5,000 watts, 'cause when you're walking across the lots you never know who's going to see you. And keep up the energy and don't drop it until you have returned to the car.")
Don't make the mistake of going around glad-handing fellow actors. Focus your energy.
AFTER THE INTERVIEW
How'd it go? What worked? What laid an egg? Did you control the interview? Did you do and say the things you wanted? How'd they react? Any negativity on your part? Did you fall into the trap of bad-mouthing yourself? Was it a conversation or an interrogation? A joy or a bore?
If it worked, know why. If it didn't, know that too, and treat it as a learning experience, not the end of the world - or your career. Which brings us to our last point.
You were great? Enjoy it. Fair? Okay, work on it, but remember, nobody does a perfect interview. Bombed? Try not to get down on yourself. As theatrical casting director Judith Holstra puts it, "You're not doing cancer research, y'know." No matter how badly it went. . .
. . . Life will go on, phones will continue to ring when you're in the bathtub, that flick you've wanted to see will still be playing at the Bijou, your income tax will still be due on April 15 - and other interviews will come your way. And Fido, God bless him, will wag his tail just as frantically when you walk in the door. Ultimately, that's far more important.
