Turning Away Good Actors

Turning away good actors. It's the most difficult part of the audition process. You lure them out on audition day with the hope of a juicey part in your next show -- maybe even a part they've been longing to play. They prepare a monologue, or a song, or both. Maybe they put the effort into updating their theatre resume. They take the time to arrange their schedule, maybe even their family's schedule, in order to get themselves to the audition appointment. Next they sit around waiting (the waiting is always murder), waiting for their turn to come. When it does, they are ushered into a classroom where a small handful of bleary-eyed people (the director, the musical director, the producer maybe), people waiting to judge their skills and fit for the available roles. Even then the guessing begins. What does it mean when the director asks me to do it again? Did I get it wrong? Did he not like me? The musical director let me go past 18 bars, to finish my song -- almost. Does that mean I was good? Why didn't they ask me more questions? This will go on long after the audition is over, often times until a call from the director with the offer of a role, or a polite rejection email comes. For some its agony. We as producers and directors put actors through this. Sometimes very good actors, sometimes very good actors who are our friends and who we are eager to work with. And yet in the end we don't cast them. Why? Why do we not cast obviously talented people in the show?

First let me say it's just as difficult to turn away a talented actor as it is for that actor to get the bad news that s/he won't be in the show. I know few people believe that, but it's true. Once the evaluation gets past the "are they talented enough to handle the role" step, and assuming there are no major conflicts, it really does come down to need, fit and vision. What are the specific needs of the production? Does the actor fit the role? Will they fulfill the director's vision for that character? What about the dynamic the director has in mind between the characters. I know this was especially hard for me during the casting of Driving Miss Daisy. I was pleasantly surprise by the number of actresses who auditoned for the part of Daisy. Around 12, I think. To be honest, I thought I'd be lucky if 12 people showed up to audition for all three parts combined. Then it was especially difficult to choose when it became clear that of the 12, as many as four actresses coud have handled the role. Actresses I'm eager to work with again in the future, even if they don't get the Daisy role. I found the same challenge with the other two characters. My solution was to look for the best blend of actors for the three roles. The dynamic, as I've mentioned. And early rehearsals have proven my choice the correct one. But in the process wonderful actors were left with out a role. It had nothing to do with their talents, or them as person's It all came down to what seems to work best when I put the pieces together.

As luck would have it, many of the best actors understand this. They take the disappointing news for what it is, a director choosing a direction, not rejecting them or their talent. Some actors even send kind notes. A nice way to say: "hey, I understand how the process works. Maybe my contribution will better suit the needs of your next show."