I’ll start with this. The definition of leaving something on the table is “to refrain from taking the utmost advantage of something, to not address every aspect of a situation, i.e. in the form leaving money on the table, negotiating a deal that is less financially beneficial than is expected or possible.”

Now, here’s the crux of your audition philosophy: Leave nothing on the table. You only have one shot. Make the most of it. An audition is not like shooting a film, TV show or doing a play. There is no rehearsal. Your rehearsal is your preparation and everything you do leading up to the moment you walk into that room. Then it’s game time and leave nothing on the table.

Needless to say, do your homework. All of it. Know who and what you’re auditioning for. Read the script if it’s available.  Be prepared.  Learn your lines.  Execute the specific, intended tone and pacing of the material and make strong, text-based choices. If it’s a comedy, find and maximize every joke on the page. If it’s a drama, make the boldest, most intense choices possible within the parameters of the script. If you’re reading a single scene, create a solid arc. If there are multiple scenes, insure that they are different.  Choreograph your audition accordingly.

Guage the room the moment you walk into it and be ready to work. If the auditors are warm and friendly, be polite, but don’t get distracted and know that you’re there to do a job. If they are curt and ready for you to begin, take their lead and do so. Make note of where the camera is set in the room and place your eyelines accordingly. If you are moving, check your marks with the camera operator, take moment to focus yourself and then go. If you make a mistake or flub a line, DO NOT BREAK! Either keep going or simply raise your hand, take a brief moment and begin again from the last logical point in the scene. Don’t paraphrase your way through it! That never looks good. Only start from the top if you are a few lines into the scene. If, once your read is over, you really feel as if you blew it and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you can nail it (I mean Oscar worthy nail it) then ask if they would permit you one more shot at it. But I will never bullshit you: If you do the latter and don’t hit it out of the park, you will end up with a lot of egg on your face.

As more and more casting is being conducted off tape, I am discovering few things.

First, CDs are more frequently giving actors adjustments in the absence of directors and producers in the room. Nevertheless, do not expect or request them. When you coach or rehearse an audition, ask whoever you are working with to give you adjustments – any adjustments. Don’t preoccupy yourself with whether or not they are good or warranted. Simply get used to being malleable with the material.

Second, if your audition is short (roughly half a page or less), prepare it a couple of different ways.  Mind you, the variations must be text based, valid takes on the material and markedly different from one another. Tell the CD in advance that you’ve prepared the scene a couple of ways and that you’d like to show them the differnt versions. If they ask what the different versions are, then tell them. If they want you to start with one and go from there, lead with your strongest version and let the situation play itself out. If they are satisfied with one take, do not press, argue or fight with them in the slightest. That’s definitely a losing battle.

Third, if your read is great and the CD thinks you may be a contender for the role, but you flubbed even a word, they may ask you to take it again. This is the CD’s way of expressing that, if they’re going to fight for you, they want to show the director and producers a flawless take. Take a moment, begin again, make no adjustmensts if you weren’t asked to do so, let the scene fly and stick it like a gymnast does a landing.

So here it is: Do your homework. Own the room from the moment you walk into it and stay in the zone. Think about everything you’ve prepared and deliver an awesome take – or takes. Be prepared for adjustments and, if the audition is short, prepare it a couple of different ways – as long as they are valid takes on the material. You don’t want to be in your car or at home later beating yourself up about what you could or should have done differently because, at that point, the audition is over and it’s time to move on to the next one. But always remember…leave nothing on the table.

Long term financial investors follow a set of a few simple rules:  Develop a strategy and stick with it, focus on the future, adopt a long term perspective and don’t sweat the small stuff!  As an actor, you are your own commodity and your career trajectory is very much like that of a stock. 

Consider any enormously successful multinational company such as Apple (AAPL) Google (GOOGL) or Facebook (FB) and take a look at their stock chart.  But don’t look at their five day, one month, three month or even one year growth. Look at their their five and ten year progress and beyond.  You will unequivocally see hills and valleys, but also an overall significant rise in price. 

Your acting career is no different.  Resist the urge to analyze it every day.  Not only will that drive you insane, but it is not smart investing.  Don’t asses where you are at any given moment, but where you are overall.  Yes, if after ten years, you are not further along than you were a decade ago, it’s time to rethink some things.  But you have chosen a tough, extremely competitive profession that requires hard work, tenacity and perseverance.  No young lawyer graduates from law school, passes the bar and expects to try a high profile murder case right out of the gate.  No young surgeon graduates from medical school and expects to waltz into brain surgery.  If so, they would be highly let down. 

I moved to LA in 1991 and met a lot of young actors at that time who were expecting to “give it a couple of years…maybe a few” with the hopes of landing the next 90210.  Over the years I’ve wondered what happened to many of them.  When IMDB came along, I realized that none of them worked much past the mid nineties.   Now, I did meet a few actors who were in it for the long haul.  Some are very successful today.  Some have turned to producing or directing, but they all continue to train and plug away despite the valleys between their hills. 

A few years ago an enormously talented, hard working, extremely funny client of mine was frustrated about her career.  She had been in LA nine years, had fantastic rep, done several guest spots and tested for bigger roles, but she had yet to land a series regular or that “star making” part.  I pointed out to her that Jane Lynch had worked sporadically in her twenties and thirties, but her career did not really take off until the age of forty when she landed BEST IN SHOW.  “You’re a lifer” I told her, “embrace how far you’ve come and work diligently every day, but don’t think short term.”  Being a flash in the pan is one thing – crafting a long term career is another.

Acting is not for the feint of heart and not for those who aren’t all in.  Expect that there will be ups and downs and don’t analyze your career every day.  Look at it it from a much broader perspective.  And if you’re feeling down, glance through the stock charts of the companies I’ve mentioned as well as dozens of other successful enterprises.  Develop a strategy, stick with it (but be malleable), focus on the future and don’t sweat the small stuff!

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.  Be a lifer.  Be a long term investor. 

A client of mine who is enormously talented fought for a number of years to get good rep. He had just guest starred on FRESH OFF THE BOAT (an audition he procured on his own) and finally landed with a prominent agency. Within 24 hours he received his first audition from them. It was for the lead role in a comedy pilot and he was asked to prepare two scenes.  The first was, I kid you not, a single spaced monologue more than a page long that contained a massive amount of beats, builds, turns…comedy technique galore. The second scene was four pages full of rapid paced, witty banter and a fair share of jokes.  He received the audition notification at roughly 8pm for his appointment at noon the following day.  While I was teaching class that evening, he scheduled a late night coaching.  At 11pm I met him in our waiting area where he handed me the sides, looked me dead in the eye and promptly said “Shit just got real.” 

We quickly got to work. He was remarkably prepared after having had only three hours with the material.  By the end of our session, he could rattle off the monologue with hardly a glance at the page and scene two was tight and completely off book.  We were both satisfied and confident about his audition.  At that point he had been a student of mine for two years and he thanked me for for pushing him every week and demanding the most from him.  I then told him what I’ve repeated to numerous actors: I can help you make strong choices, find jokes and navigate your way through the audition with precision and specificity, but you have put in the time. You have to study and prepare like a top tier athlete. You have to be able to retain dialogue quickly, take adjustments on the fly and then deliver in the room. This actor not only made this audition happen through his sheer tenacity, but he busted his ass in class, rehearsals, workshops and honed his skills relentlessly for years to get ready for it. 

As actors, you work arduously to acquire auditions and good representation, but you need to ensure that when the opportunities come, you are ready for them because, as in sports, they come fast and they come hard.  You can rapidly make fans in the room or get knocked on your ass just as quickly.  Get ready and stay ready because at some point every actor realizes…shit just got real.