Speaker 1: Actors, it's Wendy Lane Wright, the Hollywood Talent Manager in Los Angeles, California. And I wanted to talk to you about why casting directors cast and hire some actors and not others. Well, that's an interesting question, right? And that's probably one that everyone wants to know. What's the answer to that? Here's the answer to that. First of all, casting directors hire actors who are not nervous, stressed, or tense. Actors who are not nervous, stressed, or tense. Honestly, when it comes down to who they cast, they're looking for an actor who is relaxed, who is comfortable, who is not desperate, who is confident, and who is just really at ease with themselves. So as an actor, when you go into audition, the casting director is getting rid of people who are stressed, tense, nervous. They just get rid of those people, okay? They get rid of everybody who's not right for the role. So if you're too tall, too thin, too fat, too skinny, too this, too that, you don't have the right essence, you're not funny, and it's a funny role, or it really needs you to be serious, and there's nothing serious about what you're doing. They just eliminate, eliminate, eliminate, okay? Now if you go in and do a really good job, and I'm giving you this information because I just spent the day yesterday with a top casting director here in Hollywood. She and I went to a jewelry show, and she gave me this ring. Let me just look at that as a present. She's my best, best friend. But anyway, we have this jewelry thing. Both of us are addicted to jewelry, so we're always giving each other jewelry presents. But one of the benefits of having a best friend who's a casting director, a really big casting director, is that we talk about the business a lot, right? And when we're at lunch, I have questions sometimes, and I'm like, can we talk about business for a second? I have this question. Sometimes it's a question that I need to know. Sometimes it's a question that you guys have asked. But anyway, one of the things we talked about yesterday at lunch is why she picked certain actors and not others, and what you have to do in order to stand out and be memorable, and when she doesn't remember people, what happens? Okay, guess what? If you go in and do your audition, and you're terrible, they might not ever call you in again. Did you know that? They might not ever call you in again. Why? Because it's like going in for a job interview. Say you go into McDonald's, and you have a job interview. Let's say you're going to an advertising agency or a law firm. You go in, and you have your interview, and they don't pick you. Well, they're not going to see you again in a month later, or two months later, or three months later. I mean, they said no. You don't fit their company. They move on. They don't revisit it a year later. So when you go into an audition, you need to be doing a great job, because if you suck, and you're not prepared, and you're not well-trained, or you're uptight, and nervous, and tense, and you can't deliver, you're not going to get called in again to some offices. That's how it works. That being said, what happens if you go in and do an amazing, fantastic job, but you're just not right for the role? Do they remember you? Yes. Of course they remember you. Casting directors have binders, and they have books of notes of information, and when they are given a script, and they're figuring out, you know, how I would cast this, they go through their binders, and their books, and their headshots, and stuff that they've collected over the years, and they make lists of who they want to bring in, and if you did a really, really good job in an audition, you weren't right for that role, but you did a really good job, they're going to add you to that list, and they're going to be calling you in for future projects. So you want to be prepared. You want to really break down your script and be prepared, but most of all, in addition to that, you need to be relaxed. You need to be calm. Yes, I mean, you need to be tense if the character's tense, right? You need to be excited if the character's excited, and like, angsty if that's the character. But as a person, as the actor that's walking in the room, you need to not be nervous and afraid and scared, and seriously, you cannot be thinking any kind of negative thoughts about, oh my god, I wonder if they like me, oh god, I wonder if I'm doing a good job, you can't think about your own paranoid thoughts. If you're there being the character, you have to be thinking the character's thoughts. You can't be thinking your own thoughts. So one of the things that actors do in their training is learn to relax, and if you think that's not important, well, then you're going to be nervous in your auditions, and you're not going to get the job. And listen, I can tell you these things, and you can take it or leave it. I'm telling you how it really works, right? You've got to incorporate into your training methods for relaxing, for loosening your instrument. You as an actor are the instrument. Your body is the instrument. What does that mean? If you're a sax player, your sax is your instrument. If you're an actor, your voice is your instrument, your expressions, your emotions, and your body is your instrument. It is what you use to convey the message, right? And if your instrument is tight and tense and nervous and scared and uptight, they'll never hire you. So make it a part of your rehearsal and a part of your ongoing training and practice to breathe and relax. A lot of times if you're on set, like when I'm on set, and I'm on set with a lot of stars and I'm watching them work, they're off breathing, doing breathing techniques and tongue twisters. They're loosening up their instrument, because if they loosen it up and relax it, everything will flow through easier. They know that and that's why they're working actors. So I want you to know that so you can be a working actor as well. It is very, very, very important to learn to relax. A lot of actors get nervous and then other people get their parts. So don't let that happen to you. That's one of the things you can't control. So much in this business you can't control, but how much you relax, you can control. That's just a quick tip. It's what is it, six minutes and 51 second tip. And I wanted you to have it. Go implement that and I've got some more videos to do for you. So I'll talk to you soon. Follow your dreams. Don't let anyone stop you, including yourself, especially yourself. See you later.