Casting
I went to a casting today. It could be called my first one, although I’ve been in similar situations a few times already. The idea of auditioning was more or less the same as before, but the circumstances were different.
My most prominent experience of such kind was applying to Akademia Teatralna. It was back then, when I had to decide what my career was gonna be. I fancied it, acting, a lot more than coding at that time. Sadly I wasn’t accepted and ended up as a Software Developer. But I enjoyed that journey nevertheless. The memories of learning scripts by heart, practicing and performing always come back with a smile on my face. It also helped me develop skills that I took advantage of in each position of my professional career. And it surely made today’s casting easier.
This time I didn’t think of becoming a superstar for a second. I also did not think that my whole future depended on it. I just went there expecting nothing much really. It just shows me how much my approach changed with all these years… So, I’m getting in there, old building (Kraków’s Old Town), young people. I’m greeted with ‘Hi’ (or ‘Hello’) instead of the usual Polish ‘Good morning’. Only after I tell the receptionist my age, she refers to me per ‘Sir’, which—again—is a Polish custom. I get asked for a referral and handed a form to fill. Then the first hesitation came.
‘Shit, I’m not doing it!’, I thought, making a notion of a guy who fucking measures himself and puts the numbers into his form! ‘Is this necessary?’ was the second thing that came to my head. A minute later, this very question gets answered by the other receptionist who instructed that poor guy, that he didn’t have to put his collar size there. What a relief, even though I wasn’t gonna do it anyway :)
It was pretty difficult to me filling that fancy form and trying to tell my life story by answering these typical HR questions. I guess it’s easier for the younger people, as some of them finished way before me even though they came after. Well, maybe apart from that guy with a measure, but he wasn’t even Polish and had some troubles understanding the instructions.
When I finished, I was given a description of a scene which was supposed to be the base material for an improvisation with the director. I felt awarded, as it was an adult role in contrast to all the teenage-y ones given to the people before me. That’s because of my age which seemed to be much higher than the average there. I don’t look like my age, to be honest, I wasn’t very different from those kids in the waiting room. Like the one who sat next to me. He probably even looked older than me despite being a college student (which he boldly stated as soon as he entered the room, in the manner of: ‘It is I, who pursue the study of Acting’).
The theme for my scene wasn’t anything spectacular, just a typical “luggage lost at an airport” situation. They advised one should be rather upset and get angry at an office clerk. It was funny when the director asked me if I’ve ever been in such a position before and suggested that I’d better start shaking my knees. I calmly responded that I might have lost things, but it is not the end of the world. However, when she called ‘Action!’, I eventually delivered the emotions they were looking for. Maybe that contrast worked in my favor, proving that I can act a bit.
I enjoyed that improvisation a lot. A few times during the scene I was congratulating myself in my head for coming up with a line I figured in the waiting room. I got an idea pretty quickly, thought that I should stick to first good one and so it went. I believe the interviewers liked it as well. The director made some positive remarks which I can’t recall now, but she definitely ended with something like: ‘Just make sure you answer our call’.
The outcome
I didn’t have to wait long. They called me the next morning with an offer of another casting, for a proper role this time. I could feel it in my bones, just as any other time I was on a successful screening. I’m not sure if I got it already or there is some possibility they will not want me. But I got the script already and if it happens, boy, I haven’t had that much cuddling & kissing for a while. What a lucky me!
Posted in: this-is-acting
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