What is Lost

How can a beginner learn to audition well in a vacuum?

Yes, it’s all easier and more efficient to audition and work from home. There’s much less driving and more free time. Auditioning is now much less “hassle” for everyone.

It seems a good thing, but it’s not.

There is a significant aspect of becoming a voice actor that is now lost, probably for good. And it’s a big problem, especially for young or new talent.

To start- voice actors are now rarely around other voice actors. They no longer audition at their agency with colleagues. You can no longer meet or learn from other actors who know how to audition, how to present oneself, how to listen, how to take direction. Also, the sense of being part of a legacy of work-a-day creatives is gone. Since Covid, the voice acting career has been substantially atomized, sealed away from the context of a supportive community.

In the “before times,” when we auditioned at a voice casting facility, an in-booth audition with a pro could be a micro master class in how to voice act. It was an efficient way to imprint good acting instincts- to feel connected with older, more experienced talents whom you could learn from. Auditioning with other voice actors was no small part of a voice actor’s education and initiation.

But such shared booth time and a sense of community is now a thing of the past.

Second, auditions are no longer directed. In the new age of at-home auditioning, a voice actor gets no realtime feedback on an audition from a casting director or booth agent. You no longer benefit and learn from having your acting directed.

I’m not saying that the directing you get from a casting assistant or a booth agent is always good- it isn’t! But part of an actor’s education is learning how to take and work with- or work around- poor direction!

An experienced VA sees an audition as a mini play- it follows a script, needs good production, appropriate performance and will probably need a bit of adjusting from a director. Each aspect of this is essential to a good audition. It’s a lot to learn in a vacuum.

We actors get into acting to act– not to audition or direct or become a sound engineer. Our learning is focused on performing- the fun part. Any acting school or VO program probably won’t fill in the other details- auditioning, the business and managing the life of a freelance creative.

Even with talent, when an actor starts out in the “real world,” market place, they don’t know what they don’t know. They’re probably not yet fully aware of what their default quirks or tics are. And they haven’t fully realized how to interrogate audition copy- to dig down to pay dirt so the idea is both clear and fitting for that one shot at getting it right.

Do you always read your audition copy too fast? Do you sometimes mumble? Are your reads too monotone? Is your slate off- or your pace or energy or presence? Is your acting not clear or not matching the action or tone of the scene or the commercial copy’s point of persuasion? Are you reading to the wrong audience?

How do you gain awareness of any of this sitting alone in your padded box? Your audition is heard by a distant ear and receives no response, guidance or feedback. The result is that start-up talent struggles to learn good auditioning skills, blocking the entrance to their career at the starting line.

This conundrum is a headache for agents and casting directors too. They have to listen through crap auditions from good talent. You get one swing at that ball, but most are swinging blindly- but don’t hear of it from those who have perspective or who know better.

A beginner now starts their career with the most difficult thing a voice actor is called to do: auditioning alone. From the beginning you are thrown into the deep end of the pool and are expected to swim without a lifeguard.

How do you learn these days to audition well?

You may find some insight with a good VO teacher or class- but it’s different from the fuller education of real world auditioning or session work. The stakes in a class are lower and more forgiving and thus less instructive, but may still be useful.

Side note: I’m skeptical of the extent one can learn acting or improv remotely over Zoom. We are evolved as a face-to-face pack animal and a Zoom screen strips away much of the subconscious nuance at play in human communication. Acting is an in-person collaborative story telling activity that reaches far back in our history as a species. The core of this is based on the fullness of in-person interaction. We are hardwired for face-to-face. Because of this, I much prefer in-person learning to remote.

Present human interaction is foundational to acting and improv, both in learning and performing. Can a Zoom class help with such skills? Perhaps to an extent. But this is a limited arena for learning acting or improv. If you can, go for in-person learning.

It is my belief that if you are auditioning a ton and getting no response from the universe, there is always a good reason for it. It’s not random chance and won’t be solved with a shrug or a “Hail Mary” approach to auditioning. The new isolation that degrades an actor’s learning opportunity may be what’s blocking your progress.

The freedom and ease of auditioning and working from home comes with this price: Starting your career as a voice actor is a steeper climb than ever.