“It’s the Audition, Stupid!”
It’s a brave opening gambit; a book that insults without giving you a chance to buy it a drink first. But if that upsets you then you’d better grow some thicker skin because Brendan McNamara’s 2011 book about casting doesn’t shy from delivering a few home truths.
And quite right too.
If you purchase the book then you probably are, or are intending to be, an actor. Good luck.
It’s a cruel and unforgiving career and, while the book gives invaluable advice on casting, the real value of “It’s the Audition, Stupid!” comes from its realism – a realism which newcomers to the industry would do well to embrace.
The book itself discusses the intricacies of the casting process in refreshing detail. As an actor popping in and out of castings, which may, on occasion, only last 2-3 minutes, it seems a very arbitrary and mysterious process.
Casting directors too can seem a mysterious and distant bunch, with many actors sending off CV after CV and never hearing a word back. Brendan McNamara’s book does a great job in explaining the casting process and humanising casting directors.
Much of the advice given by the book seems, in retrospect, to be common sense – but it’s amazing how un-common common sense can be. The advice is frank, clear and given with tremendous goodwill.
The book is not just about improving actors’ attitudes towards auditions, it covers everything from drama school training to how to approach the right people. It also talks over the differences between auditioning for stage and screen work and the gulf between the two.
It’s a fascinating and valuable read, and if you’re an actor, it may just become your new best friend.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Brendan himself recently. You can find a copy of the interview below.
“It’s the Audition, Stupid!” is available now in paperback. You can find out more at www.pinterandmartin.com or buy a copy of the Kindle e-book version at Amazon. It’s the Audition, Stupid!: The actor’s essential guide to surviving the casting and getting the part
Tim Austin is a stage and screen actor based in the UK. You can read more about him at www.tim-austin.co.uk
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Frost Mag;
Hello Brendan. You started off as an actor – a pretty successful one too. What was it about casting directing that made you move away from the acting? And would you go back to acting full time?
Brendan;
I don’t think I’d ever act again. I was very confident as a child, I was quite quirky,… [but] I didn’t have a craft and the more I see great actors, I see a craft.
I’d no time for doing accents, which was very limiting. I was cast as a West of Ireland “cheeky chapy” and that was the extent of it, and that bored me senseless. A career of that wouldn’t’ve made me happy.
I got into casting because it started as a part time job when I was trying to pick up auditions and just became an obsession and love, basically.
Frost Mag;
Have you kept the same contacts from your acting and has that helped you in your casting?
Brendan;
Not really. A lot of contacts would’ve been in Dublin. If what you’re alluding to is “Are contacts important?” then yes. In every regard. Networking and contacts are, for an actor especially, or any industry professional, immense. You’ve got to have them.
Actors have to be pro-active. They should go to festivals, they should go to screenings and opening nights and everything because you don’t know who you’ll meet and it can help.
Frost Mag;
Do you feel that your past as an actor has given you an advantage as a Casting director? Does it, perhaps, give you an edge?
Brendan;
I think its definitely had an impact, I don’t know about giving me an edge, but it certainly helps me when I work with actors.
Essentially my job is to get the best performance from actors when they come to audition for me. The fact that I relish reading in with actors and do my best to give them something when reading opposite helps the actor and helps me.
Frost Mag;
Having spoken to fellow actors at castings and networking events, I’ve found that many of them consider casting to be a tad, if I may say, “elitist”. By that I mean, only interested in graduates of certain schools and certain universities. I don’t know if that’s true. I personally react a little against that.
Brendan;
I think that’s rubbish. I mean there might be casting directors who favour those schools and obviously I can’t speak for everyone but in my own terms, I have never brought someone in because they went to those schools. To be honest, I don’t even look for that any more.
I like nothing better than bringing in someone new. Who isn’t even based in London, who doesn’t even have an agent, who I’ve seen in something, I like their CV or I’ve spoken to or met them.
There’s so many myths about casting directors out there, made up by people; drama schools or people who just aren’t getting work. You have to realise – my job is very simple; I bring in the best people to make me look good because if I can bring in the best people and they all do great auditions then I look brilliant.
If you come in as an actor and don’t do a god job, I look bad. My job is to make you do a good job. Every actor that comes in I want them to be brilliant, I want them to be prepared, I want them to the best they can do because they make me look brilliant.
All these myths about a casting director being obstructive or getting in the way is rubbish.
Frost Mag;
What is it in a showreel that really jumps out at you, or is that different for every project that you’re casting?
Brendan;
Sometimes I don’t need to refer to it because I’ve seen the work that the actor has done or I’ve met the actor.
I sometimes have to refer to a showreel to check someone’s physicality or their accent or if I’m unsure how they look in their photo. But obviously if you’ve got a reel that has a great performance on it that’s what I’m going to tune into as well.
I don’t think there’s one thing. It could be anything; it could be a flash of the eyes.
For us it’s a reference or it’s something that I could send to a director and say “I like the look of this person, what do you think?” So if the work on it is strong or a good representation of the actor then it’s a very useful tool, basically.
“It’s the Audition, Stupid!” is available now in paperback. You can find out more at www.pinterandmartin.com or buy a copy of the Kindle e-book version at It’s the Audition, Stupid!: The actor’s essential guide to surviving the casting and getting the part
Tim Austin is a stage and screen actor based in the UK. You can read more about him at www.tim-austin.co.uk