Acting : Why didn't I get cast for the Role? by Kris A. Leiter

The million dollar question that we always ask ourselves as Actors. We see Facebook posts about our acting colleagues getting cast or booked for the same commercial or film that we auditioned for and after a few weeks, still no phone call, no email, and no booking. So what did we do wrong, or not do right? We start rehashing our audition..was it good enough? Did I forget a line? What did the Casting Director not like about my Headshot or Resume? We have asked those same questions time and time again, audition after audition and we continue to self-analyze, self-doubt, self-criticize. We keep scratching our heads and beating ourselves up. We think we did something wrong. Granted, there are times when we can always improve our habits, cold reads and update our Headshots, but we as Actors, like every other candidate looking for that job, want to do the best performance possible. We were born with that instinct. Our parents brought us up to "Do your Best in everything you do.." So we carry those words into our lives and our Acting toolbox. We rehearse, read, memorize, re-read, record and then perform..and then nothing....rejection...again. Let me cast some comfort for a moment if I may... You probably did nothing wrong. What??...You may have done everything correct and had the best read and still not get the role. Yes, acting can be and is probably one the most subjective occupations in the universe. Yes, there are the industry standards of the trade if you will, the right and wrong way to stand on your mark, etc, but the acting world, is a "world" that things can change on a whim, due to things totally out of your control..which is my whole point in this exercise... Sometimes, and bear with me on this and it may totally surprise you (grab your chair on this shocker..drum role. ...The best Actor does not always....get cast..True...I said it. As much as people think that Tim Robbins was the first candidate for the film "The Shawshank Redemption", which recieved great compliments, but contrary to most people knowing, that there were a few other Actors highly considered for that role. Now I am not saying that the other candidates had bad auditions. As a matter of fact, I have been on the other side of the Casting table and heard many stories of why so-and-so did not get booked. Strange things happen over an 10 hour day of casting and when you review the tapes, many variables come into play. The Actor that we have in mind for the "Father" role may have had the best read, but the "child" who we definitely want to cast will not look anything like the "Father" who had the best read, and so our choice for the initial "Father" simply would not get a callback. Nothing personal, just the "look" was a better fit for our second choice "Father". The second choice Actor may have skipped a line in the script, but looks more believable and would still be congenial to work with, hence he gets cast. And many more stories follow: • One instance, the casting associates had thrown 3 finalists Headshots in the air. The one who landed face up, got the role. (true story told by a Hollywood Television Director) • The first choice candidate had the best read, but looked too much like the Casting Director's Ex-wife..any guesses?..Not Booked • An actress who had a great read, very nice personality but had one single eyelash that needed trimmed and had a great read...guess what?..one of the Casting associates suggested to the Director that they could trim the single hair..the decision was not changed..again, not cast.. Crazy as it seems. it happens and more often than not, who you see bring home the Academy award, might not have been the first choice.