Auditions – Statistics
Ah, those pesky little opportunities to get work! I’ve been updating the records I’ve been keeping over the past 13 years of all the auditions I’ve gone on and all the acting jobs that have come from them.
Many jobs have not come directly from auditions but have been laid neatly in my lap. I was blessed with a job on the last season of The Drew Carey Show once. They called my agent, told him they wanted me for an episode that would be filmed in two or three weeks. They didn’t know yet what the role would be. It turned out that the episode was about Mimi forming her own all-girl rock band, and I would be one of the members.
When the script arrived, I was a man-hating lesbian with two good solid scenes and a lot of snappy dialogue. After the first day, the script was rewritten. I was now a man-hungry straight woman with two decent scenes and some snappy dialogue. After the second day, they had recast two roles, and I was now a disgruntled band member of indeterminate sexual orientation who was in two scenes and had two lines of dialogue. Oh, and we were now a free-form jazz ensemble.
Drew gave me an orchid on the day we filmed.
Anyway, I was talking about auditions. I can chart the changes in the business through these statistics. First, the number of TV auditions I’ve been on over the years has dropped noticeably. As reality shows have increased and scripted television (on network TV, anyway) has dropped off, opportunities for guest spots on TV have dipped. Over the years, I’ve averaged 22 TV auditions per year. In 2007 and 2008, I had just 15 apiece. This year so far, I’ve only had 10–and one was for a webseries. I realize as well that I should start to keep track of which ones are for network shows and which are for other kinds of programming. Cable TV has become one of the nest places for good dramatic work, but it doesn’t always pay as well (especially in reruns).
Film has dropped of, too, though I’ve been lucky there in getting a lot of chances to work with top directors. I’ve played with Clint Eastwood (Changeling), Steven Spielberg (Catch Me If You Can), Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away), Paul Haggis (In the Valley of Elah), Judd Apatow (Walk Hard), and I got my SAG card doing Philadelphia with Jonathan Demme. And while in three of those cases, my stellar work ended up on the cutting room floor, I still had the chance to do the work. But although I’ve averaged 14 film auditions a year, I haven’t hit that average since 2002.
(left) Not the greatest quality shot, but still one you won’t get to see otherwise; Wendy as the high school receptionist, Lenore, in a scene that was cut from Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah. The character was described in the script as “cheerful, helpful, and dumb as a stump.”
Commercials have been a real kick in the pants. I was lucky enough to sign with the best team of commercial agents a person could have right after I arrived in Los Angeles. (How I met them is a story for another time, but they are truly terrific.) They stuck with me for four and a half years before I started making them any money.
I’ve never struck it that big in commercials, but I have lucked out a few times. I did a spot for Chex Party Mix once that ran for eight Christmases and was huge fun to see every holiday for all that time. I did two spots for Jack in the Box, and those of you who live east of the Mississippi and didn’t ever see any of these have been missing out on one of the wittiest ongoing ad campaigns ever designed. I liked one of the spots so much (one in which I played a rather forceful Russian masseuse) that I put it on my “reel,” the collection of clips of my work that I keep around to show potential employers.
Over the years, I averaged 23 commercial auditions a year. I’ve had nine this year. Fortunately, one of them was a promo spot for HBO, which still seems to be going strong, but the opportunities to keep supporting my commercial agents have dwindled significantly.
However, I am always hopeful. The next great job could be just an audition away. Every time the phone rings, it signals possibility….
