When in doubt – AKA unless otherwise instructed in the audition notes – jeans and decent top. Make sure you’re comfortable, because it’ll translate into your scene if you’re not comfortable in your body. I can see that tag is itching your side or that you keep feeling like you have to pull on your shirt.
Stay away from logos, brands, funny sayings on your shirt, loud patterns – best case scenario they’re distracting, worst case scenario either myself or my creative team will make assumptions about you that have nothing to do with your acting, and everything to do with your shirt. Not good.
If you want to lean towards the character, great. If you’re a badass fighting machine, a fitted black top and black pants work perfectly. If you’re a lawyer, a button-up is better than a t-shirt. Personal favorite – if it’s 70’s, break out those flared jeans and round sunglasses. BUT. I guarantee you I hired that one girl you saw in the waiting room because she was good, not because she was wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope. At the end of the day, the clothes should not take away from the scene. If you want to use them to help you create a vibe, great, but if you’re focusing more on what you wear than what you’re saying, that’s gonna be a problem.
Be prepared to take your glasses off. I’m not quite sure why this is a surprise to a lot of people – we might need you to take them off. If the glasses are obstructing my view of your eyes, in any way, then I’m going to ask you to take them off. There might be a glare off the lenses, the shape of them might be distracting, or if they are tinted – any number of reasons. It’s distracting, and I want to see your “windows to the soul.” Listen – I’m blind as a bat. I get it. But get contacts, or practice doing the scene while not being able to see.
And be prepared to take your jacket or outer shirt off.
Dude – I’m not asking you to strip. I just want you to at least appear comfortable, and the jacket isn’t helping. Or – the jacket has a totally different vibe than the character and I want to simplify your look, make sure nothing is distracting from the scene.
That being said – if someone asks you to actually take your shirt off, or pants off, or ANYTHING that gets you partially naked, without letting you know in advance – don’t do anything you’re not totally comfortable doing. This might be just my personal bias, but no one should have that sprung on them.
Keep it comfortable, and keep it simple.
Photo by Cristofer Jeschke on Unsplash
Thank you for this. Often times, the outfit becomes a huge task and it’s good know that what matters is acting.