Crappy audition

I just saw that new MASTERCARD commercial..with the little kid doing The Robot..."We Want the Funk" playing in the background.... his buddies join in... love that ad.

Had a crappy crappy audition yesterday.. meaning I sucked.... I got this email on Tuesday night:

James

what is your availability tomorrow? I know it is very short notice, but we are looking for our "Ryan" and want to shoot within the next two weeks. let me know.

thanks

I told her I could be there, just tell me when and where. She wrote me back and gave me the address and the time of the casting, 12-5. She said she would Fwd my info to the casting director.

When I got there, I was handed the sides, a 3 page scene, paired up with 2 actors who had been there reading with several other guys, and rushed into the room after reading through the scene for roughly 45 seconds. Needless to say, I was lost. My scene partners were off-book...they were either prepped in advance (sides made available), or they had been reading with so many other prospects that they just knew the scene. Regardless, I was awful, couldnt find cues, couldnt find lines...ridiculous....

But what's the lesson here? If you are an actor you've been told this before. Take charge of your audition. If I wasnt ready, I should have spoken up and said, "I'm not ready," "I need a few more minutes." Thats a totally reasonable and acceptable request. Its just hard in an audition scenario to have the presence of mind to say that. I find myself in such an "eager to please," "eager to be easy, agrreable and likeable" mode that I will go along with whatever the casting director says.

So...there you have it...lesson learned...maybe...if not learned... then acknowledged... with the hope that next time I can put that theory into practice.