Actor Roundup

Patrika Darbo (Nancy, DAYS) “Having to play a sleazy Madonna bimbo-type with all these 6 foot 8, blonde women. I was the short, squatty person dressed in a leopard outfit. I got the part — it was Keanu Reeves’s first film, THE NIGHT BEFORE — but it was the worst audition I’d ever been to. I’d never been so mortified in my entire life.”

Mishael Morgan (Amanda, Y&R) “I was pretending to be a rookie cop, who was arresting the lead character in the scene. When I arrived at the audition, everyone was in skirts with little hats. I looked at the script again and realized it was a period piece and I was a cop from the 1920s. I had no time to change what I had prepared, so I went in there and did what I practiced. Everyone in the room was polite and said ‘Thank you,’ but I saw them thinking, ‘Guess she didn’t read the script.’ Needless to say, I never got a call back for that. Moral of the story is read the script!”

Charles Shaughnessy (Victor, GH)  “In a way, it was also the best. I auditioned for The Producers, the first time I ever auditioned for a musical. I auditioned for Susan Stroman and the entire creative team and I had to sing and I was absolutely terrified. The [audition] was an absolute train wreck, but they couldn’t have been nicer and I was so relieved at just surviving it!”

Beth Maitland (Traci, Y&R) “My worst audition was for a new musical at the Debbie Reynolds Rehearsal Studios. I brushed up my best audition song, and got in my smart audition dress, and got halfway through the song when a siren went by on the street outside the studio window. The pianist stopped and the casting director got up to check it out. When he returned to the table, he said,  ‘Thank you, that’s fine, we’ve heard enough,’ and I was excused. I didn’t get the part. I’m sure everything happens for a reason, but being an actor can be brutal.”

Matthew Atkinson (Thomas, B&B) “Oh, man. There was one time I met with a dialect coach for a big movie, Jack The Giant Killer. They wanted an English actor from the region where the story originally took place, so I went really deep with the dialect coach. I went into the room with me in my head, making sure I said things right. It had nothing to do with being connected with the other person. I walked out with my head dropped low. I felt like I just failed. I failed the accent, the audition and myself. But, I also learned from that audition that you can’t take anything too seriously.”

Camila Banus (Gabi, DAYS)  “I had just arrived in LA from Florida and was 15. I didn’t really know the business that well or how to audition. I had come from a theater background, where you memorize your entire script, so I didn’t have my papers with me. I did the scene, and there was a lengthy monologue at the end of it. When I finished, the woman was so extremely rude. She said, ‘You seriously came off book? I’ve never seen such a terrible audition.’ I called my manager and he explained that it is frowned upon in the industry to audition completely memorized, because it means you have no where to go with the material. It struck me so badly and traumatized me forever.”

Inga Cadranel (Harmony, GH) “When I was around 30, I was flown to L.A. to do a screen test for the biggest show at the time, 24. I hadn’t eaten all day, and they finally called me in. I was shaking, dizzy from hunger and probably dehydrated, too. The room was full of suits and an exec asked me, ‘Have you seen the show?’ I said, ‘No,’ and right away, I knew I lost the part. With my tail between my legs, I left and ended up passing out in the taxi back to the hotel.”