The Wirk auditioned for a TV commercial

Have you ever auditioned for a TV commercial?  I recently had my first audition for a TV commercial and let me tell you about that experience. 

First I was asked by the casting agency if I'd like to audition.  ****  "Sure, why not?" is what I told myself. 

Next I filled out a profile with my measurements and other vital stats.  ****  This was a hilarious experience.  If I've been measured since high school, I don't recall the experience.  Needless to say my numbers have changed (i.e. not drastically, but yes - they changed).  I located the tape measure and sought some privacy away from my husband to measure my waist line.  When I came back and gave him the number, he laughed and said that there was no way that my number was actually my waist measurement.  For a physical challenge, he asked me to try on his jeans to see if I'd fit.  Hellooooooooo.  I've played this game before and YES, men's pants are big on me.  Ultimately my husband and I figured out the problem.  I measured my waist line sitting down.  Whatever.  I'm not a seamstress.  How was I supposed to know?

I needed a photographer so I asked my friend to shoot headshots for me.  I've been asked for professional headshots at work before, so I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone.  I was correct.  The shots were/are perfect for my needs.

Finally, I reviewed and memorized the sides.  I only needed to learn one page of material, but I went ahead and memorized both pages.  For someone, like me who can remember song lyrics from more than 20 years ago, I should've recorded my lines and listened to them over and over and over and over again to facilitate this process.

When it came time to actually audition the whole experience took 10 minutes.  I was paired up with another person and we both took two, on-camera takes.  One of us would do the lines we studied, while the other person did a cold read of the other lines.

All in all, it was a fun experience!  As I left the studio, I took a look at the other people who were waiting to audition.  It was also interesting to see people that look similar to, but yet different than, me in one room.

Here are my 3 takeaways from the audition:
1 - I'm not ready to quit my REAL job (i.e. which is actually a career that I'm extremely passionate about).
2 - I have more empathy for Joey Tribbiani (i.e. the character from Friends) now.  Maybe his character is smarter than I give him credit for... 
3 - I'm still a big nerd when it comes to being on camera.  At sporting events, I'm the girl who secretly wishes that she's put on the jumbotron, but the minute I see myself I "duck and cover".
4 - I'll stick to background work (i.e. for now).

What an experience!


THE WIRK