Costumes and Auditions

Originally posted on July 27, 2011

There are a many different opinions out there about audition etiquette, so please understand that this is only my personal opinion.

One of those things that drives me absolutely crazy as a casting director is when people show up in costumes. I have a physical reaction to actors in cop uniforms in particular – in a bad way. Plus I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to impersonate an officer of the law. And why on earth do you have a cop uniform anyway? Did you go out and rent it for the audition? These are the things I think about while I’m supposed to be watching your performance. 

On the other hand, I do think an implied wardrobe is a good thing. For example: if you’re reading for a lawyer, by all means don't wear ripped jeans, wear a nice button down shirt or a suit. 

But please, for the love of God, don’t wear a gimmicky costume with a badge and a billy club! Or spurs! Especially don’t wear spurs! Do you want me to look at your face or your feet? 

I worked on Deadwood. You can’t imagine the getup some of those people came in wearing. Especially for the female roles (for those of you who didn't watch the show, most of the female roles were prostitutes). We had one session in particular where I couldn’t imagine what people in the surrounding offices thought we were up to. At one point the producers asked us to see if some of the girls had normal clothes because the costumes were distracting. I had to reschedule people because they didn’t have any other clothes with them and then I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if they had car trouble and ended up being arrested for solicitation.