Sarah Ramos

Sarah Ramos Instagram – As more info comes out about the SAGAFTRA strike, I’d like to continue highlighting an important area that often goes misunderstood and underestimated: casting & auditions. This is my audition edited into the movie OTHERHOOD. No shade, but has anyone ever seen this movie? Editing my auditions into stuff I didn’t get cast in helped me unlearn the fantasy that every audition request was worth my unpaid, specialized labor because on the other side was a career- and life-changing job. That mindset made me feel like I couldn’t say no, no matter how much experience I racked up in this industry. In reality, it’s all just work. Many of the projects I auditioned for are ones most people haven’t heard of. A project that isn’t a hit is still work. Most projects that get made fall into this category. Similarly, auditions that don’t get you cast are still work. Most auditions fall into this category, but we have a weird cringey stigma about them. Why? Partly because belittling the value of our work (perhaps by characterizing it as dream-chasing) allows employers to exploit us at our own cost. It’s an extremely specialized skill to read an out of context scene, interpret the tone, create a character, and deliver a usable performance on a short time frame. Too many performers see auditions as an opportunity for us alone. Watching skilled workers’ auditions informs the projects’ story, direction, and ultimate casting. Auditions create VALUE for productions. Auditions are so powerful that me editing this scene taught me all that! #sagaftrastrong @auditionsarework | Posted on 17/Jul/2023 21:26:28