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Post by briarz on May 2, 2020 11:54:51 GMT -8
A while back I auditioned for a podcast I'm a fan of. There were several roles I liked the look of and I auditioned for all of them. Last week I got emailed about callbacks for a character. I saw the lines and I just ?? couldn’t make it sound right. I either got the emotion OR the voice but not both at the same time. Regardless, I figured all practise is good practise and any feedback I got would be helpful going forward but I got the role?
Cue a day long spiral of deciding I was the only one who auditioned and so they were forced to give me the role because no way would I have been given it after that audition and now here we are.
I’ve got until tomorrow to decide whether I accept and I’m still stuck. On the one hand, I don’t want to be the weak cog, it took me so long to get the callback to where it ended up and I don’t want to ruin the whole thing by being terrible. On the other hand, I do have a tendency to doubt myself when my work is good and I don’t want to miss out on yet another great opportunity because of my own anxieties (also it pays and due to current world catastrophes I am flat broke).
How do I practise? How do I avoid performance anxieties? Should I just smash my mic into a tiny little cube and throw it away? I really want to be good at this.
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Post by ForeverEvee on Jun 7, 2020 18:20:24 GMT -8
Hiya! Firstly, clearly you are very passionate about voice recording, which is great! I would suggest not smashing your mic. xD What I would suggest, however, is taking a breather. What you feel is perfectly normal, and I can assure you, even seasoned voice actors feel the way you do. The great thing is that you have ultimate control over which roles you should or should not take. And there are so many roles out there! In terms of your anxieties, it may not be possible for it to ever go away completely, but you can use that to your benefit! Continue to practice by auditioning, taking classes, reading, and gathering resources, especially from any Voice Actors you admire. Take your time. Breathe. And have fun!
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Post by Kevin Liberty on Jun 8, 2020 5:49:15 GMT -8
First off, congratulations on getting the role!
Like ForeverEvee said, your feelings of anxiety and self-doubt are normal and shared by most (if not all) actors at some point. Because we (for the most part) only hear ourselves and only fully know our practices and how many takes it took to get that one line to work *somewhat* decently, but all we see is everyone else's finished products, it's easy to assume that they managed to get it in one take and are just so much better than us. But just looking at it statistically, it's FAR more likely that it took them just as many tries to get it right, they just are showing their best side, as you are when sending in "the one take that finally was alright".
But here's the thing. All those attempts prior to what you send? That's practice. The director doesn't need to know about them, and doesn't care if your three submitted takes were your first three or 8th three. You got three good takes in, and you sent them. Not only that, and I think this is a big part of the issue a lot of us have with our self-doubt regarding our auditions, you aren't the casting director. You may not particularly like how your voice sounds for a role, but you aren't the one deciding it.
Maybe they heard something in the way you delivered the line that sparked an idea in them. Now they know how they want this character to sound, and all the pieces are starting to come together for them, because you offered your unique take on the role.
tl;dr - Your feelings & anxieties are valid, and you're not alone in feeling them, but don't forget that they chose you for a reason, and if you found the casting call, chances are others did too, so you just gave the director what they were needing, and you should be proud of that! Best of luck to you!
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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jun 8, 2020 21:46:07 GMT -8
Don't be so hard on yourself! It's really easy to overthink things as an actor and fall into a pattern of self-doubt. Practice, practice, practice. The goal eventually is to hone your instincts to where you barely even have to think about getting into character...but it can take quite a while to get there. Record yourself at home, on your own, and listen back regularly until you get more comfortable with your own voice. And definitely accept the role! If they truly thought you were terrible, they would have simply extended the deadline instead.
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