Remember that the casting director was hired to cast, not to teach acting. It’s not their job to tell you why you didn’t get a callback. It’s their job to recognize that you’re perfect for the role, period. Don’t expect them to know how to help you be better. Respect their ability to recognize greatness when they see it. When you receive extremely general feedback like “we had stronger choices,” don’t internalize it! Only really consider the feedback if it’s very specific to you.

An example of this can be found in the story from one of our actors, Eyal: he went in to audition for Wendy O’Brien’s office. The CD’s said, “Oh, we recognize you from somewhere,” so he says, “Probably from LOST.” The casting assistant wrote “LOST” on Eyal’s sheet. After the audition, his agent called for feedback, the office pulled Eyal’s sheet, and said, “He was all over the place, he was meandering, he seemed lost.” His agent said to Eyal, “What went on in that audition?!” Eyal said, “I crushed it. I totally crushed it. I don’t know what they’re talking about. Get Wendy O’Brien on the phone!” The agent called Wendy. Wendy said, “Oh, Eyal… hmm… it says he’s on LOST.” So, when Eyal’s agent called the casting office for feedback, they saw “LOST” on Eyal’s sheet and didn’t know what it meant, so they made up feedback based on that one word. If Eyal hadn’t known any better, he would have gone along with that feedback.

— From Excerpts of Notes from Lesly and Trisha’s Monday Ongoing on 11.26.12, compliments of Janet C.