Expert: Kitty Kavey - 7/30/2006

Question
I was reading online and one column said before you audition you need to know your type ... What does that mean and how can i discover mine!

Answer
Here's a link to a website that answers that very question:
http://www.theauditionstudio.com/business/typecasting.html

Basically, it just means you need to know what you look like (to other people) before you go out on auditions.  It doesn't matter so much what you think you look like, or what you want to be - casting directors will make an assumption about you the moment you walk through the door.  Casting directors are sometimes accused of having no imagination, which seems to be the case.  If you are going in to audition for the role of homeless teenage runaway and show up in designer wear, neatly groomed with full makeup - they just can't see how you'd play the part.  Even if you're a fabulous actor, and give a great read at the audition.  But if you are a casual (sometimes accused of being sloppy) dresser naturally, you've never figured out how to do more with your hair than a ponytail, and you rarely wear makeup - your natural type might be exactly what the casting director has in mind.  You don't have to wear ripped or dirty clothes, and the can see that you have the look to pull off playing someone who is lost, alone, homeless.  Your headshots should reflect who you really are, your "type." There are a lot of acting classes and books that discuss how to figure out what type you are in much more detail, and the web link will help as well.
~Kitty