I wanted take a moment to give my perspective on how Actors appear and what matters on-screen vs. off-screen. It’s awesome if you place a high emphasis on your appearance wherever you go. That’s even necessary when one models. But when it comes to the Craft of Acting, your looks must reciprocate the vision of the character and not your best self (ESPECIALLY WHILE AUDITIONING)!

For example, with the below picture taken on set on February 15, 2022, I played a dark character. I chose to substantially grow out my facial hair as long as I could before shooting. I particularly do not like growing out facial hair because of the way it feels, but I’m glad that I do have the option to do so. Also, I didn’t try to tailor or elevate my appearance to my best self because of the research I did on this character. Dark, gruesome and shady are just a few of the idiosyncrasies I was shooting for. I hope I met that objective.

Btw, this is for a Lifetime Television Documentary that will be released later this year. Details will be released soon.

How many of us Actors have walked out of an audition or submitted a tape only to reach a moment afterwards where you didn't feel as confident? I am one of those Actors for sure.

I most recently had that experience following an audition tape submission for the film scheduled to be in production Aug/Sept 2018 titled The Weakness Within Our Hearts. I submitted the final tape, and I did not feel as confident even after watching it a few times. However, there was an itch inside of me telling me to take a risk based upon the role's expectations...

...I am so glad I did...

A few days later, I received notification that I was cast. From what I was told, it was a cast/crew group decision. I was indescribably electrified!!!!

Ultimately, I chose to write about this because I've learned that an Actor's best audition might be when you do not feel confident and vice-versa. In other words, sometimes an Actor's "feel-good" thoughts are in reality not the best in favor according to the Casting Director/Assistant and/or Producer/Director/Writer, whereas any thoughts of insecurity following an audition might be your winning ticket.

Remember, you can't see your own face/body/gestures live during an audition (and in life really unless you have a mirror or you are looking at yourself in reflection while filming). As a result, your intuition necessarily may not be correct.

Receiving this role was indeed a surprise, and I am so thankful.

I could go on in more technical detail, but this blog post would be increasingly extensive, so I kept it as short as I could thereby releasing the main points I intended to include.

Stay tuned for my next blog post that will thoroughly examine selections of this post in detail.

Thanks so much again.

James Burleson

Off-Screen Vs. On-Screen Perception

Post-Audition Impressions