Question for April 26 - May 2, 2010

[Amby Leigh]

Sorry for the delay in this one. I change my routine and I forget what day of the week it is. Eep! Onto the question!

How do you handle the rejection of not getting cast for a role you wanted and move onward from it?

[Para_bolic]

Well it's disappointing at first, but I kind of just shrug it off pretty quickly after that. The person who was cast was a better actor or fit the producer's vision better or both so I don't see any reason to get upset over it.

[Rahne]

Exactly that. You just move on. It's absolutely inevitable that you won't be cast for a role you wanted, even if you yourself thought you were good for the role, or even if other people thought you were good for the role. Rejection is part of being an actor; it's part of being an entertainer. You don't dwell on this kind of thing. You push on, get back up when you're knocked down and move forward; move on. That's the reality of it.

Besides, you can always just get one of your producers, who you're friends with, to dub it themselves and cast you in that role you wanted. Or you can just dub it yourself and cast yourself in the role. :)

[Kamuro]

Well, depends on how much I wanted the role. I might just shrug it off, or it might put me in a depressed, fragile state of mind. Time is generally the key factor.

I tend to stay a little annoyed at the person who was cast, though ^.^;

[fantachan]

I've been through a lot of auditions both online and in the real world and had gotten rejected a lot, so I'm kind of used to it emotionally. I just shrug it off and move onto something else. Besides, I've realized that a good number of projects I get rejected from actually give me unhelpful or no critique, and that makes me feel all the more used to the rejection.

Besides, I have a better chance of being scouted than I do being cast for something anyway. D:

[BladeBlur]

Well it always sucks whe n I lose a role, especially if it's a character I REALLY wanted which happened to me just recently, but like Underscore said it is what the producer wants. Just because the producer chose someone over you doesn't make you a bad actor. I'd be a complete hyprocrite if I didn't say it took me quite a while to realize it, but we all mature after all. Now I know I am good and no matter how many roles I lose or how underacheieve I am, I still know that out of 10 auditions, there is one in which I can break through.

[sparf]

Rejection is part of an actor's life. If an actor gets 10% of the jobs s/he is up for, that actor is considered 'successful.' So I just suck it up and deal, unless I really believe I have a role in the bag and get deflated. Then I drink it off with a fruity, frozen mixed drink like a strawberry daquiri (available in 'virgin' form for those not yet 21).

[Y. Chang]

Start working on the next one.

[BigTUnit1]

I think of it as an opportunity to improve my abilities by diagnosing my weaknesses. I feel it's a chance to look back on the past and make sure I don't make the same mistakes.

...Although sometimes I just go eat ice cream out of the tub with a large spoon while sobbing loudly.

[Menchi]

meh, just move on

[Pi_Face314]

I usually get a little down, but then I just shrug it off and get going to audition for something else.

[Aziral]

I usually just shrug it off. I mean, I get disappointed but I get over it easily. It also inspires me to work harder.

But then I check out the demo reel and work from the person who was cast. Hahaha~

[YamiRin]

well, I kinda have a method I started using quite recently. first I tell myself that I audition mainly for the fun of it and not just to get a part. and once I've sent in an audition I try to think "well, I probably won't get the part, but I had fun trying out!".
the first part of that thought may seem like negative thinking, but it helps since "the less I expect the less disapointed I'll be if I don't get it". and it'll be a happy surprise if I actually would get the part!

[Takeshi19]

well, I kinda have a method I started using quite recently. first I tell myself that I audition mainly for the fun of it and not just to get a part. and once I've sent in an audition I try to think "well, I probably won't get the part, but I had fun trying out!".
the first part of that thought may seem like negative thinking, but it helps since "the less I expect the less disapointed I'll be if I don't get it". and it'll be a happy surprise if I actually would get the part!

This. XD..

[TriPredRavage]

I just move on and hope for the next. Usually I'll still look forward to the completion of the project, though, and try to watch/listen to it when it comes out. Doesn't always happen, though...

[AmyAnn]

I will normally congratulate the person who got the role and then move on, you win some you lose some. Tbh, it won't really matter to me 100% unless I actually did my very best for the audition which I rarely do due to illness so it doesn't bother me most of the time when I don't get cast.
However, if a friend of mine gets the lead and I get understudy, then we just slag eachother off =P haha

[Jordan]

I cry my eyes out and slit my wrists.

In all seriousness, I just think to myself, "Oh well," and then move on to something else or focus on another project to help get my mind off of the disappointment.

[Kennidy]

Honestly? I don't care.

After dealing with it for a while, you learn that it really doesn't matter anymore. So, you didn't get to play a role. No big deal. There are other opportunities waiting for you in the future!

[LG65]

Honestly? I don't care.

After dealing with it for a while, you learn that it really doesn't matter anymore. So, you didn't get to play a role. No big deal. There are other opportunities waiting for you in the future!
Yeah. I agree. I just buck up and move on. Yes, it will be disappointing at first, but I'm one to look forward for another opportunity.

[Matt Cruea]

I normally wonder if the producer actually got my auditions because the person they cast is in no way better than I.

[Ryusuke]

I rage a thousand storms and hire a bunch of trained assassins to hunt the one casted down.

EDIT: But, due to the recent recession I'm forced to just shrug it off and move on. You've all been SPARED.

[BenTuttle90]

C'est la vie.

If I don't get a role, I shrug it off and move on. There will be other roles.

[Sukisho]

I rage a thousand storms and hire a bunch of trained assassins to hunt the one casted down.

THIS! THIS! THIS! ;)

No not really. I just move on to the next one.

[Geekums]

Being not cast is a disappointment, but not something that rain clouds should overcome you with. Luckily with this site, there are a million and one types of productions here so there's always something to be involved in.

Case and point: someone has to win and someone has to lose. It shouldn't keep you down, but make you stronger.

[MissAck]

Uh.. pretty easily.
Basically if I don't see my name, it's just whatever.
Depending on the role, I may decide to make a fandub of it; if I'm REALLY up to it.
It's not that much of a big deal, a little sad but oh well eh.

[McTricky]

Easy question this is, but like most people here, I'd simply just let it slide and move on.

[Heaven Incarnate]

I usually just go to my little corner and let it all out.

I'm usually pretty upset at first, but then I tend to wonder, "how did the person who got the role audition? What did he sound like? How did he go about that character?"

Then that just gets me excited to actually hear them in the finished project.

[ichigo_m]

I look at the actor's other works and see what they did better than me and then remember that for future reference~

[Subaru-camui]

well, before i look at the cast list I tell myself "you did your best, if you do not get cast it is not the end of the world. and there were alot of auditions so they are gonna choose whoever does the best or who ever has the voice they are looking for." then I congratulate whoever did get cast and go onto something else =3 learning from the experience

[Stardale]

I simply accept the fact that someone would be always better than me. Seriously, it's like losing a game - be a sport.

[sparf]

I simply accept the fact that someone would be always better than me. Seriously, it's like losing a game - be a sport.

This is true. But also there's one other thing that often outshines sheer talent in these matters.

"fit."

I can do a LOT of voices. I have a wide range. However, if the voice I throw out in my audition is not as good a fit as another guy who is perhaps less talented, I'm still going to lose out to them. It's just the way the game is played.

[Matt Alan]

When I first joined the site, I took notice of who I lost out too on roles, which would encourage me to improve and do better the next time I went up against them for a role. =) Healthy competition is fun as long as we all remember this is a hobby.

[Voiceofanangel]

Well, I think of the critiques I got from them and take that into considerations...if I got a critique.

If I didn't it's no big deal, I just go audition for other things and work more on broadening my range so that I do get that specific role.

[Tonberry King]

I pull out my VAA effigy, write the name of the person who was cast on the face of the doll, and begin stabbing the throat with a sharp pin until I'm sated.

Or not. :razz:

Truthfully, I've done auditions for piano performance, voice acting, and visual arts. It really depends on the material I'm auditioning for. I have a strong background in pencil pointilism, for example. If I bomb on an art competition with that focus, yeah, I get bummed out. But the best way to rebound from any rejection is to spend a few minutes mourning your loss and then dive right into your next project. The same is true with voice acting. If I didn't land a part, I have to assume that either the person cast had a better voice match to what the producer was looking for, or they happen to be friends and had a higher chance in the first place. Either outcome is fine. They both happen all the time in the real world.

As long as you keep yourself busy with other projects, you'll forget that amazing role you didn't snag within a day or two.

[Matt Cruea]

When I first joined the site, I took notice of who I lost out too on roles, which would encourage me to improve and do better the next time I went up against them for a role. =) Healthy competition is fun as long as we all remember this is a hobby.

Matt Alan has killed countless AVAs since first joining the community.

[lucawesome]

Shrug it off.
Keep practicing.
Audition for more projects.

[Steven Mane]

Xanax and Jim Beam. If that doesn't work, then this:


I rage a thousand storms and hire a bunch of trained assassins to hunt the one casted down.

The ninjas certainly help me sleep at night.

[Jess_chan]

Well, I guess it really depends on how much I wanted the role...

If I've lost out on one of my all time favorite characters (you know...the ones my voice actually fits), then I'd probably be all D: for about an hour before getting over it.

If it's for a character I've gotten before in another production, I wouldn't feel as bad about it...just shrug it off and go on my merry way~ Can't get 'em all you know~?

[Kels]

Although I'm still quite new here so all the auditions I've done so far are still open, I've dealt with rejection from being an actor. Like so many of you have already said, you move on. I usually get into a day or two mini depression where I'm bummed that I didn't get a/the part I wanted. But then afterward not getting the part motivates me to put more into the next audition and it works. I find that the next audition is really well prepared and I end up getting a part that I wanted. :)

[TheCheetoBandito]

Honestly I've really been having little trouble with rejection as of late. Its not that I've gotten so much work that rejection doesn't even matter anymore, but rather, that I've been rejected by stuff outside of voice over. In the last year I've been rejected for live theatre auditions and even enrollment into college! The way I see it is that if I can handle being rejected by something as big as college and audition where there's people right in front of you, I can handle being rejected by anything! And I'm kind of happy about that, as a rejection is a biiiiiiiig part of voice over.

[Mrwest16]

By cutting myself.

Just kidding. A lot of the time I'm all right with it cuz it most of the time I might not really, really, want the role as it is. So it doesn't bother me.

[Sapphire]

The only time I get irritated about not getting a role is when people ask, "whaaat you didn't get the role? but why not??"

It's like, hey, I don't know. Can we not talk about it?

Other than that, I usually have other voice work to do so I don't stay upset about rejection for too long.

[Sh3rl0ck]

By cutting myself.


Do you wanna know how I got these scars?

I preoccupy myself with other things to handle rejection, like go for a walk or work in my sketch book~ = 3

[ElliottSkywalker]

Yeah, pretty lately I've been busy with a whole heck ovalotta things, so it really doesn't bother me. Right now, the less I'm cast in, the better. But in cases like original radio plays. Like, the dissociate. radioplay that Kennidy is doing. That one I worked REALLY hard to get. After a while I kinda thought, crap, idk if this was such a good idea. Because at first I thought I had plenty of time, then I realized that I was graduating in just a few days, then thought, Oh CRUD *facepalm* But THEN I realized that I had all summer to record, so that helped a little. But all in all, I got understudy. I was ok with it, a little disappointed but, like everyone keeps saying, move on. Whenever I don't get cast in something, I usually write a story either related to the radioplay (just not the same at all but inspires me to write something in the genre) and then hopefully make a radioplay myself out of the stuff I write, or I just listen to music or find a script online I can tweak. ;D

[Tomoyo Ichijouji]

I've been here for less than six months, but I've dealt already with college apps and the OMG WAITING FOR LETTERS orz time -- and this is stuff that has high stakes, people. Like another said, if I can deal with that, then I can deal with this, right?

But there's something important to point out, and I think this is important especially for newbies (so this goes for me, too!!) -- also said by another in this thread, just because you don't get the part, doesn't mean you're not a good voice actor; it's a lot about voice fitting, and often someone who's honestly not as good at performing/acting/deliveries etc. will get the part because their voice just *fits*. Producers figure, they can direct the person to deliver to their liking as long as they have some idea of how to act.

This is something I've had to keep on reminding myself, because while I have no problem with me not getting the part because my voice didn't fit as well as someone else's (it takes all voices to make good productions! =3 ), it would make me sad if it was because I wasn't a sufficient actor -- deliveries are really, really important for me and I always want to get them right. So I listen to critiques in that area especially if I get any that are specific enough. =3

The only thing that I also can't do anything about but still gets on my nerves is yes, when people get cast because of what their name is or their connections. Sigh, but you know, this happens in the "real" world too, maybe even more -- there's a reason you see the same VAs in anime voicing in countless dubs! (How many times have I seen Luci Christian in a lead role?) They're good, yes, but I don't think they're the *only* good ones out there -- they were the ones who got fortunate to display their talents at the right place and time at some point.

Equivalent here, there are people who have a long rep and good tidings with other talented people, and schmoozing is par for the course in the business world ^^;;

Still, I'd like to think, since I'm doing this for fun, I want to avoid stooping to any of that 'political' stuff and just get my voice out there and be honest and helpful. And if someone has a problem with me because of how I work and doesn't cast me for that reason, so much the better. My livelihood doesn't depend on you casting me, which is why I like it as a hobby rather than as a job. =)

/blahblahblah TL;DR

[Sera Phia]

I used to make a big deal out of it and curse the person who got the role I really wanted with a voodoo doll. /evil laugh.

But now it's all okay -- you win some you lose some, as everyone here said before. Rejection actually helped me improve loads.

[Midnightmoonproductions]

At first I'm mad but then I reflect back on when I did clips and casting and such and even now with my Ryuuseigun project. I remember how I got auditions and it was hard to pick just one person for a role. I just look back to that and think "Well the person who got this role must be good. Otherwise they wouldn't have been cast." Then I ask for a critique [If I havn't already done so] then just move onto the next. It's not the directors fault. They just want the voices they think fit best with the projects their running. So if I'm not choosen that just means I'm free to audition for more and more roles.