An Audition Road Trip Story

Most of Zach's auditions take place in and around the Los Angeles area. However, he had a recent commercial audition that required a road trip to San Diego. The amount of money for the role was enough to make the trip worth our time so we hit the road to the former home of the Chargers. 

The only areas of San Diego I've spent much time in are the downtown area and Point Loma. Both of these areas can be reached by driving the 5 from our area of Los Angeles. I decided to use the Waze app to monitor any traffic issues, Imagine my surprise when the app decided to not put me on the 5 going to San Diego. My journey took me from the 101 to the 134 to the 210 to the 71 to the 15 to (briefly) the 79 and then back to the 15. 

In other words, I had no idea where I was going in terms of getting to San Diego. 

It was a fun drive because I got to see parts of California I didn't know existed as well as the locations of a few casinos I had heard of but didn't know where they were located. The trip took about two and a half hours which isn't bad for a drive to San Diego.

We found the audition location in the Sorrento Valley area of San Diego. Zach entered the building and came out about 15 minutes later drenched in sweat. He explained that part of the improv audition involved acting like he was passing out and having water thrown on him in order to revive him. He seemed to feel good about his audition and I left the studio with a wet kid in search of food.

Even though I didn't know it at the time, that is when I made my big mistake of the day.

There is a place in San Diego that has tofu with a great thai peanut sauce. Since I was in town, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to eat there. The restaurant was about 10 minutes away from the audition location which took me just far enough away from the 15 that Waze decided to put me on the 5 going home. 

Good news: Easy to navigate all the way home

Bad news: Traffic on the 5 is often a nightmare

Remember how I told you it took me two and a half hours to go the 135-140 miles to San Diego? It took me almost double that time as I spent over four and a half hours driving the same distance on the 5. On the plus side, it gave me some serious bonding time with Zach in the truck. 

Whether or not he books the commercial, it was nice spending the day with him since he is always off on an adventure at school or a comedy club or acting or with his friends. He even stayed awake and talked with me the whole way. A teenager talking to a parent for more than 5 minutes! What are the odds of that happening???

New Zach Louis headshots on his IMDb page.

Answer The Question!!!

One of the main parts of the audition process happens after the actual audition. More than one person is going to ask you a series of questions including:

• How did it go?
• How many people were reading for the part?
• Who was in the room? (Was it the casting director or an assistant?)
• How many times did they have you read the lines?
• Did they like your performance?
• What were the other actors wearing?
• Do you feel like you have a shot at it?

You can walk out of the room feeling like you nailed it and then instantly be hit with doubts once you're questioned by family and friends. They don't mean any harm with the questions. Your support system is asking because they want to see you succeed and book a part. However, they don't realize that this series of questions can cause you to pick apart your performance and doubt yourself.

I've been guilty of the "too many questions" game with Zach. He had an audition yesterday and I asked him all of the above questions when he got home. I try not to bother him too much before auditions because I don't want to distract him from his acting process. I do figure out the logistics of the audition to make things easier for him. I've been to about 90% of the places he goes for auditions. To make it easier for him, I determine in advance:

• The area of town where the audition is located
• Parking issues (Street parking on a major road, neighborhood parking, any parking restrictions I know of near the place)
• Time of day of the audition to determine when to leave because of traffic
• Best route to get there (Trying to avoid the 405, 101, etc.)

The audition yesterday was on La Brea so the logistics to keep in mind were:

• The audition is during rush hour traffic so is taking the 101 or the Canyon better?
• The audition location has parking meters that are not available 4p-7p because of rush hour traffic so where should he park?
• Two-hour neighborhood parking is available until 8pm so that gives him a good option
• What time should he leave to beat traffic?

These are all small things but they help keep him focused on the task at hand which is the actual audition. Don't waste your time overthinking things or trying to take in every detail of the audition experience so you can answer questions later. Just focus on your performance and doing your best in the room. The best answer to any question asked by your family and friends is "I booked the part"!!!

This actor felt good about his audition yesterday.