If You Type Out, I Walk Out.

• Teresa Morrison

It’s simple. If I go to an audition and the casting director or directors decide they are typing. I politely remove my name from the list, save a headshot, and walk out.

I haven’t always done this. I used to get all dolled up and then stand in a line as the artistic director would go through everyone’s headshot, sorting them in different piles. They would say, “Don’t look into what my system is because there isn’t one.” Like that would make me feel so much better about the process.   

In a most recent audition, we were called to line up in rows of five, like cows lined up to be slaughtered. Once we got to the front, we each had to say our name, where we were from, and a fun fact about us.   

Are you kidding me? No one behind that table cared about my fun fact. It was actually insulting. The only good thing about that audition was that I was given my headshot back AND I made the executive decision to never be put in that situation again.

Why not hear people sing or act? What casting envisions for a character could be changed if they heard someone completely different actually do their work in the room. I get that certain roles need to be cast on a physical type, but for the most part, I think it can be anyone’s opportunity.  

I just strongly feel that I have worked too hard on myself in my twenties to be told I can’t audition based on what my headshot looks like. And this is not an out on casting directors because they work super hard for us, but something is damaged in the system and I don’t know if it will ever be fixed.   

The showbiz community is all about movements for empowering women, LGBTQ, and all types of people, yet typing out based on what one looks like still exists.    

I don’t have a solution for this issue, but I know that I am not the only person who feels that it’s A THING. So until something is tweaked, I’ll just see myself out.