Lisa Temple Actress Your Senator, Doctor, Teacher, Mom

This week I had three auditions, all on Thursday…what a day! I’m feeling so grateful to God for this surplus. What a blessing to be reminded of who I am and what my purpose in life is. I’m an actor and I love the work. With this kind of encouragement, I can move ever closer to being the kind of person who can fulfill on my dreams. The bookings are out there for me, and for everyone who stays patient and persistent, so I will keep moving forward and practicing gratitude for my opportunities, and trust in my God-given abilities.

My auditions were for 1) the TV Show Lucifer; 2) for a new series created by a group from SNL; and 3) for another new series written and directed by David Lascher, whose award-winning film Sister premiered on Showtime in August. This is all very exciting and satisfying, knowing my headshots are doing their job and I’m able to audition consistently.

Obviously, each audition is unique with its own set of challenges. Seems like the most challenging auditions are self-tapes, because there’s no chance for an adjustment from the casting director. As actors we just send our videos in, and whatever choice we made is all we get. The difference in these two kinds of auditions was highlighted this week because I had two in-person auditions, and one self-tape.

At one of my in-person auditions, the casting director started off by explaining the actual concept for the scene, which was not evident on the sides I’d received, and was therefore vastly different from how I had prepared them. If this had been a self-tape I would’ve been way off base, and might never have heard from them again. But in-person, I had a chance to make a quick shift as I listened to the casting director’s explanation. It’s a little unnerving, since there’s no time to practice, but I did my best and had fun. Thinking on my feet is a big part of my job.

The self-tape I did included instructions suggesting we do a second take, which rarely happens. But this was a comedy scene, and they wanted us to ad-lib on the second take, so it made sense. They didn’t say it was required, but it was clear to me that a second take was what they wanted. I accepted the challenge, and an idea quickly came to me about how to differentiate my two takes, which is essential. This is one thing I love about my work, that my artist brain inspires me, by providing me with exactly what I need to perform my best.

I’m a firm believer in practice makes perfect, but as a perfectionist I have learned to be grateful for practice makes near-perfect. I remind myself to have fun and celebrate whatever happens, without replaying the audition over and over, looking backward for mistakes I think I made. (That’s a whole blog by itself!)

I will continue to embrace my acting opportunities and do the best work I can. There are people in the business who know me, like me, and trust me (KLT), and in turn, I trust that they want to find a good fit for me. One thoughtful casting director even told me so this week. In my heart, I know it only takes one excellent role to give me the opening I need for that next big break!