In real life, things are always changing.  The earth is always revolving, we are getting older by the minute...things never stay the same.  Yet many actors like to stay in the same place for an entire audition scene.  This is understandable.  You find a place that feels comfortable and you want to stay there.  But this makes for boring, predictable auditions.  Instead, get out of that comfort zone.  Don't keep going back to the same place.  Keep going somewhere new!

Whenever I hear an actor say a line the same way he said a previous line, I know he's holding on to a previous moment and not truly in the present moment.  True, it's more difficult at an audition when you really don't have another actor helping you.  You have a casting director who may or many not give you much.  And they may themselves be stuck in a moment, the moment of "Where's my lunch???"  That's why you have to push yourself to go to different places. 

React spontenously to what you hear, what you see, or even what you yourself are saying, in order to push yourself to a different place.  And it doesn't even have to be what's happening in the scene.  You could react to something in the environment of the office you're in, the way the clothes feel, a taste in your mouth.  Any stimulus that comes to you is a gift -- react to it, see where it takes you, rather than shutting it out in favor of where you THINK you should be.

Keep taking the risk of being in the moment and not knowing what's coming next. Don't tread water throught the entire scene.  Keep getting back on the diving board and diving in, not knowing what's below you.

I say this often to actors who play a whole scene with one color.  For example, the actor is angry throughout the scene.  The problem with this is that if you play the entire scene angry and the producers who watch the tape actually have decided the character should be kind, you've probably lost your chance at booking the job. 

By putting all your money on one color, you just lost it all. 

Instead, if you identify a major turning point in the scene where your character reacts to something just said or has a realization, and this causes a major shift in your character, perhaps he goes from angry to kind, you've just increased your chances of hitting the color they want. 

You've doubled your chances.

If the director is in the room, she might direct you to that color.  Or if the casting director knows exactly what the director wants, he might direct you to the right color.  But the casting director isn't always sure what they want.  Or the producers may change their mind after they've told the casting director what they want. 

But when you go on tape, you often get just one chance.  Why not increase your odds by showing them you can do more than one emotion, color, or level?

How do you do this realistically, organically, and naturally?  Find at least one moment of transition where you shift to another color or level because of what the other character says or because you've just realized something.  Even if they hate the way you do the first half of the scene, if they see what they need in the second half of the scene, at least they know you can do it and they can easily get that out of you on the set.  I encourage actors to find such a moment about halfway through the scene.  It usually occurs after the other character has said a line.  And it often occurs where the writer has indicated some kind of action in the script.  (For example, "STAN stares at BLANCHE, then turns away.")  And you can take your time with the transition moment where your only job is going from color 1 to color 2.

Most audition scenes need only one major transition point.  Even the shortest scenes could use one.  The exception would be a scene with only one line, but even there you can start the scene with one intention and as a result of the cue line, shift to another intention.  Don't go crazy and try putting transitions everywhere.  More isn't always better!

If you find transitions in your audition scenes, your work will be more interesting.  It'll be more surprising and unpredictable, which is what good acting is.

Here's something I see often.  An actor has an audition scene where he's talking to 2 different characters.  He uses the reader (or casting director) as one of the characters and puts the other character out in space.  I don't think it's a great idea to put characters out in space.  I'll explain.

It's not your job to try to get the casting director to see all the other characters.  They know the scene, they've probably read it many times already.  Your job is to show the casting director that you are the character and the best way to do that is by looking at them and establishing a connection with them.  So put all the characters in the eyes of the casting director. 

Now you can definitely suggest different relationships with the different characters through your body language, intentions, thoughts, etc.  But you don't need to look away to do that. 

Even if you think it helps you be in the scene by putting characters all over the room, what little you gain by doing that, you more than lose because you've lost the connection with the casting director.

If you absolutely must look away for some reason, make it 10 or 20 percent of the scene, not 80 or 90 percent! 

You may feel the casting director isn't giving you much.  But they are giving you something, sometimes they're giving you a lot.  So take the gift of their presence and use it.  Play with the casting director instead of the imaginary characters that exist only in your mind!

That is the question, isn't it?  Here are my thoughts on memorizing for an audition. 

You may think you have the material memorized and can do it without holding the sides in your hand.  But here's why I don't think that's a great idea. 

1. Casting directors have had too many bad experiences with actors who thought they knew their lines and then forgot them.  It makes casting directors uncomfortable seeing an actor in panic mode.  And it wastes their time when the actor has to scramble to find the sides in his briefcase and start the scene over again.  So when an actor starts the scene without the sides, the casting director already is worried.  A worried audience is not a great audience.
2. Even though you think you know the lines cold, the stress of an audition is often enough to throw you.
3. If you're given an adjustment or direction, you want to be able to fully commit to it.  Throwing something new at an actor can cause them to either forget their lines or not fully commit to the new direction for fear of forgetting their lines.
4. You don't want to seem like a desperate actor who has nothing better to do than spend the evening before memorizing lines.  You want to seem like a busy actor who was doing a staged reading the night before, has three auditions today, and couldn't POSSIBLY memorize them all!  You still want to impress them with your preparation.  Holding the script allows you to give them the illusion that you are perfect for the role and it just comes naturally to you without much effort.  If it's memorized, they know you've worked hard to get there.
   

Instead of feeling like the script is the enemy, learn to love your script and use it.  I'll write up some tips for doing that some other time.  Ideally, you want to be so well-prepared that you probably are memorized, but still have the sides in your hand and are able to use the page, if necessary, to find your next line.

Yes, I agree that being off book can often free some actors to do their best work.  And, if you're at a 2nd callback or testing for a pilot, yes, you should be memorized.  If this is the case, here are some tips for fool-proof memorization.

1. Learn your lines by hearing rather than reading off your script.  Record all the lines of the scene in a monotone on an ipod or other device and then play it back over and over saying your lines over your own voice.  Eventually, you can stop the recording right before your line and say the line.  Then you can continue playing back to make sure you got the line right and continue on.  The advantage of this is that you can go over your lines in the car on your way to the audition.  This is much safer than looking down at the sides as you're driving!
2. If you'd still rather memorize by reading, trying memorizing from the end of the scene back to the beginning.  First memorize your final speech.  Then when you have that down, back up to the speech before that and continue to the end of the scene.  When you have those speeches down, back it up one speech earlier.  Keep working your way back to the beginning of the scene.  The reason this works is that when you start memorizing at the beginning of the scene you usually know the beginning best and your confidence gets worse and worse as you get to the end.  Psychologically, it does not put you in a great frame of mind to worry more and more as your audition progresses.  By memorizing from the end first, you know the end the best.  Therefore, you will gain confidence as the audition progresses.  This is a much better state to be in!
3. Finally, do the scene in 10 different locations.  If you've only been doing it in your bedroom, you'll end up leaving the audition room wondering why it wasn't as good as it was in your bedroom.  Do it in the post office, the grocery store, washing the dishes, standing on the corner, etc.  If you can get through your lines in 10 places, taking in the environment and activity around you (and the strange looks you're getting from people), then the 11th place (the audition room) will just be the 11th place you've done it.  Being in the audition room won't seem so strange and won't have the power to throw you off your game.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!