Acting 101: The Almighty Cattle Call

Whenever you live in a larger city, there are certain aspects of the entertainment industry that will really only affect you. One of these variations is the open casting call, or more lovingly called the cattle call. This is where a casting director, or actual production company, hosts an "open call" to any actors who are interested in coming in an auditioning for their production.

Sometimes the company that is hosting this cattle call will be very specific with the types of actors that they want to come, so you might end up being in a room with several hundred people that look basically just like you. However, other times there will be a broad spectrum of actors. This latter case is usually used whenever an agency is looking for new actors they hold a rare open casting call for possible representation.

So what should you expect when you attend a casting call? What should you bring? What shouldn't you do? These are all very important questions that deserve answers, and this is what I am going to do. We'll start with the first question.

When you attend a cattle call, it is hard to say what the exact experience will be like; however, there is a universal experience all actors will go through when they attend an open casting call. Usually, you will walk into a large room, obviously, whether or not this is at a hotel (which is becoming more common) or at the actual production studios, there will always be a massive gathering of actors in a room that is usually too small for them.

Sometimes you will have to wait outside of the building; this is usually true if you are in New York or Chicago. I have gone to numerous cattle calls that made you wait in line outside of the production offices of various entertainment companies, which isn't a bad experience when it's nice outside, but in the dead of winter in Chicago, this can become very uncomfortable. Yet, you will more than likely strike up a very interesting conversation with several fellow actors.