VAM 045 | Dealing with Rejection
Welcome to episode 45 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
I recently posted a review on here on Voice Acting Mastery about a book written by my good friend and veteran voice actor, Jack Angel. Some of my listeners may remember Jack from the interview we did together back in episodes 13, 14 and 15 of the podcast, and I encourage those of you who enjoyed that interview to check out my review of Jack’s book. Jack has a wonderful outlook, not only on voice acting, but on life in general. In his book, which is appropriately titled “How to Succeed in Voice-Overs Without Ever Losing”, Jack shares some great advice on how to approach auditioning for voice over jobs, and how to deal with the feeling of rejection when you don’t book the gig. I found Jack’s thoughts on this subject so inspiring that I thought I would share with you some of my own insights on the topic of rejection and how to deal with this dreaded, but seemingly inevitable part of pursuing an artistic career.
In this podcast episode I explain how to use Jack’s rule that “There ain’t no damn rejection” to change your mindset about dealing with this negative emotion. By realizing that rejection doesn’t actually exist, you can begin to separate your own self-worth as a person from your abilities as an artist. This will not only help you feel better about yourself, it will help speed up your artistic growth as well. I think you’ll find this technique incredibly useful.
If you’d like to read more of Jack’s wisdom, you can purchase Jack’s book on Amazon. I highly recommend it!
Thanks for listening!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #45 Here (MP3)
Ha! I had just considered asking you about how to deal with rejection! What you said about selection over rejection…I think that was wise and I should tell myself in any sort of audition or other competition! Thanks for giving advice on how to deal with that, since I’ve known too many people who have lost self-esteem over every form of rejection-sorry, selection-they’ve gone through.
Glad you found the podcast helpful!
You know, this podcast reminded me of something I wanted to ask-recently in an acting class I was acting out a part when an assisting director said so many negative things to me, like I had no talent, I was wasting money, and I was better off as an acting wannabe. I almost cried in front of everybody. What advice would you offer in handling that kind of “criticism?” Has that ever happened to you?
Absolutely. The head of my acting program in graduate school told me my acting was so bad that it sounded like I was reading from the phone book. A British acting teacher I took class with in college told me that I didn’t have the “killer instinct” to make it as an actor. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. The Beatles were rejected for a record contract early in their career because they were told “guitar music is on the way out”.
There are plenty of so-called experts who will tell you why what you want to do is impossible or ridiculous. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you believe them. If your desire to achieve something is greater than your fear of criticism or rejection, you will do what it takes to bring that goal into reality.
As you can probably imagine, this post definitely had a lot of wise words for me. It can be especially hard when one has a couple of small gigs prior to an audition, then suddenly gets *nothing* for several days or weeks after that audition. I’m especially notorious to my girlfriend for ‘listening and re-listening’ to my auditions anywhere between a dozen to a hundred times after I’ve already submitted it, trying to pick out what I did wrong or convincing myself why it ‘won’t be good’ and I won’t be cast. It’s really self-destructive bordering on paranoia; to anyone else reading this, don’t let yourself do that, especially if you already submitted it.
I am curious what you would respond with to those who worry less about immediate rejection and more about future blacklisting – that is, that their audition, for whatever reason, would lead the directors to think ‘this person is not worth considering’ or to warn other studios about said individual.
Thanks for the podcast!
I’m glad you’re now seeing how self-destructive it can be to worry about auditions that you’ve already sent in. Just do your best, submit the audition and forget about it. Anything else gives you heartburn! 😉
I’m not sure where people got this idea of being “blacklisted”. There is no “black list” that I’m aware of. I don’t think anyone has time to maintain such a list anyway. Just don’t act like a jerk. People don’t want to work with actors who are difficult. As long as you’re not actively trying to piss people off, you’ll be fine.
Hope that helps!
Excellent. However, I will admit I did laugh a little when you said your “You’ll never work in this town again” line.
Thank you for your time and wisdom.
You’re very welcome.
I can’t stand rejection from other people and it only varies what it is by topic, job, or career. But rejection from an audition I wouldn’t care less because I would audition for something else and if I was accepted to that audition I would be feel great. But if that same audition that had rejected me before wanted me back I’ll just laugh and say “fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you” in reverse. Because why even bother going to an audition that rejected you before but I’ll go for it just in case and it doesn’t matter as long you do it right, sort of a decision you have to take towards the voice acting business.
Lovely podcast. I found it most inspiring.
I’ve also found a correlation on the amount of risk you put behind an audition (whether stage, film or otherwise) affects your overall performance.
People walk into auditions feeling like if they don’t book this role, it’s the end of the world for them. When in fact, it wouldn’t change a thing. Going into an audition with nothing to lose frees you up so much from nerves and other mental inhibitors.
Love the episode, can’t wait for the next one!
Much love,
~ Kalyn
Yes. Going into an audition with nothing to lose is absolutely the best mindset. I’m glad you understand that. Glad you liked the episode!
First off I just wanted to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help guide others who are pursuing a voice acting career. It speaks volumes about who you are as as an individual.
I wish I could have had this podcast to listen to when I was in school. It would have helped my self esteem tremendously. I wanted to ask about what to do if you get selected from your audition but when you get in and start performing they don’t think that your performance is as good as they thought it would be? What if your best just isn’t good enough? Obviously figuring out what you need to improve on and then improving on it is how to fix this but how do you go about figuring out exactly what went wrong? Sorry if you have already answered this question I just started listening and haven’t gotten very far.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the podcast. Your kind words are appreciated.
As far as getting cast in something and then getting fired from the job, I talk about that experience in my story about How I Broke into Voice Acting in episodes 4 and 5 of the podcast. I think you’ll find it helpful.
Aha! I KNEW Jack Angel was going to come up!
I’ve done a few recent auditions, but I keep thinking back to Jack’s words. If I don’t get a part, I’m just that much closer to finding the ones that do fit me. I have found some projects where I’m told I’m the perfect voice and have a blast doing the role! But I know for other roles out there, producers are looking for something different from what I can offer. Even if I had done an amazing audition for a part, but the part is for a little boy, I’m going to get beat out by people who can do little boy voices. It’s not because I suck as an actor. I just don’t have that in my range.
I’m glad you’ve been able to internalize that lesson! It can be a hard one for some people to learn.
Today is my birthday. Yay, me!
Also I had a question. I want to intern at FUNimation for the summer for production, but they want their interns to be local. Now I live in Texas, but still a few hours away from FUNimation. I have family in Dallas who will let me stay for the summer, but should I explain that to them or should I just look for something else. I know they’re busy and I don’t want to bother them. But at the same time, I want to show them that I’m the real deal. Not some fanboy who wants to annoy them.
Thank you for your time and wisdom.
Happy belated Birthday!
If you can make yourself available for the internship at Funimation, and it won’t cause you or your family any financial hardship, I think it would be beneficial for you to get that experience. They don’t need to know what your housing situation is as long as it works for you.