Audition Advice - What to Do when You Forget Your Lines

There I was, standing in front of five casting directors, all looking down on me with disdain as my mouth opened and nothing came out. No, I wasn't suddenly stricken mute, but I had forgotten my lines. This is a problem almost every actor encounters at least once in their auditioning life. You spend hours preparing your audition or memorizing your audition sides. While at home you can perfectly recite the dialogue, yet the pressure of an audition can sometimes cause your brain to literally go blank. When you forget your lines at an audition, there are several steps to help rectify this situation. Remember, to help alleviate this from happening, spend time in the audition waiting room to relax and calm your nerves.

Take a Moment to Recap

For some, this is the best way to remedy forgetting your lines. Sometimes you can be thrown off your "groove" by a sudden movement, loud sound or you simply forget your next line. When this occurs, do not make a face, or a sound, but rather pause. Close your eyes and calmly recap the dialogue in your mind. If this takes longer than five to 10 seconds, move onto the next tip.

Excuse Yourself, and Ask to Start Again

Sometimes pausing to recap the dialogue in your mind just won't let the words come out. This has happened to me many times, and while I always hope I'll never have to do this, there is no shame in apologizing to the casting directors and politely ask to restart the scene. However, when you do this, don't act flustered, aggravated or humiliated - this can severely damage your audition. Rather, take a deep breath, smile at the casting directors and inform him the words have slipped from your mind and you would appreciate the opportunity to start from the beginning. The key when doing this is to smile, and pretend like you aren't kicking yourself in the butt for forgetting the words. And for heaven's sake, don't apologize more than once.

Improvise

If you do not wish to pause in your acting or ask the casting director to restart your audition, one of the best ways to recover from forgetting your lines is to simply improvise a few lines until you catch up within the dialogue. I've had to do this not only in an audition space, but also when acting in stage productions. Improvisational skills are vital for EVERY actor, even if you do not want to be an improve actor, having a strong understanding of this skill can help you smooth over any embarrassment - and if you're performing a monologue the casting director is not familiar with, he may not even notice you forgot your lines; this has happened to me on several occasions as well.