Olivia Colman: Asking Actors to Self-Tape Auditions Is ‘Disrespectful’

Christian Zilko
·2 min read

Olivia Colman has joined the chorus of Hollywood stars expressing their distaste for self-taped auditions.

In a new conversation with Andrew Scott published in Interview Magazine, Colman explained why she feels like the entertainment industry’s increased reliance on audition tapes ultimately hurts actors. The practice, which was a sticking point in collective bargaining negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP in 2023, gained widespread popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic before becoming a permanent fixture of the industry. While its supporters cite increased convenience and expanded talent pools as evidence that it’s a beneficial practice, Colman said that self-taped auditions deprive actors of the opportunity to receive feedback and form in-person connections with casting directors.

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“It’s very disrespectful. It’s basically a memory test, isn’t it? Because they give it to you really late,” Colman said of self-taped auditions, which often require extensive memorization. “It’s really rude. I can see how it’s easier for them not to have to do things in the flesh, but I wouldn’t have gotten where I am if I’d had to do self-tapes, because I used to go to auditions knowing that they didn’t want me, but it was so much fun to win them over.”

Scott echoed Colman’s sentiments, recalling his early days of submitting audition tapes and how fruitless the practice felt compared to in-person auditions.

“I used to go into the post office on Denmark Street and buy myself a zippy bag or whatever, put my videotape in and send it off to America for some fucking thing I was never going to get,” the “Ripley” star said. “It’s horrific. And then you wouldn’t hear anything.”

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