Lets talk about the audition. The most important thing to be is prepared. You must look good, feel good, have a clear head and most importantly be ready to act! This means knowing your lines-being rehearsed so you are making the right decisions when you audition!

Remember Billy Crystal as Fernando Lammas on the old SNL? He used to say it is better to look good than to feel good. Well there is some truth to that. If you are going in to do a read for a film for instance, and you are reading for the role of an 18 year old. You need to look fresh, and young, and full of energy-most 18 year olds can't stand still right? So you need to look that part. So stained teeth, and outdated clothes and bags under your eyes, you are not going to get it.

But, if you have nice white teeth Dental Whitening by Jane-Teeth Whitening/Bleaching Gel 3-pack, a cool haircut that an 18 year old would have, and some hip clothes you will look the part-and also feel the part. So think for a minute-how are your teeth? Are you pasty white from getting no sun all winter? Do you have that shirt from Wolfgang's VaultMen's AC/DC tee that is what all the cool/hip hollywood young actors are wearing(think of what you see Adrian Grenier wears every day on "Entourage".

How is your skin? Have you taken care of the blemishes? Do you eat right? Do you exercise? Lets start from the beginning-you need to make sure your teeth are all they can be. This business is ga ga over white teeth-so if you haven't whitened them-do it! You can buy all the major teeth whitening brands online and very cheap-you already know where I shop!

We have talked about exercise before-just do it !(sorry I couldn't resist)....you must take care of your body. It is the only one you will ever have. Get yourself in shape, if you aren't already. Even the guys in the biz like me who don't play "tough guys and studly guys" are in shape. If you aren't in shape, you will look horrible on screen!

If you are male or female, here is the secret you need-this will change your life-acting or not. It is called Q-10 Coenzyme. For some it is the fountain of youth. In my case-it has grown back most of my hair I lost, has taken away a lot of my visible wrinkles, has given me energy and has helped me keep my weight at a constant 165lbs. This is a wonder vitamin. It will make you lose weight if you need to-as long as you are exercising. It will increase your memory-which is key for learning your lines, and it will modify completely how your body generates and stores energy. And most importantly, it will keep you from getting sick. It does something to your immune system and bolsters it completely. I started on it 18 months ago and haven't had so much as a cold. I buy it from Puritan's Pride here: This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. My skin looks good-I don't break out any more, I am energetic, and I don't need as much sleep as I used to.

More cosmetic stuff for you:keep your hair the same as your headshots. If your headshots show you as a red-head(women) and you are now a brunette-you have just gotten the casting director pretty mad. If they call you in to read and you don't look like your headshot-they might send you right out the door as soon as you walk in. This happens especially with commercial casting. They look for very, very specific types. And if you are one type in your picture, and completely different in person-then you are going to fail without getting a chance to read. And if your hair is long in your headshots, and now short-guess what-spend the 150 bucks on a new headshot. If you want to have multiple looks-then have multiple headshots. I have one headshot that is clean shaven and one with 5 days of beard growth. I and my agent use whichever headshot is pertinent to the breakdown. If the breakdown says "paul bunyon type" then she sends the bearded headshot-simple right?

Your skin precedes you. Your headshot can't be airbrushed guys. If your skin is bad-fix it. Go online or to CostCo and buy AcneFree to clear up your skin. I remember when my skin got really bad in high school. I looked terrible, and makeup couldn't cover it. Nowadays it is even more difficult with the use of High Definition cameras. They pick up everything. So, before you shoot headshots, before you start making appointments to meet with agents-clear up that skin. You will be glad you did. Shirley Hamilton, my first agent in Chicago back in 1981 stopped submitting me for 6 months while I went on Acutane(which I don't reccomend to anyone-it is dangerous). When I was finally done with the treatments and my skin cleared up, I needed new headshots(you change a lot in high school) and so it was a rebirth for me as an actor. My agent started submitting me, and I booked Crime Story! I wish to god Proactiv was around then. I use it now-and it is fantastic!

Never, and I mean never wear cologne or perfume to an audition. You will make people sick. Generally casting offices are small, very hot, and you are sitting with a dozen or two other actors. No one wants to smell perfume when they are trying to prepare. Be clean-but don't use any type of spray or perfume that is going to be a distraction to others. I have seen people asked to leave auditions before for doing so. Save yourself the embarrassment and the potential gig!

Now that we have covered the aspect of preparing for an audition that is all cosmetic, I will get into the mental aspect of it. Stay tuned for a couple of blogs from a couple of my friends who live and work in Hollywood. They book work regularly in film, television-and one of them books about 10 national commercials each year.

They will get into what they do to prepare, and how they do it.