First Audition Woes

STORY BY KELLEN JACKSON

This is the first in a continuing series about people’s first experiences with doing things they’ve never done.

Actor Atticus Mitchell had a disastrous first audition experience that almost made him give up on his dream.

“I was super terrified and considered giving up (acting) immediately,” says 21-year-old actor Atticus Mitchell.

At 16 his first audition was for the role of the cyber bully Carlos Martinelli in the hit YTV series How To Be Indie.

“My first audition I went in not knowing what to do, got reprimanded for not having my script memorized and was also sick with the flu,” says Mitchell.

After that disastrous audition, he thought that his dream had come to an abrupt end.

The casting directors on How To Be Indie didn’t seem to think this, though because Mitchell received a call the very next day saying that he had gotten the role of the cyber bully Carlos Martinelli.

Mitchell summed up his first character by simply saying “he’s the worst.”

Even though he tanked on his first audition, Mitchell doesn’t let it faze him on his future acting jobs.

“(Auditions) don’t really faze me anymore. The more you audition, the more you get in to a rhythm of what they (casting directors) expect,” says Mitchell.

Before his first disastrous audition, Mitchell was just a boy from Toronto who went to high school at Malvern Collegiate Institute and was a shining star in the school’s drama program.

It takes the right connections to get in to acting and Atticus had a bit of luck.

An acting agent who moved down the street from him had a chat with Atticus’ mother about him.

Thank you mom!

Mitchell has been in a wide variety of films and TV roles since his How To Be Indie debut.

He has worked alongside Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton in the FX TV series Fargo.

He also worked alongside Bill Paxton and Laurence Fishburne in The Colony.

“ I have been lucky to work on such an amazing show with a great cast. I plan to do more projects like that in the future,” says Mitchell about working on the critically acclaimed TV show Fargo

If it weren’t for that first audition for Mitchell, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work with these award-winning actors.

When Mitchell isn’t working on TV or films, he’s still constantly moving.

Alongside his friend and fellow actor Adam DiMarco, Mitchell has released a podcast called Acting’s Cool.

 The podcast consists of the pair of them giving acting tips and goofing off with special guests.

It just goes to show how one little moment can be so crucial in life.

You can bet Mitchell was thinking the same thing before and after his first audition debacle but if you have talent and the right connections, there is no telling how far you can go.