Oct 1, 2026 · 18 min · 9 segments
The slate. 🎬 Sometimes laborious. Sometimes the part of the audition that trips actors up the most. But it has to be done. On this episode of The Actors Ally Podcast, Kate and Kaiya muse on why the…
Kate EllisHostSo I'm sure most actors know what a slate is, but for those of you who don't, a slate is basically when you get a self-tape audition, you might get some scenes, and then you get this part where they say, "Chat to camera," which is the weirdest thing for an actor-
But you eyeball the lens, and you might say something like, "Hello, my name is Kaya Jones.
I'm based in Melbourne, and I'm with Collective Talent Management." And it can be-
And I think as actors, we're so comfortable being characters and exploring that world and being given permission to delve into the scenes, that when it's like be yourself and chat to camera, it feels very unnatural.
It's, it's the f- one of the first things that I would say, um, about the self-tape or talk to camera is the fact that you have to talk about yourself, and it's amazing to watch actors.
Um, I think about, you know, welcoming some of the actors that I've had into my space who you're like, "You've done Wicked.
You've done, oh, you've had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for your most recent audition that was that big." And you hit record on the self-tape, on the, um-
So I'm sure most actors know what a slate is, but for those of you who don't, a slate is basically when you get a self-tape audition, you might get some scenes, and then you get this part where they say, "Chat to camera," which is the weirdest thing for an actor-
But you eyeball the lens, and you might say something like, "Hello, my name is Kaya Jones.
I'm based in Melbourne, and I'm with Collective Talent Management." And it can be-
And I think as actors, we're so comfortable being characters and exploring that world and being given permission to delve into the scenes, that when it's like be yourself and chat to camera, it feels very unnatural.
It's, it's the f- one of the first things that I would say, um, about the self-tape or talk to camera is the fact that you have to talk about yourself, and it's amazing to watch actors.
Um, I think about, you know, welcoming some of the actors that I've had into my space who you're like, "You've done Wicked.
You've done, oh, you've had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for your most recent audition that was that big." And you hit record on the self-tape, on the, um-
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