Auditioning for a role can be difficult for a variety of reasons. Sometimes nerves can get the best of people when they’re showing off their talents. At other times, there can be personal circumstances that makes it hard for an actor to focus on the task at hand. You can imagine that this has only become more complicated with COVID-19 now a factor. Action Bronson recently got a taste of this when he threw his hat in the ring for a role in The Matrix 4, and it sounds like the process was weird.
The rapper and reality TV star recently confirmed that he missed out on a role in The Matrix 4, but he attributes it to the way he had to audition. He explained that it was done over the phone, while he would have preferred to show off his talents in person:
I definitely didn’t get the role. I would have known, I would’ve acted in it. I would have been in a fucking harness hanging off a wire from a bridge or something. I definitely read for it, though, but it was bizarre. It was during COVID and the reading was over the phone. It was just a weird situation. I’m better in person, I have to charm you. You’ve actually got to see the whole me. It’s not good to just get a snippet of me over the phone, you know? You have to really take in the Baklava experience.
Action Bronson’s comments to NME are sure to be shared by a number of his peers throughout the industry. In many cases, actors prefer to be right in front of directors or producers when delivering their lines. As Bronson mentions, this can allow performers to better convey more of their “charm.”
Bronson may have experienced an unconventional filming process, but it was nothing compared to what The Matrix 4’s cast would endure while making the film. Due to the pandemic, the movie stopped filming just as many others did. Filming would resume by June, though the production would have a number of safety precautions in place to help ensure the safety of the cast and crew.
It goes without saying that it was a major change for the cast and crew, but they seemed to handle it relatively well. The team recently finished production and even celebrated with a rager, though the party is currently under investigation.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still in our lives, auditioning and filming conditions like these will probably continue for the foreseeable future. It may not be ideal, but many are proving to be adaptable when it comes to these new circumstances. And in time, stars like Action Bronson will hopefully be able to audition the old-fashioned way.
The Matrix 4 is currently set to hit theaters on December 22, 2021
