Whitney Cummings, a comedian and actor, has revealed her terrifying audition experience for Francis Ford Coppola’s ambitious film “Megalopolis.” She characterized the incident as a “core trauma” that left her confused and embarrassed.
In a recent episode of her podcast, “Good For You,” Cummings described the odd audition procedure, which deviated from standard casting practices. She had spent days preparing for her stand-up comedy and acting jobs, including extensive hair and makeup work. However, what awaited her was far from usual.
Cummings noticed something unusual about the mood when he arrived. “Everyone is quite quiet. There is no sense of ‘We’re at an audition.’ “Hey, what’s going on?” she explained. The absence of a friendly setting made her worry about whether she was part of a prank show, recalling her experience with “Punk’d.”
Coppola’s audition technique was unexpected. Instead of following a screenplay, he urged Cummings to improvise sequences using strange prompts. At one point, she had to say farewell to a kid who was off to war in an English accent before confronting an Australian husband.
“He would just throw things at me,” Cummings remembered. The strain got too much, causing her to “completely disassociate” during the audition. “I am improvising my head off to just nothing,” she added, questioning the point of playing for Coppola.
The audition concluded with an equally weird event. Coppola presented her with a signed copy of his book and a bottle of wine he had prepared. “He signed it in front of me as if I had shown up to an autograph signing,” Cummings claimed, emphasizing her shame.
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“Megalopolis,” Coppola’s long-time passion project, finally grossed only $13 million worldwide against a projected budget of $120 million. The film starred Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Aubrey Plaza.
Cummings’ audition experience lends a distinct viewpoint to the film’s narrative, which is characterized by its ambitious scale and commercial problems.
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