I was playing a relatively high level of hockey, and I thought that's what I wanted to do. But I had my first movie audition, and I was hooked.
Independent films, for the most part, to me, are not so independent. They often feel like people auditioning for a big commercial career. They often do not have independent spirit to them.
You audition, and then you go and do what's called a test, your network test. So you have to go in front of the network and do it, and the network has to sign off on you.
It's interesting - years ago, I had such bad stage fright during musical theater auditions that I just gave up. And now I'm on Broadway.
Pilot season tends to be grueling, because you can be thrown all of these auditions at once - last-minute, always - and you're going on three a day, especially back in the day.
I used to wear sweats and a T-shirt to auditions, but my agent would yell at me and tell me I had to look nice and presentable. So I had to drop that habit.
I was born in Toronto and studied with the National Ballet of Canada. I went to school to study dance, slept on the floor, ate nothing, waitressed - and then there was a Mary J. Blige audition.
Frankly, if 'American Idol' was the way I'd have to audition as a singer, I'd be standing behind the counter in a 5&10 right now. I couldn't have done it that way.
No one understands my accent. I'm constantly going to auditions and being told they don't like how I talk. You have to live with criticism, and I don't take it personally.
'Body of Proof' was interesting because... I didn't feel I needed to prove anything in that audition. I didn't over-prepare it, but I was just very relaxed in it.
When I found out about the audition, I knew that I was going in for 'From Dusk Till Dawn,' but I actually didn't know that I was going to be reading with Robert Rodriguez.
I'm not one of those people who can cry on cue. If I have to cry in an audition, I'm like, 'Okay, let me see what I can do.'
I always tell actors when they go in for an audition: Don't be afraid to do what your instincts tell you. You may not get the part, but people will take notice.
I didn't have a problem with rejection, because when you go into an audition, you're rejected already. There are hundreds of other actors. You're behind the eight ball when you go in there.
Get yourself into every audition that you can. Even in those for smaller roles, you'll never know when someone may recommend you for a bigger one.
If I could walk into the 'Friends' audition again and go or not go, I have to say it's 50-50.
I got the first thing I auditioned for - a guest role on two episodes on 'All Saints,' and I don't think I had ever been that excited.
I was really awful at auditions. There's something about sitting down and saying into the camera: 'I'm Nina and this is the name of my agent.' That makes me just die inside.
My auditions for drama school were miserable, but one thing I had on my side, although I had no experience or skill or training, was that I wanted to learn everything.
When I saw my first Broadway show, 'Beauty and the Beast,' I was like, 'Okay, I'm definitely gonna do this.' After that, I did little shows and started auditioning.
Dumb luck brought on the move from business to acting. I had moved to New York when I was 23, in the year 2000. On a lark, I went to audition for a soap opera.
