The first of the open auditions for Lyra was held today, at Cambridge. Thousands of young hopefuls turned up and queuing started very early, with CBBC putting an estimate of some 1200 girls there. The auditions at Kendal have also taken place, this Thursday (the 6th).
From reports from those girls who contacted us, it seems as though the casting directors simply dismissed those girls that they felt did not look the part – which is disappointing as this rather ignores any acting talents they may have.
Those girls left were asked simple questions such as “what would your daemon look like?” Those further selected from the group were sent to have their photograph taken, to potentially be called back after all the auditions have taken place. Remember there are still two seperate days of auditions left: see here for all the details.
There's a good gallery of images on the CBBC website now, but to read full experiences of girls who were there, head here. This will expand as more people get back to us. If you went, please do email us with how it went – or simply comment here.
you two are v. brave to tell us about this first. thankyou though, it has really helped for when i audition. 🙂
Can anyone tell me if everyone that turned up in Cambridge at least got looked at, even if they didn't arrive in the early hours? My husband is taking my daughter to Kendal from Edinburgh on Thursday, they should arrive around 10am, I hope that's early enough!
Lucy
w0w… and yet again im still wishing that i could audition, but no its because im 14 and live in the US this totally sux, n e ways Kitty u r auditioning right? After u do audition can u tell us all what it was like, after all you never know you could be the next Lyra LoL O nd GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE LYRA HOPEFULS! 😉
:laughin im really nervous im going to kendal to and i want to addition im arriving about 5 am just to be on the safe side
In case people missed it, there is a good tip from Jess, who went to the Cambridge auditions today, on our experiences page.
When the casting directors asked questions to the group of girls, those who put their hands up and answered were very often those who made it through to the next stage.
They are certainly looking for confident girls.
gods, i REALLY wish i could've gone…Rhianna, the
only different between us is that i'm 15. :angry: 🙁 but anyway, good luck everyone! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPL
EASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEEEEEEEASE do Lyra and HDM and Philip Pullman justice! :crying:
BTW, if you are planning on skipping the queue, don't bother, you need a green form to get in. Not that i skipped the queue 😉
When I read bout the auditions on btts I was all excited and like "nutty". But I'm not what they are looking for (VERY tall… dark brown hair… dark eyes… do I need to go on?)
Whoever gets to play the part had better do her some justice, and had better savour EVERY momemt in the filming….. if they don't…. grrr
Ahem! Just joking of course *cough*. O well. I'm just destined to surf fan sites and dream of being an actress….. :crying:
still waiting for my story to pop up.
It has all tha info on what you have to do 🙂
yeah i\’ve already auditioned,
it was a bummer they only picked the blonde girls grrr we brunettes (poss. gingers) should fight back, whaddaya think Lala ect.? :wassat: :tongue:
hey, I haven't actually auditioned yet, but I am going to in Oxford next tuesday. I am really nervous, but my friends think I look the part. I am getting my hopes up but it's kind of hard not to. Well, bye. This comment was really random. (Not the subject, but I don't actually have anything to say that is helpful… :wink:) Bye! 🙂
Heyy, I'm hoping to audition on tuesday at oxford. 🙂 But Im not sure if you can just turn up or if you have to register or something like that! Also Im 14, and have brown hair, so I probablly wont have a good chance of being picked. But oh well it's worth trying. Bye for now! 😉
Heya. I am going 2 da auditions in Oxford on Tuesday and i am really excited but i am trying to get my hopes up. I am going with some of my friends anyone got any tips. I am so desperate 2 get in 🙂 :laughing:
hiya Poppy it helps if you look the part, and if you know a bit about HDM.
Unfortunately i didn't get through…
🙁
KKx 🙂
Kitty- at least you got to audition! My condolences nonetheless.
you mean i got to stand in the rain for hours only to say my name, age and where i come from before being shadowed by others who had an unfair advantage eg blonde, blue eyes harrumph.BTW, alewyn, are you out of the age bracket?
KKx 🙂 :
Hiya. To be picked do u have to be blonde? i hope not iam light brown. 🙂 😉
wat do u have 2 do at da auditions :wassat:
Poppy: ALL the girls in my group who were asked/ got picked were blonde.
And my friend is blonde. She got asked a question. But i know OF one person who's a brunette. So you have Some chance.
KKx 🙂
Hiya Kitty. All my friends are brunette and have blue eyes so i wonder how many brunettes there will be in Oxford. How long did u q 4. My mum said she won't wait 4 more than 2 hours with me. :crying: 🙁
Don't worry if you get ther early that's the longest you'll have to queue. I wasn't there for too long.
Hey, maybe i should change my name to KittyKat Agony Sista? Whaddaya think?
KKx 🙂 🙂
Hey KittyKat Agony Sister 😉 cool Like tht name. can solve everyone's problems. Did u go with any friends. If yes did they get through?
..Even though you lot are hardly in that much actual AGONY but you know…
KKx 🙂
i didn\’t go with any friends but i did spot and chat to a mate a couple of lines away, hehe i\’m so popular..
she\’s blonde so she got asked a question but didn\’t get through. Hope that helps.. oh yeah, and she thought it was cos she didn\’t make eye contact so remember that.
KK A-Sx 🙂
Kitty you seem very helpful. I was wondering, can you just turn up to the audtions or do you have to register? Im sorry you didnt get through, and it's really unfiar that mostly all blonde girls are getting through.
The stories of the girls who went to the auditions are really interesting. There seems to be a lot of complaining about how the people only chose blondes – but think how many girls showed up, they had to narrow it down somehow. I do agree, though, that they could easily change the hair of a non-blonde, and it would be better if the choice was made more on acting ability and not as much on 1st-impression looks.
Oh well. Good luck to all those still in …I hope they announce a choice soon, I'm dying to see the Lyra.
Nope, you don\’t have to register, just fill in the form you are given and take that with you to the audition.
It\’s really unfair, isn\’t it? I mean, if they wanted blondes, they could have said that.. apart from that i thought i had a chance..
KKx 🙂
i did NOT send a message at 2am! It\’s 8:30 where i am! What time does this thing run on…
KKx 🙂 :angry:
Hiya. I was wondering i da auditions. When they ask questions. Do they always pick(the blondes) :angry: or do you sometimes have to put your hand up 🙂
I think we're running on EST on the main page KK.
oh. well anyway, whatever time this meesage says it's not for me.
In my audition you couldn't put your hand up they just asked, like,
'You in the blue coat, what's a daemon?'
Actually that person hadn't read the books andjust said 'umm…' but that is beside the point.
KKx 🙂
Heya, when u went 2 da auditions did they totally ignore u if u didn't make i contact? :wassat: 🙂 :laughing:
Hey everyone, now I'm really nervous about the audition. So wait, am I right in saying that this is what happens in the auditions:
girls queue, then enter, asked questions, about four stay, some get photo taken, others get photo and some filming. I hope that's right, tell me if it's not. Oh yeah, also, if anyone here has got to the stage of reading the script, what do you do, is it a long script, how long do you get to look over it, and do you sit down to say it, or do you get up and act out the words. If you get what I mean….
No, it just makes you come across as shy. i think. 🙂
yep, that's right but i didn't get through, don't know about the script.
KKx 🙂
Hey, thanks anyway KittyKat! If anyone else knows anything more, it'd be really helpful for me and other hopefuls!
H x
Blonde hair is not necessarily required.
My daughter went to Kendal, out of her group of 40 odd, just her and one other got asked to stay for a photo and further questions – she has dark brown hair, the other girl had red hair. Then the other girl was asked to stay for screen tests, Emily was free to go. I think they are more interested in what you sound like than what you look like.
Oh, well I've got blue eyes and blonde hair, and I guess I have an OK speaking voice, I mean, I've done productions and stuff on the stage…I guess that helps. So what "further" questions were asked after your daughter got through Lucy???
Thanks, Hx
Well then your daughter's lucky. i have dark brown hair + eyes and didn't get through 🙁 :crying:
KKx 🙂
Hey, sorry to hear that KittyKat. I've always wished to be Lyra, but now the time has come, I have no chance! I hope whoever gets it doesn't ever get like, well most rich people do, kind of stuck up. I also hope she's a really good actress. I saw in a newspaper acrticle all about the auditions and Lyra that the girl who gets the part will get (estimated) ten million pounds!!!! The headline was 'WANTED: THE 10M COUNTRY GIRL THAT CAN MATCH POTTER'S MAGIC.' Interesting. Good luck to everyone!!!
Thanks, Hx
(P.S. I don't actually know why I say thanks, just a random habit! 🙂 )
So have i! But they turned me away they never saw me act or anything 🙁
thanks (?!)
KKx 🙂
I went to the Cambridge auditions, and got through to the second round. I only got my photo taken though, not filming. The others I was with got filming dun tho. I was kinda jealous, but really glad I got in at all. I have blondish/brownish hair and blue eyes. I was asked one question, the 'what would your daemon look like?' . Hav fun the rest of u. Bi, Michelle
How old were people that went through in your group?
Um, five went through from my group. There were about fifty of us to go in together. Two of the others looked about 11/12, someone looked about my age, 13 and had brown hair (the rest had blonde) and the last girl looked kinda small. I gess she was 9 or ten, I don't know. So I gess in our group it was a gd range of people. So that gives hope to all ages.
Michelle.
Hi! I was going to go to the kendal audition but it turns out it was on thursday, not friday like i thought!!! How stupid can u get?!?! :angry: Anyways, my mum phoned up and i can probs go to the Exeter one, even though i just turned 14 cos apparently the age limit is not "set in stone" – as long as u r a young looking 14 year old!!! 🙂 :laughing: :tongue:
Hey, ooh, oops! Are you allowed to go to a second audition, like if I didn't get in, in Oxford could I go again in Exeter? Or do they take in your forms??? Anyone have any idea?
Thanks, Hx
I don't know. I mean, if they didn't pick u first time then maybe, u know, it's just not the role for u. But who knows!!! :tongue: Never give up hope, old friend, stay strong!!! 😉
Hey, thanks Seraxi. I'm feeling random. Is anyone here going to the Oxford auditions? Because if so, I probably wont see you there, but ah well. Wish I could go on msn, but it's crashed. Back to the subject- um, it'd be really wierd filming without the daemon, having to act to like, an orange, coz that's what Harry Potter did with Dobby. Hehehe, I can just imagine it, oranges everywhere. Hehehe. I think the film will look really cool in the end. When's it going to come out, not this November, but the one after? If you got Lyra, you'd be like, extremely happy for months, because they're starting filming in September. Cool.
Thanks, Hx
🙂 :laughing: :tongue: Goodetty goodetty good good!!! U r a very random dude, which can only be a good thing in this dreadful world of sincere, serious unrandomness. What do you think ur deamon would be? ps. NOT an orange!!! 😉
Hey! Hehehe, I am just a liiiiiiiittle bit random, hehe. Hmm, my daemon. I would have to say that my daemon would have to be a cat. Sounds plain, but it's because a cat is independant, adventurous and it can see in the dark, yeah! *cough* but yeah, the first two things on that list are like me, maybe not the last one. Hehe,
Thanks, Hx
H- my daemon's a cat too! I don't really know why though, but my first word was cat and there's always been something big with cats…so something just tells me he's a cat.
So, Exeter anyone?
Hey, sorry, I'm going to Oxford. Good luck though! How about anyone else? What would your daemon's be??? A little off the movie, but ah well.
Thanks, Hx
Soz. my sister nicked the computer. I think my daemon would b a kind of silver weasel, because they are quite gentle but can also be eviiil!!Mwah ha ha ha! 😉
Yeah, I might b going to exeter. Not that i'll see u there but u never know! Although, come to think of it…i wouldnae recognise you would i?
Hey, good point. even if a description was given, there would be hundreds of other girls looking exactly the same as what you described anyway! Does anyone know how many (estimated) went to the Kendal auditions, because I know 1200 for the Cambridge, but I have no news of the second auditions…??? Anyone?
Thanks, Hx
:wassat: dunno actually. Probs quite a few though, it's not the least wanted role in the history of cinema, is it?