reasons why rejection emails aren’t necessary

Voiceover is a contract gig, not an employment offer.

One common defense of rejection emails is, “Wouldn’t you want to hear back if you were rejected for a job, so that you could look elsewhere?”

Yes, most people probably would. However, voice acting isn’t that type of situation. You’re not hiring someone as an employee to work for you; you’re contracting their services for a temporary – and often relatively short-term – project. It is completely normal for actors to be juggling multiple projects at the same time, and often even recording for multiple different projects in the same day!
 Voice actors are already “applying to” (auditioning for) plenty of other projects, and they’re not limited to only working on one at a time, so they don’t need to wait to hear back about whether they were chosen.

It clogs up the actor’s inbox.

E-mail is a very important tool for voice actors, and they routinely receive time-sensitive communication that must be attended to, such as avail checks, booking notices, and inquiries from agents and clients. Form letter-style rejections just waste space and distract from other important business the actor may need to attend to. “My voice acting e-mail is a business e-mail, and I prefer to only receive e-mails that require my attention,” says Vicky Young Assarattanakul. “If I received a rejection e-mail for every audition I submitted, it would quickly become like my “spam” e-mail address and it would make it difficult to see important messages. When I submit an audition, I just generally assume I’m not going to get the part, so I don’t think the casting director needs to do that extra work to tell me, “no.”

Additionally, most working actors audition for many different projects each week. “We send dozens of emails weekly, hundreds monthly. If we got a rejection notice for every one of those, that’s a lot of pointless mail,” says Austin Lee Matthews.
 Imagine if you auditioned for 100 projects in a given month, received 5 booking emails and another 95 emails saying you weren’t actually chosen? No thanks!

Seeing a response from you regarding the project may lead the actor to think they actually booked a role.


To follow up on the above, a new email or DM regarding a project an actor auditioned for typically means something that immediately requires their attention—such as a booking or callback. Needless to say, it can not only be disappointing—but even irritating—for an actor to open the message assuming it is a role offer only to find out it’s a generic reply saying they weren’t chosen.
 “I’m very busy, so when I see notifications in the projects I auditioned for, I immediately get excited…only to be torn down,” says Simon D. Aelsi.

And because rejection emails aren’t the norm in the professional industry, you can see how it might cause confusion to see that initial response. According to Kamran Nikhad, “We’re conditioned to only expect a response from potential clients if we either landed a job or have to submit a followup read. So by sending that rejection email off, there’s an added, unnecessary sting…since a response usually means good news.”

Rejection notices are time-wasters for both the producers and actors.


“It’s a waste of time for both parties involved,” says Kevin Couto. The voice actor is busy auditioning for and working on lots of other projects. The project creator or casting director has heaps of auditions to go through, and needs to focus on coordinating things for the people who actually were cast (sending out booking emails, gathering avails, distributing scripts, getting paperwork in order, etc). It wastes a lot of valuable time on their end to make a list of all the people who didn’t get cast and let them know they didn’t book it.
 Reece Bridger, casting director for NSIP, notes that “In public calls, we could never possibly have the time to send out individual or even copy-paste rejection emails to everyone who auditions.”

It can be demoralizing.

Voice acting is an extremely competitive field. Actors already know that they are likely competing with hundreds of others for a role, making the likelihood of booking relatively slim. A common approach to auditions involves “throwing spaghetti at the wall”—-auditioning for a whole bunch of projects and then seeing what sticks.

“Any actor with a high enough work load adopts the “send and forget” mentality for auditions,” says Vincent Fallow. This means: do your best on each audition (without overthinking too much), send it off, and then immediately move onto the next audition. This method curbs the disappointment of not booking a role, because rather than waiting around to find out, you’ve already moved on mentally.

But an unexpected rejection email completely throws a wrench in this, and can unintentionally pile on to the negative mindsets actors already have to wrestle with. Eddy Yeung adds, “As actors we’re told to send and forget, but if everyone were to send rejection letters, it will just reinforce the negatives, e.g. impostor syndrome.” Nick M. Brown agrees: “With social media already fostering imposter syndrome among most voice actors, a rejection letter only adds more fuel to the fire.”

And finally, it’s just not the norm in the professional industry.

In the professional voiceover world, rejection emails are extremely rare. For example, once an actor moves up in their career and is represented by an agency, the agency will pass along numerous auditions that have likely been sent out to hundreds or even thousands of other actors across multiple agencies. It would be virtually unheard of for the agents to write back to talent letting them know everything they didn’t book, nor would they have the time to do so even if they wanted to. Voice actor and teacher Andy Field puts it quite plainly: “If you are expecting a rejection letter for each one of the jobs you don’t get, you aren’t auditioning enough.”

Rejection emails are sometimes seen in amateur and indie spaces, but in addition to contributing to unhealthy mindsets, it also can create an expectation from actors to “hear back one way or another”, which could hurt them in the professional world (trying to “follow up” with a casting director on audition results is seen as unprofessional; if you get the part, they’ll contact you first.)


the exceptions (when SHOULD you let someone know?)

Now that you’ve probably been convinced not to send out rejection letters, you might be wondering if there ever is a time when it would be appropriate, or perhaps even desired, to let an actor know they weren’t selected. There are actually a few situations in which this can be helpful.

After a callback process, particularly if more than one round of callbacks is requested.

Many experienced voice actors may be able to recall at least one instance where they experienced a lengthy callback process—perhaps requiring multiple rounds of redirected auditions, a live-directed or even in-person callback, or being asked to urgently read some additional material so the producers can make a decision, only to end up being “ghosted”. “I think I would appreciate one if I am put on avail or have been through multiple rounds of callbacks, but for the vast majority of auditions, it’s just not necessary,” says Molly Ring.
 Derick Snow echoes this sentiment with “Initial auditions? No thanks. I usually just audition and forget about it. 3rd or 4th callback? At least let my agent know it’s not happening, no notes required.”

If the actor is put “on avail“.

If you’ve asked an actor you’ve shortlisted to keep certain days and times of their schedule open in anticipation of possibly recording sessions for your project, but then you decide to go with someone else, it’s important to let the actor know as soon as they are no longer needed so that they may release those times for other bookings.

During a very personalized audition.

In some cases, a casting director may specifically reach out to an actor they know saying that they’ve got them in mind for a part, but an audition is needed in order to confirm with the client. Sometimes the end client ends up saying no, which is perfectly fine and an expected part of the business, but it can be appreciated – though not required – to let the actor know that the client ended up choosing the other person.

Beau Bridgland says he doesn’t mind a “no-thanks” email if it’s for something he was personally requested for: “It can be nice to have emails that fall under the category of “I liked your thing, it was really close but they went with someone else” when the audition process has been a bit more personal. But generic emails for bog standard auditions? The ones that each of us will do hundreds or maybe even thousands of each year? It’s just all-around wasteful.”

Or finally…if you happen to be REALLY creative about it.

“Once upon a time I got a rejection email and I was prepared to be irritated, but the email actually gave me a free key to the game they were casting as a thank you for taking the time to audition,” says Darcy Maguire.

do some actors still prefer to be notified?

Now to be fair, there are a smaller minority of talent who claim they like rejection e-mails, because it gives them a sense of “closure”. “I think it’s at least a polite formality,” says Josh Chichester. Jack Magus would rather receive even a robotic form letter “than to be kept in the dark and wondering if I made it, then finding it finished on YouTube a few weeks later.”

It’s also entirely likely for an actor’s opinion on rejection e-mails to change as they progress in their career. When an actor is very new to the field and not auditioning much yet, or primarily auditioning for online hobby work, it’s easy to get more attached to individual projects and wait anxiously to find out the results. They might think that it’s better to simply know one way or another so they can stop guessing as to whether they were cast. “I usually reply and thank them for actually responding,” says Ciaran Drysder.

How an actor’s opinion may change over time

When you’re auditioning for new projects every day, the idea of hearing back that you didn’t get all these different roles you tried out for becomes more of an annoyance and a time-waster. Katabelle points out that as professionals, “we audition for so many projects, it is unnecessary, [but] some actors who voice over as a hobby may expect this because they are waiting to hear back.” As you progress years into your career, it also becomes easier to let these sorts of disappointments roll off your back. “I’m almost 40 and I’ve been rejected for jobs and other casting parts over the years,” says Jason Robert Sommerfeldt. “When I was younger, it hit me hard, but age tends to dull the pain of rejection and criticism, and you just get up and try again.”

As a project creator or casting director, what should I do if I really liked someone’s audition, but they didn’t fit the particular role I was casting at the moment?

That’s fine! Make a note of their name and keep them in mind for future projects or incidental roles that you may need to cast. If they audition time and time again for you and never end up booking but are almost always shortlisted, and you have a good relationship with them, you can optionally reach out and let them know that they’re on the right track with their auditions and you’d like to continue hearing more from them. But try to resist the urge to send that email saying “we liked your audition, but we went with someone else”—-again, even if you have good intentions, it just ends up being demoralizing.

Nathalie Ferare, however, appreciates these emails in certain personalized situations. “Rejection emails, most of the time, make it harder to ‘send and forget.’ However, if I was shortlisted, or if the casting director would like to let me know they loved my audition but I wasn’t what they were looking for for this role, I’d like to hear that (as long as it isn’t just some generic nonsense they send to everyone). This helps me see what is potentially bookable.”

Amanda Brandt would prefer not to receive such emails “unless it says something to the effect of ‘I do have a part in mind for you in a future project; is it OK if we still keep the lines of communication open?’ Yes.” (That being said, it’s very rare that any actor would be offended if they didn’t book a part they auditioned for but you later sent them an audition for a future opportunity—-most actors are happy to receive auditions!)

Is it acceptable to respond to an actor with feedback on their audition?

Responding to an audition asking for some adjustments in the read for the sake of a callback is perfectly acceptable! However, if you feel you must respond to an audition solely for the sake of giving the actor unsolicited critique, keep it polite and constructive. Brittany Ann Phillips occasionally sees brand-new content creators fall into the trap of assuming they have to give feedback on every audition. “While most rejection emails are formal, some (especially from first time online creators) take it as an opportunity for unsolicited feedback, which can be a deconstructive critique or even insulting a voice actor’s skill. There is no excuse to hurt the feelings of someone who took time out of their day to audition for you, no matter what the intentions of your response was.”

Some actors, particularly for indie projects, may specify when submitting their audition that they’d like feedback. In that case, you may respond with constructive critique if you wish—but don’t feel you have to (it’s not the norm in the professional industry to give or expect feedback on auditions except in the case of requesting a different direction on a read.)

How to handle receiving a rejection letter

For an actor, receiving a rejection notice can put an unexpected dent in your day. Perhaps you did that audition a while ago and have since forgotten all about it, but having that e-mail pop up feels like a sudden reminder that you “weren’t good enough” (even though that’s not the case!)

Getting an email saying that you didn’t get cast – whether a form letter or a personalized note – can be demoralizing, but it’s not some type of indication of failure on your part. It simply means that the client felt someone else was more suitable for that particular role. See our article here for more about how to reframe your idea of “rejection”.

Alex Weitzman offers the following perspective: “At the core of it, a “rejection” letter is not necessary because not booking a job is not a matter of rejection. You did not get rejected, and not booking a job definitely does not mean you somehow failed the audition. We are in a service industry. Our job is to help the casting director, the producer, the client solve a problem: they have a part that needs to be filled. Submitting your work via audition helps them solve that problem to some degree, no matter the outcome.”

Finally, do not feel the need to respond to a rejection letter, particularly one in the form of a mass e-mail sent to everyone who tried out. Chances are the project creator simply viewed it as a formality to send this letter, and there is no need to reply further.

learning to let go of the expectation of closure

Even if you ARE an actor who prefers to hear back one way or another, it’s best to learn to let go of this expectation for two reasons. One is that the majority of time you simply won’t hear back unless you actually book, and two is that it’s healthier overall for your mindset as an actor to learn to send and forget. “If you didn’t hear anything, it should be clear that casting went another direction, and that’s ok!” says Will Engel.

But how do I send and forget when I REALLY want to be part of a certain project?

Sometimes there’s going to be a dream role or project that you really want to book, and that’s understandable. But try to resist constantly refreshing your e-mail or otherwise obsessing over whether a casting decision has been made. Do your best on the audition, send it out into the universe, and trust that if it’s truly right for you, it’ll come around.

Voice actor and voiceover coach Dave Bisson stresses the importance of learning to be okay with not being selected for a role. “Being able to audition, then put that audition out of your mind to then focus on the next audition will allow you to always give your best, and focus on your victories.” Remember, it is completely normal, even for very established actors, to not book the majority of the roles you audition for.

No actor is going to be able to truly “send and forget” 100% of the time, but the more you at least try to adopt that mindset, the lesser the blow when you see other people on social media announcing they got that role you auditioned for. There will always be more projects in the future, so just keep sending those auditions…and then when you do hear back that you booked one of those roles, it’ll be a pleasant surprise.