How Many Takes Should You Do for a Self-Tape?

There is no universal number of takes that makes a self-tape better. If casting gives you specific instructions about how many takes to submit, follow them. If they do not, the more important question is not “How many takes am I allowed to do?”

It is:

At what point am I no longer discovering anything?

A self-tape gives actors something an in-person audition rarely did: the ability to do it again.

That can be a gift.

It can also become a trap.

Take one feels loose, but you missed something. Take two has more clarity. Take three surprises you. Then you watch them back and notice one little thing you would like to fix.

So you do take four.

Then five.

Then eight.

Eventually you may be improving tiny details while quietly losing the thing that made the earlier work alive.

Recording takes is not the same as submitting takes

This distinction matters.

You might record several takes while finding the scene, but that does not mean you should send casting everything you recorded.

Casting Networks' current guidance emphasizes quality over quantity and recommends submitting only your strongest work, generally no more than two or three takes. It also notes that two contrasting takes can sometimes be useful when the instructions and circumstances allow them.

The audition instructions always come first

If casting asks for one take, send one.

If they specifically invite two takes, great.

If the instructions are silent, do not assume more footage gives you more chances. Your job is to make a clear choice and send the work that represents you best.

Three to five serious performance takes

There is no magic number, but three to five serious performance takes is a useful guardrail for many actors.

That is not an industry rule. It is a practical limit.

And it assumes something important:

You rehearsed before you started recording.

The camera should not have to witness the entire rehearsal process.

Do your script work. Understand the circumstances. Know what you want. Run the scene. Work through the transitions. Solve the technical problems. Our guide to running lines alone can help you keep solo rehearsal focused on listening instead of reciting.

Then turn on the camera.

If take three makes you realize something genuinely new, do another.

If take six exists only because you want to move your eyebrow less at the end of page two, you may already be heading in the wrong direction.

Do you have a specific reason to do another take?

Do not ask:

“Can I make it better?”

Of course you can always imagine something being better. That question has no finish line.

Ask:

“Do I have a specific reason to do another take?”

There are good reasons.

Maybe you rushed an important turn.

Maybe you stopped listening.

Maybe you misunderstood the relationship.

Maybe the reader gave you something different and you want to explore what it opened up.

Maybe casting gave you an adjustment.

Maybe you have a genuinely different choice worth trying.

Those are reasons to go again.

“Something about my face bothered me” probably is not.

Neither is:

“I don't know. Maybe one more.”

That sentence has produced take eleven more times than any acting technique in history.

The actor and the internal director

Self-taping creates a strange situation for actors.

You are simultaneously:

the actor
the camera operator
the director
the editor
and eventually the person judging your own performance

Those jobs do not always play nicely together.

The danger begins when the actor disappears and the internal director takes over.

You watch a take.

You notice a pause.

You shorten it.

Then you notice a gesture.

You remove it.

Then a line felt too emotional.

You flatten it.

Then another line feels too flat.

You push it.

One correction at a time, the performance can become increasingly controlled.

Technically cleaner.

Emotionally deader.

The goal is not to eliminate thought from the process. Preparation requires thought.

The goal is to know when preparation has ended and performing has begun.

Is the first take the truthful one?

There is another myth hiding inside all of this:

The first take is the truthful one.

Not necessarily.

Sometimes your first take is tense.

Sometimes you are still adjusting to the camera.

Sometimes the scene suddenly reveals itself on take four.

There is nothing sacred about take one.

What matters is whether the work is still changing because you are receiving something, rather than changing because you are manufacturing improvements.

That distinction is subtle, but actors usually feel it.

A new take can feel dangerous and alive.

A corrected take often feels increasingly safe.

When two takes are allowed

If casting asks for two, obviously send two.

If two are permitted and you decide to send both, give them a reason to watch the second one.

Do not send:

Take 1: slightly serious
Take 2: slightly more serious

If there is a second take, let it reveal another legitimate interpretation of the material.

Maybe the relationship changes.

Maybe the tactic changes.

Maybe the stakes live somewhere different.

Maybe one version is more restrained and the other takes a bolder behavioral choice.

Recent Casting Networks conversations with working casting directors specifically recognize that contrasting takes can be useful when appropriate.

The operative word is contrasting.

Two copies of essentially the same audition do not give casting much additional information.

Rehearse before you record

This may be the simplest rule in the whole article.

If you repeatedly need ten or fifteen takes before you feel ready, the problem may not be the recording.

You may be doing your rehearsal on camera.

There is nothing wrong with exploring a scene. Exploration is the work.

But do as much of that work as possible before the self-tape becomes a referendum on whether you are good enough.

Run the scene without recording.

Work with a reader when one is available. If you are self-taping without a reader, decide on your solo workflow before you begin recording serious takes.

Find where the other person's lines actually affect you.

Try different actions.

Let bad ideas happen.

Let yourself fail without creating a video file every time you do it.

Then record.

The red button should not change the acting.

Three questions before another take

Before another take, ask yourself three questions:

Do I know specifically why I am doing another one?
If not, stop.
Am I exploring something, or correcting myself?
Exploration may open the scene. Constant correction usually narrows it.
Is the performance becoming freer or more controlled?
That answer may tell you more than the take number ever will.

At some point, the audition has to leave your phone

Casting director Terry Berland recently advised actors not to treat the submission deadline as the moment to finally send the tape. Casting may already be watching submissions while you are still producing take fourteen.

Do the work.

Choose the take.

Follow the instructions.

Send it.

Then go live your life.

The twentieth take probably was not hiding the career-changing eyebrow adjustment anyway.

Frequently asked questions

How many takes should I do for a self-tape?

There is no required number unless casting specifies one. As a practical working limit, a small handful of serious takes is often enough once the scene has been properly rehearsed. If you keep recording without a specific reason, consider stopping.

Should I submit more than one take?

Follow the audition instructions first. If only one take is requested, submit one. When multiple takes are allowed, two genuinely different interpretations may be useful, but sending several nearly identical takes usually adds little.

Is the first take usually the best take?

Not necessarily. Early takes can sometimes have freshness and discovery, but an actor may also need a few takes to settle into the scene. Judge the work, not the take number.

Is it bad to do a lot of self-tape takes?

It can be. Repetition itself is not the problem. The problem begins when repeated recording turns into constant self-correction and the performance becomes increasingly managed rather than responsive.

Should I rehearse before recording a self-tape?

Yes. Whenever possible, separate rehearsal from recording. Work through the scene, relationship, circumstances and choices before you begin judging individual takes.

Written by Rodrigo Lopresti · Published September 7, 2026