How to Audition for Vikings

Oh man, is there anything more gripping than Fever Ray’s “If I Had a Heart” thrumming along to scenes of longships battling furious wind and waves, a great heathen horde spilling onto the shores of a young England and a solitary figure slowly sinking into a blue abyss? Vikings is one of my favourite TV series of all time. The tone, the imagery, the setting, the commentary on early religion and culture–chef’s kiss. Not to mention the stellar performance by Australia’s very own Travis Fimmel as the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok. With a brand new instalment, Bloodaxe, officially confirmed and in the works, there is no time like the present to sharpen your axes and don your bear skin cloaks. If you want to audition for Vikings and land yourself a place in the halls of Valhalla, this is the article for you.

Auditioning for any major TV series can be just as exciting as it can be daunting. Patience, persistence and preparation are key with these big ticket auditions. So look for ways to hone your skills as an actor (and would-be viking) before the casting notices emerge. You can give yourself the edge before you see so much as a page of audition material.

Get an Agent – or Don’t

First thing’s first, and I know I’m sounding like a broken record if you’ve read my other articles, but we need to get you the audition. There are two main ways of getting auditions in this industry, both with their own pros and cons. And whether you choose to get signed or sign yourself, this step is about getting your foot in the door and keeping it there.

Securing an Agent

The first and most popular route is getting signed with an acting agency. We’ve got a myriad of articles written about how to choose a good agency and how to get signed with them.

Most legitimate acting agents will need proof of your ability–whether that takes the form of a showreel or a qualification from a well-known acting school or a recommendation from a well-known director. You’ll need something to demonstrate your commitment to the craft.

Agents are great because it’s their job to keep their finger on the pulse of the industry and look out for opportunities that suit you. Agents are not so great in that they take a percentage of your earnings and, unfortunately, not all agents are for all actors. I know plenty of actors who have been signed with some top agencies and felt they’ve been hamstrung by doing so.

My advice for signing with an agent is sign with someone you can develop a good personal relationship with. A friendly, professional relationship ensures trust and trust is everything in this industry. It’s what gets you hired and hired again, and builds a strong foundation for a long and successful career.

Going Freelance

The second, less travelled route is the path of the freelance actor. Whilst it takes considerably more work, working as your own agent can be very rewarding in that you have full control over the projects you submit to and the only thing that will bite into your earnings is income tax.

If you’re wanting to represent yourself, make sure your Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is up to date and ready to send at a moment’s notice. A good EPK consists of an up-to-date showreel, headshot and CV. This is what you’ll send to casting directors you’d like to work with.

It also pays to have a good online presence as a freelance actor. Instagram is a great platform to market yourself and does play some part in the roles you’ll be considered for.

Patience, Persistence and Preparation

I’ll be frank: things take time in this industry. If you’re just starting out, either with an agent or without, an audition for Vikings likely won’t be the first things you go for. You’ll need to build a reputation with casting directors before they start asking to see you for big projects.

The way you do this is by doing your job well. Whenever you get an audition, regardless of what it’s for, do it well. Learn the lines, action your script, drop in the text, do your contextual research. Treat the audition like you already have the job.

It’s important to realise that a lot happens on invisible fronts in this industry. Just because you might not hear back about a great audition you did, doesn’t mean it was all for nothing. People talk and, believe it or not, casting directors are people, too. If you consistently submit great self-tapes, they’ll remember you and ask to see you again and again.

So what can you do in the meantime? Develop your personal practice, that’s what. Be persistent and consistent with your vocal warm-ups, eat well and exercise regularly, and soak up as much art as you possibly can. Take classes, keep your showreel and headshots up to date and stay curious about people and the world they inhabit. It’s all part of the job. 

Now for the Fun Part

Okay, let’s get to the mead and longships part. You’ve landed an audition for Viking: what do you need to do to give yourself the best possible shot at a multi-year contract in Ireland?

Contextual Research

Vikings is what one might call an historic drama. Although it plays up certain elements and takes liberties here and there, the overall story of both the original series and Valhalla are based on true events. Ragnar Lothbrok and his adventures across the North Sea actually happened, as did the slow creep of Christianity that eventually spelled the end of the Vikings.

If you’re auditioning for Vikings, there is a good chance you’ll be auditioning for a historic character. So it’s time to get nerdy. I can recommend two podcasts to learn about the general history of the Viking Age: Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History and The Rest is History. Both of these are great crash courses in Viking history.

By learning about the time period in which your character lived, you’ll get insight into the way they might have behaved. As an example, religion played a huge part in shaping pre and early-Medieval society. Just about everyone in this time period was religious which greatly influenced their behaviour and way of life.

I could nerd out about history for an entire article but I’ll let you go and discover some of it for yourself.

Style of Performance

I think part of what makes Vikings such a successful television series is how distinct its style is. There’s something that sets it apart from other popular medieval-centred series like Game of Thrones or The Last Kingdom; the performances are exceptionally grounded, but the way the characters speak is quite laconic and intense. Have a look at this scene:

See how steadily the tension rises throughout the scene? This is largely thanks to the way Travis Fimmel lets the given circumstances gradually overwhelm his character. In this scene, Ragnar has been away from his home for a long time–he has abandoned his people and his sons and has decided that being king, which he pursued for much of his life, isn’t worth the toll it has taken on him. It’s a beautifully written scene and beautifully performed. 

When you’re working with your audition script, keep it low-key. Let the words simmer just below the surface and notice how they affect you. If they are provocative and angry, let them slowly build to a boil until they cannot be contained anymore.

Don’t play the emotion, let the emotion guide you and you’ll find you have something very Viking-like indeed. Quiet, and dangerous.

Your Imagination

Whenever you do a self-tape, it’s pretty unlikely the scene will involve your character standing in front of a blue screen in your living room. So when you tape, your imagination needs to be firing on all cylinders: especially with projects like Vikings where the setting is so far removed from the modern day.

My favourite way of approaching a script is to read over it, many times, and write down any images the text evokes. For example, if the script is set in a longhouse, what does that look like? Feel like? Smell like? Is it raining outside? A cold, wintry night? Is there a fire casting shadows across the hall? I’ll even write out images for dialogue. If my character says: “They were strong… but not strong enough,” I might imagine my character standing triumphant in a field of broken bodies under a clouded sky, a raven flying overhead. 

I like to make my images as vivid as possible. They can be abstract or realistic, it doesn’t really matter. As long as it gives me something to imagine whilst I’m in front of a shoddy tripod in my Melbourne share-house living room. If you try this approach, don’t try and play the images. Just let them sit below the surface of the lines. Your eyes will light up with your images and you’ll find a whole new depth of emotion to play with.

There is a huge emphasis on the characters’ eyes in Vikings and not just because they’re often the most intense shade of blue known to humankind. The characters are constantly wrestling with something be it their faith, their relationships or the weight of their ever-threatened way of life.

Swing some Swords

Last piece of advice–take some stage combat classes. It is highly likely you’ll have to do some kind of fight scene when you land the role and you do not want to get caught out because you lied on your CV, especially not with combat.

Beyond the simple fact that safety is the number-one priority on any production, knowing the moves will instil you with that all-important viking confidence. You don’t want to step with trepidation onto that battlefield: you want to stride out there like meeting your death is as normal as ordering a coffee!

If you’re based in Australia or the UK, I can recommend Lindal Grant as a superb stage combat practitioner. She runs workshops and courses regularly in Australia, so save up some cash and get yourself along to a class.

Conclusion

The stories being told in Vikings are historic drama mixed with a bit of magical realism. This is a difficult ask for actors, as they have to balance the grounded, historic elements with the more fanciful, fantastic flair—two almost-opposing ideas.

The point I’ll leave you with is this: without a strong personal practice, you’ll fall right off the metaphorical tight-rope. Way before you even get the audition, you should have your process locked down and consistent. If you’re keeping your imagination, mind and body active, then you’ll be well-positioned to give a compelling performance.

Hope this helps. See you around the traps!