How Tina Turner Helped Me Learn to Deal with Job Rejection
In Interviewing Tips, Recruiting Tips
on October 22, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Sometimes, even if you’re a rock star, you don’t get the job. I dish out a heap of rejection on a regular basis to all the candidates who don’t make the cut, and it pains me to reject anyone. A while back, I heard a story involving Tina Turner, Whoopi Goldberg, and the movie “Ghost” that helped me put perspective on what I find to be one of the most un-fun parts of being an executive recruiter: telling good candidates “no.”
I’ve long been fascinated by the notion that executive search has similarities to Hollywood casting, so when I heard a few years back that two Hollywood casting agents had written a book about their careers and were coming to my town for a book signing, I eagerly attended. Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins, prominent casting agents in Hollywood for nearly 30 years, wrote a book called A Star Is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood’s Biggest Movies.
The duo has helped select the talent for some of the most loved movies of recent decades such as “The Princess Bride” and “Ghost.” The anecdote they shared about auditioning Tina Turner for a key part in “Ghost” has stuck with me ever since and helped me learn to deal with rejection — both giving and receiving it.
Whoopi Goldberg really wanted the role of ghost channeler Oda Mae Brown and was an early favorite of the casting agents, yet director Jerry Zucker was hesitant to select her. At his behest, the casting agents auditioned 150 actresses over the space of 3 months for the role. This is similar to my recruiting process, in that for a typical retained search, as part of an 8-Step Success Process, I directly contact 75- 125 candidates culled from the client’s competitors and related companies within 30 days.
The agents called “every African American actress of a certain age then working in Hollywood” to audition for Oda Mae, including Alfre Woodward, Nell Carter, and Patti LaBelle. They were all great — but not what Zucker had in mind. He thought Tina Turner might be a good fit, so the casting agents made special arrangements for her to audition in New York. In the end, Tina was deemed “too sexy” for the part.
Sitting in the bookstore hearing the authors say that they had to reject Tina Turner, I was shocked and felt a crush of vicarious disappointment. Part of me finds it hard to fathom that anyone could reject Tina Turner for anything. While I think Whoopi Goldberg is incredible, I consider Tina Turner to be a goddess, a powerhouse of rock and soul. I think her performance of “Rollin’ on a River” is one of the greatest songs of all time.
Although Tina and many other top-tier performers didn’t get the part in Ghost, Whoopi ultimately did. She went on to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work among the slew of Oscar nominations the movie earned.
In executive search, rejection happens everyday. In my recruiting process, after narrowing the candidate pool to 10 to 15 candidates who are qualified and interested, I whittle the field down to about six candidates that make it to a first interview. I only present to the client the candidates who meet at least 90% of their specifications, ultimately resulting in just one candidate being selected for the job.
Even if you’re a rock star, you may not get selected. You may be too sexy for that part. It doesn’t mean that you’re not great and that you won’t be amazing at something else.
If you’d like to be considered for a starring role in the restaurant industry or need some help finding the right talent, contact Rebecca at 612.354.7400 or Rebecca.patt@dickwray.com.
Posted:
Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:36 pm
T-ROX
Regular
Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 388
Great story about how much Tina looks and the movie Ghost:
Makes me wonder... how many movies has Tina read for and been told "No." hmmmm....
Posted:
Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:15 pm
T-ROX
Regular
Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 388
The good thing is that if Tina had been offered the role in Ghost, she couldn't have toured Europe with her "Foreign Affair" show. It was the biggest Tour in the continent history back in 1990, and it was for many fans her best stage show. For me, it was Tina at her peak moment. I'm happy she toured instead of doing the movie.
Posted:
Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:21 am
lasse
Regular
Joined: Nov 30, 2005
Posts: 481
I'm also glad she didn't get the part. "Foreign Affair" and the "foreign affair tour" were better then any movie could have been. I remember an interview for MTV where she mentions about meeting "the movie people" and realising it wasn't gonna happen, so Roger decided on doing an album instead...
Posted:
Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:08 am
T-ROX
Regular
Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 388
lasse wrote:
I'm also glad she didn't get the part. "Foreign Affair" and the "foreign affair tour" were better then any movie could have been. I remember an interview for MTV where she mentions about meeting "the movie people" and realising it wasn't gonna happen, so Roger decided on doing an album instead...
Thank God!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with you, it's impossible to think about a movie being better than Tina's Foreign Affair Album/ Tour. It was/is maybe her best era.
I'm so happy Tina and Roger decided to record that album. Its organic european R&B/ Rock feel is so timeless.
I know that Tina didn't want to tour back in 1990. She even said that she broke down in tears when it was decided that a new tour would happen, because the album was so popular in Europe. She didn't want to work THAT hard, she wanted some years off. It's funny to see that Tina wanted to spend the 90's as she did in the 00's. She had to wait 10 years!! Only after 2001, she conquered her "freedom" from the stage.
She achieved a giant popularity in the late eighties, so the demand for her work was enormous during the nineties.
Posted:
Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:00 pm
bobsiew
Newbie
Joined: Apr 24, 2009
Posts: 29
Location: Queensland, Australia
WOW! i never knew that, and what's funny is that before I became a Tina fan Whoopi was my ultimate favorite and then after I became a Tina fan things relating to the both of them is popping up everywhere, lol
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