Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Ethan Slater Recalls Stinging Early Audition, Reframes It After Casting Experience

The Wicked actor told a Vassar audience he later learned he was about two decades too young for the role.

Overview

  • Slater said he once overheard a director ask, "Why did you even bring him in?" as he exited an early-career audition.
  • He recalled leaving the room at age 23 thinking, "I'm never going to work," before learning the part skewed far older.
  • With time spent on the casting side, he now calls the remark inappropriate yet likely not intended as personal.
  • He shared the story during a Dec. 10 conversation at Vassar College, where he received the Young Alum Achievement Award.
  • Recent credits include a Tony-nominated turn in The SpongeBob Musical and Boq in the Wicked films, with his co-written Marcel on the Train slated to premiere Off-Broadway in February 2026.