Below, please find the audition monologues for 12 Angry Men. Attached to this post there are also character descriptions for each character in the play.
One (Foreman/Forewoman):
All right. Now--we can handle this any way you want to. I mean, I'm not going to make any rules. If we want to discuss it first and then vote, that's one way. Or we can vote right now and see where we stand. Alright, everybody, settle down. If we're going to discuss this case, then look at the facts. We have a job to do here. Let's do it.
Two:
Yes, I've heard of the Constitution. Of course, I have. Well, I don't know. I just think he's guilty. I thought it was obvious. I mean nobody proved otherwise. I mean somebody saw him do it. It just seemed to me that there were a lot of details that never came out. I don't think you have any right to ask me if I've heard of the Constitution.
Three:
Your're right. It's these kids nowadays. The way they are--you know? They don't listen. I've got a boy. When he was eight years old, I caught him with some of the neighborhood gang--fighting--and out in the street! After all I'd said about staying away from those tough kids--he goes and joins them. I gave him a whipping he wouldn't forget! And you know what? When he was fifteen, he hit me--his own mother/father--right in the face. I haven't seen him in three years. Maybe I'm better off. A rotten kid. I hate tough kids!
Four:
The boy's whole story is flimsy. He claimed he was at the movies. That's a little ridiculous, isn't it? He couldn't even remember what movie he saw. Look, they heard the father hit the boy twice and then saw the boy walk angrily out of the house. This boy--let's admit he's a product of a bad neighborhood and a broken home.
We're not here to go into the reasons why the slums are breeding grounds for criminals, but they are. I know it and so do you.
Five:
That's not right. I've lived in a slum all my life. I used to play in a backyard that was filled with garbage. Maybe it still smells on me. Yes, for me it is something personal. I live close to him. You can't judge someone just based on where they live. That's just not right. Anyone who's ever used a switch blade knows you don't use one like that. I'd like to change my vote to not guilty. I think there is a doubt now.
Six:
It would seem that the old man did not see the boy run downstairs. I do not think it likely that the old man heard someone scream, "I'm going to kill you." Old men dream. And if the boy did scream that he was going to kill, then we have seen that this doesn't always mean that someone means to literally kill.
Seven:
What do you mean, I don't understand it? Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? How do you like this guy? He comes over here running for his life, and before he can even take a big breath, he's telling us how to run our lives. The nerve of him. I do feel there is no room for reasonable doubt in this case. The kid is guilty.
Eight:
I want to talk about it a while. Look, this boy's been kicked around all his life. You know, living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. He's a tough, angry boy. I'm saying that it's possible that the boy lost the knife, and that someone else stabbed his father with a similar knife. It's possible. And maybe he didn't lie. Maybe he did lose the knife and maybe he did go to the movies. All I'm saying is that these things are possible.
Nine:
It's just that I looked at him for a vey long time. The seam of his jacket was slit under the arm. Did you notice that? He was a very old man with a torn jacket, and he carried two canes. I think I know him better than anyone here. This is a quiet, frightened, insignificant man who has been nothing all his life--who has never had recognition--his name in the newspapers. Nobody knows him after seventy-five years. This is a very sad thing.
Ten:
I don't mind telling you this. We don't owe the boy a thing. He got a fair trial, didn't he? You know what this trial cost? He's lucky he got it. Look, we're all grown-ups here. You're not going to tell us that we're supposed to believe him, knowing what he is. I've lived among 'em all my life. You can't believe a word they say. You know that.
Eleven:
I don't know what you're thinking, but I know what I'm thinking. I do not live in a tenement, but it is close, and there is just enough light in the hall so you can see the steps, no more--the light bulbs are so small--and this murder took place in a tenement. Remember how we stumbled on the steps when they took us down there?
Twelve:
I may have an idea here. I'm just thinking out loud now, bit it seems to me that it's up to us to convince him that we're right and he's wrong. I'm in advertising. I love to see things pulled together. Makes for good layouts. Let's try to take a look at the whole picture to see if some pattern is there. Maybe we could try getting a fresh point of view. We have a lot of evidence to go through here. So let's try it on for size.
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