Casting directors reveal the hardest part of their jobs.
Actors have a tough job. They are to read a few lines of dialogue and try to assume what the casting director, director, producer, and studio is looking for. But, for casting directors, it is sometimes extremely stressful to find the right talent for a project they are working on. Especially, when it’s for a one-liner or small acting role. In fact, John Papsidera, who is the casting director behind Hulu’s Casual and who works with Christopher Nolan argues that the most difficult roles to cast are small ones to ensure that the actor in the role will actually do a good job.
He says, “The smaller roles are the hardest thing to do because they need to be alive in a moment, and then leave.” Nonetheless, Papsidera doesn’t think it takes long time to find the right actor when he or she comes in. He explains, “Once in a while, somebody will surprise you with a choice, but most of the time I think you know pretty quick when they come in the room. I’m a big believer that you get a sense of somebody’s essence most of the time—it’s a natural, instinctive thing that I really try and rely on.”
Papsidera is not alone. Barbara Fiorentino, who casts Lifetime’s UnREAL and has also worked on The Shield and CSI: NY, says sometimes it isn’t finding the actor that’s the problem. She argues that getting the studio to agree on the casting decision is the hardest part. She argues, “One of the toughest roles that I had to cast—it was getting the actor that we wanted cast—would have been Alex O’Loughlin in his first series regular role on a show called Moonlight for CBS, in the role of Mick St. John. It was only on for one year, but he was an unknown from Australia. It was incredibly challenging to get the studio and network to sign off on him. It went all the way up the ranks to Les Moonves, who, I’m told, when he saw his screen test, within fifteen seconds said, ‘Cast him. He’s a TV star.’”
Fiorentino said she often has to convince executives to go with her casting decision. “A lot of times when someone comes into the room in that first audition, you just know. That being said, especially when you’re casting a television pilot, a lot of people have to agree with that. Sometimes it’s more of a struggle to get everyone who makes those decisions on board with a particular actor.”
There’s a lot more to an audition than just reading lines. Who knew!?
Via Yahoo!
Related:
Have an acting tip? Leave us a comment below.
