Ask an Insider

What Prompts You to Cast Against Type?

I was asked several years ago by Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis to consider directing a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" with a black actor playing the lead.

How Do You Prepare Your Students for Life After College?

"It's called show business, not show art, so I encourage students to approach it as such. They are each the head of their own company: the company of me."

Important to Like Your Client as a Person?

There is no possible way I could represent actors I didn't care about deeply, from an artistic love of their craft to who they are as people. 

Whom to Recommend Plastic Surgery For?

"I have no problem with plastic surgery—you can have remarkable results. But if you are under 24, turn the page. I think you are too young." -- Lynda Bensky

Typed Out?

I want to stretch, to play parts that challenge me, but I seem instead to always be cast in similar roles. It's undermining my self-confidence. Am I kidding myself about my acting talent?

How Do You Behave On a Project?

"I've been working since I was 4, and my mom always told me, "Listen to everybody and do what you're told and have a great personality. Don't just be one of those vegetables." -- Sarah Hyland

VIDEO: Casting Director Marci Liroff on Headshots

Back Stage's Jessica Gardner recently caught up with casting director Marci Liroff at the SAG Foundation, asked her what makes a great headshot. Her answers may surprise you.

Qualities for Casting Comedies

"I love when an actor focuses on the action and truth of the scene instead of trying to be funny." --Daniel Talbott, New York; founding artistic director, Rising Phoenix Rep

Learning from Other Actors?

What have you learned by looking at other actors' careers and what could other actors learn from your career?

Worst Acting Conditions?

"Once I hit the stage and experienced the hot glare of the lights, the oppressive heat transformed me into a fountain of sweat, with my leather pants sticking to every inch of my lower body."