30 Years Later, Susie Glicksman Remembers Casting ‘Baywatch’ for NBC

Susie Glicksman’s years-spanning career in television began during a time when there was a straightforward formula for making a series, and continues today—a time when nobody can predict what the TV landscape might look like in 10 years’ time. When she cast “Baywatch” 30 years ago, Glicksman got to practice doing what many casting directors now do regularly: looking outside the normal agent and manager boxes for people who would fit the profile of the show with a concept that hinged on finding the exact right cast. Though Glicksman closed the doors to her casting office a few years ago, she remembers what it was like to find what became an iconic cast (David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson among them) and how the job of casting films and TV series changed (or didn’t) in the decades that followed.

How did the industry change and what stayed the same over the course of your career?
The little changes we saw [were that] it was getting more technical, budgets were lower. In the early days, you would bring somebody in and just read them, and now I think every show they have to come in and go on tape and it’s a bigger process now. It’s a different process with technology now, but the acting is the same.

Where did you look for new talent outside of agent and manager submissions?
We would look through the Players’ Guide [a now-out-of-print catalog of actors’ headshots and stats] when we were looking for something specific. For “Baywatch,” we got Gena [Lee Nolin] off a game show. We basically read everybody that was submitted if they looked within the realm of possibility. Watching TV shows is the best way. I remember I saw Brooke Burns on a show where she didn’t have any lines. I thought, Well, I think she’s gorgeous, we’ll try bringing her in. And she came in and read, and that’s how we found her. I went to a lot of theater, because that’s what I needed to do to cast anything.

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What made “Baywatch” unique to cast compared to other projects you worked on?
The looks were so important. That was different from when I did a TV movie; [then] we would generally focus mainly on the acting, whereas for this one, we needed someone who could act, but there was the added objective of getting the right look.

What were some of the challenges that came with casting the show?
Looking under every stone and finding the right people. It took us a few months to come up with the people we suggested, and the challenges were the same you would have with any project, except physical appearance was more important and also they had to be willing to go in the water, which for other projects is certainly not important.

What was the casting process like?
We saw thousands of people for all the roles, and we got them from agents and managers, we looked through the Players’ Guide—that’s how we found David Charvet. The good thing about casting “Baywatch” was we were able to hire people that, if we weren’t able to give them their start, we could give them an opportunity early in their career. For a lifeguard role, they had to be able to swim and be comfortable in the water, so that eliminated some people. And we also had open calls. We found Jason Momoa in Hawai’i on an open call; Pamela Anderson was suggested by Playboy. We had contacts everywhere and were open to anyone.

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What should an actor know about the audition process in general?
Sometimes people were too desperate. After so many years, you can tell if somebody is a good actor, you can tell if somebody is going to be comfortable. We did coach a lot. A lot of the people who came in that were physically right for a role, if they had a fabulous look, we would coach them a little bit. That helped a lot of actors.

What advice do you have for actors?
Do anything you can to make yourself seen; do showcases and workshops. Sometimes agents or CDs go to those, and it’s a way to be seen. Send out postcards or emails with your name and your picture and your information. Occasionally, we’d call people in from that. You have to be persistent if you’re really interested in acting. It can be relentless; you really have to do everything you can. Make your face seen by the right people.

What do you think people don’t know about casting?
I don’t think people realize how important the casting director is. They put together a jigsaw puzzle. You have to find the right piece for each role, and it can be challenging.