
Auditions can be a nightmare, causing painful anxiety for many actors. The truth is, they never get easier. But it’s important to remember that an audition is still a human-to-human interaction. The person across the table at an audition has a job as well, and they are working hard.
A talented casting director is essential for any great project, and they are also the people who can launch actors’ careers. Having a casting director friend can be a huge blessing. Most importantly, actors who understand what casting directors do and how they think will do better at auditions. We’ve gathered together stories from actors on casting directors that shaped their lives and careers, as well as advice from CDs on what they look for in an audition.
Tig Notaro (“One Mississippi”) on seeing the importance of CDs from working on her show.
“They’re just such key, key people in bringing the characters to life. Having my own show and having help in finding these amazing actors, it’s really such an example of how every single piece of the puzzle in making a movie or TV show is crucial. The director is just as important as the casting director, and they’re just as important as the assistants and writers. I wouldn’t have known where to begin to find the people that play my family and the other characters on my show. I just am endlessly thankful for casting’s talents.”
Meghann Fahy (“The Bold Type”) on good advice she received while auditioning.
“I actually had a casting director say something really helpful to me once and it was for a TV audition. She said, ‘Read the sides like it’s a piece of music. Pay attention to the punctuation because it’s like it’s a song and those are all important parts of the song. If there’s a rest in a song, you don’t skip it.’ It’s the same when you’re reciting words for a regular audition. I try to approach all of my auditions with that in mind and it is helpful.”
Meghan Markle (“Suits”) on a CD who changed her life.
“There was a casting director named April Webster who has basically cast everything of note from TV to film for close to two decades (think ‘Lost’ and ‘Mission Impossible’). I had never met her before, and at my very first audition for her, she stopped me mid-scene and said so simply, ‘You need to know that you’re enough.’ I was breathless. No one had ever seen it, or perhaps no one had ever called me out, but there in that small box of a room in Burbank, this woman I had never met saw me. My gut reaction was to smile. To smile hard. Maybe that would keep the tears tucked behind my draping eyes.”
Deborah Ayorinde (“True Detective”) on the CD who first noticed her.
“For my first TV role, we’re talking Alpha Tyler. She worked with Tyler Perry Studios. My first TV role was on ‘Meet the Browns’ and it was the perfect first experience, because if anyone’s worked on a Tyler Perry production, they’ll know they’re so welcoming, so loving, and so nurturing.”
Betty Gabriel (“Get Out”) on the CD who launched her career.
“Terri Taylor, definitely. She’s been my cheerleader since ‘The Purge: Election Year,’ which is why I’ve done six projects for Blumhouse [Productions]. She cast ‘Get Out’ as well. I believe in the power that a casting director has. At times, a casting director can be your worst nightmare, but a casting director can [also] be your saving grace, and she’s definitely been that for me.”
Russell Hornsby (“Creed II”) on the CD who first cast him.
“Mali Finn. This was 2000 and I was doing a play called ‘Jitney.’ It was right around pilot season, which is January [and] February, and I got asked to come in for an audition for a TV show called ‘Gideon’s Crossing.’ I go into Mali’s office, and she calls me in and she says, ‘Hey, have a seat,’ and we proceeded to talk for 45 minutes. She asks me who I am, where I’m from, what I like to do. She got to know me. This was my first real audition in Los Angeles. She made me feel like I mattered. Then she said, ‘You’re going to come back in a few days, and I’m going to introduce you to the show creator. You have a good chance of getting this.’ I was 25 years old. I ended up getting that job. It went to series for a season, and it was great.”
Maika Monroe (“After Everything”) on the CD who first saw something in her.
“Deborah Dion, who has become a good friend, [was the first casting director to give me my big break]. She was the casting director on a movie that I auditioned for called ‘At Any Price.’ I was in the Dominican Republic when I sent in an audition tape, and it went to her and she saw it and she sent it to the director. That shaped everything. I give [credit] to her for seeing my tape and noticing it.”
Amy Ryan (“Beautiful Boy”) on the value of being in the room with CDs.
“I’ve been a reader many times, which I think is a great opportunity for any young actor, if you have a casting director friend, ask to be a reader for auditions, because it’s so illuminating how many people have this great opportunity to stand in front of a playwright or director or casting director, and they’re not prepared—they rolled out of bed and just printed the sides out. It’s staggering how many people aren’t prepared. When you witness that you become very aware and you would be embarrassed to behave that way yourself, to waste their time and your time.”
Casting Director David Rapaport (“Supergirl”) on what not to do in an audition.
“I understand how hard it can be. I give actors so much credit to walk into a room they’ve never been in before and feel comfortable or vulnerable enough to share with us and show us their unique selves. It’s a difficult process but I’m always looking for someone who sees it as an opportunity to act, to play, to have fun, and who wants to connect with the material and show us what they came up with. A big mistake a lot of actors tend to do is they try to impress me or the producers by guessing what we want. The whole purpose of auditions is to see what they can come up with and discover what they can bring to the game. If we knew what we wanted, we wouldn’t be doing auditions, we’d be making straight offers.”
Casting Director Francine Maisler (“Succession,” “Vice”) on remembering talent from auditions for future projects.
“When I worked on ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,’ Sarah [Snook] was the runner-up to Rooney Mara. I never forgot her audition and admired Sarah’s versatility, so I cast her in Danny Boyle’s ‘Steve Jobs’ some years later. When the role of Shiv [on ‘Succession’] came up, I think she was a little hesitant to do a series, but I assured her that this was a group of people you want to work with. We were all very fortunate she decided to take the role.... I was a fan of [Kieran Culkin] from his theater work, as well as films like ‘Igby Goes Down’ and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.’ I asked him to audition for Greg. After reading the [‘Succession’] pilot, he decided to audition for Roman because it was the role he wanted. That was a very ‘Roman’ thing of him to do.
Casting Director Sherry Thomas (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) on what she looks for in an audition.
“Are [actors] listening? Are they listening not just in the scene but to the direction, to the notes? As we start to read a role, we discover actors falling into the same trap over and over. If somebody walks in, and you give them a note, sometimes they can’t quite get out of their brain because they’ve prepared so diligently in their own way. I wonder if they’re really listening to what I’m saying. Also, you have to be a good person. It goes a really long way.”
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