Casting partners Sarah Halley Finn and Randi Hiller first came to my attention during my research for the "How To Become a Casting Director" feature (BSW, 7/4/02). These two casting directors are young, well trained, and open to sharing information about their journey to their successful partnership: Finn started out as an actor, Hiller as an agent.
The outer office of Finn Hiller Casting is simply decorated with feng shui touches and posters autographed by filmmakers thanking the duo for a job well done. Somewhere on this wall—among Blue Crush, The Scorpion King, Life as a House, and Tomb Raider—these CDs will have to make room for forthcoming releases Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Godsend (starring Robert DeNiro), and the Samuel L. Jackson/Colin Farrell/Michelle Rodriguez starrer S.W.A.T. Yes, it's been a busy year.
First job together: Finn and Hiller had each worked with Risa Bramon Garcia at different times. Finn worked with her in New York theatre, then reconnected in L.A., where Garcia told her, "You'd be great at casting." It was a good fit, said Finn, "because I always draw upon what I know about acting when casting."
Hiller came to casting by way of the Triad Agency's comedy department (first in New York, then in L.A.). After working for Jane Jenkins, Janet Hirshenson, and associate Roger Mussenden on Outbreak and Apollo 13, she joined Bramon Garcia on Twister. When Hiller was offered a radio job back east, Garcia gave her "24 hours to decide whether I wanted to come on board as a partner. Of course I did."
Finn and Hiller first worked together on the feature Paulie: A Parrot's Tail, with Hiller doing adult casting and Finn handling the young-actor search. "Kids' auditions are very improv heavy," said Finn. "It's really hard work, but we use toys, games, and play to get their creativity going without having them read lines. I loved it. It was great to find Hallie Eisenberg at 4 years old." The Finn-Hiller partnership officially began in February 2000.
Biggest benefit to partnership: "We support each other during the challenges. We know we have the same taste, when it comes down to it," Finn said. "We embrace our disagreements."
"Our working methods are complete opposite," said Hiller. "Sarah is visual, and I'm much more auditory in the way I process information."
Agreed Finn, "I'm more administrative, while Randi is intuitive. I understand the studio mindset, having worked at Paramount. I like the budget stuff and deal memos. Randi is creatively brilliant and is really a walking encyclopedia, which I can't do. She can name five credits for any obscure actor I name."
"Yeah, but you have the negotiating tactics," said Hiller. "Mine are like, 'Here's the money we have. Do you want it?' "
After sharing an off-the-record story about producers who try to play the two against one another, saying that each one made a promise in previous conversations, Finn summarized, "We communicate about everything." Which reminded them—they needed to discuss a pitch they'd gotten to cast a reality program for the upcoming pilot season.
"Uh—no," said Hiller.
"We'll talk," said Finn.
Coolest casting gig: For Finn it would be crazy/beautiful, the Artios Award-nominated feature with Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez. "That was a real grass-roots effort. We went all through East L.A. and South Central and looked at thousands of kids," Finn recalled. "[Director] John Stockwell is so demanding in what he's looking for, but that is so rewarding at the end of the day. We got these kids who had never been out of their neighborhoods into a feature, and they'll never forget that."
Hiller's coolest gig remains multi-award-winner In the Bedroom, her last solo-cast project. She'd met director Todd Field on Twister, "and I believed in him so strongly as an actor and a filmmaker even then," she said. Through the three and a half years it took to get In the Bedroom made, Hiller said, "I knew he was going to make this movie. He is amazingly talented, and I consider him one of my many mentors."
Best way to get seen by them: "We do look at everything," Hiller said. Finn concurred: "Yes, we open everything. We have an open-door policy, really, but it's hard when we get calls from five people representing one guy," referring to the troubling trend of multiple submissions. "That's time we could use to audition actors we'll never have time to see now."
Finn listed the importance of the actor's best tools: "Have a great headshot, a good resumé, and great training. Your headshot needs to capture your personality—an essence of who you are, your attitude. It should have a point of view."
"And no retouching," insisted Hiller. "You could retouch yourself out of a job because you don't look like a real person. Why waste your time trying to look like a 22-year-old in your picture when you're going to come in the room and compete with 22-year-olds and not get the job because you're 35?"
Currently casting: Disney's Miracle and the Johnny Knoxville feature Grand Theft Parsons. Set for the new year—along with that possible reality series—is another feature with an indie film producer/director. Considering that this duo has cast 17 features in less than three years, they'll likely have more projects gearing up soon.
Advice for actors: "Be the best actor you can be," said Finn. "Believe in yourself, know your stuff, study your craft, and work hard at it. Know that casting people remember you. Show up, do your work, and know you can't control anything beyond that."
"It's all so subjective," Hiller agreed. "If you don't get a callback, it's not necessarily about you. So many times, an actor is not cast because he can't play 'of that period' or she can't play 'that man's daughter,' " Hiller said.
Hiller added, "We train our staff to help the actors. We made them watch The It Factor so they know what an actor's life is like. We really try to make it fun here. The more fun we have, the better job actors do, the better we look, and the more jobs we get. So of course we want you to come in and be comfortable."
Another tip: Be findable. "You should be in SAG, be listed in the Academy Players Directory, and update your information with them," Finn said. "We spent half a day trying to find a guy for a role that shoots the day after tomorrow—the original actor had to drop out due to a death in the family, and I just knew if we could find this actor, he could do the part. But he is nowhere to be found, so we've had emergency sessions all day long."
"Every number we called for this guy, it just rang and rang and rang," Hiller lamented. "And that part was his."
Their greatest casting challenge: "Staying grounded is hard," Finn admitted. "There is a barrage of phone calls, and it's hard to not let the stress get to you. It can get to you when you want to be there mentally, emotionally, totally for these actors who have spent hours preparing." Interjected Hiller: "[Agents will] pitch 40 actors. We'll see 38—but still, we're getting pressured about the two we couldn't fit in."
Getting honest submissions is another challenge. Recalled Hiller, "We had this project where we needed ice skaters. They had to play Olympic-caliber hockey, and we knew they would have a 45-minute hockey test as a part of the audition. We set up the test for 500 actors whose agents swore up and down that they could skate. Only 60 percent showed up, and only 30 percent of those passed the test. It's like they figure, 'Well, they're never gonna find someone who skates, so I'll go in anyway and they'll hire me.' No! We needed skaters. It's a hockey movie."
What they would change about the casting process: "I want casting to have a less negative connotation," Hiller said. "Actors need to know that somebody wants them to get the job. We are not the enemy. In fact, we're the converse of that." Finn added, "Some people are fueled by their nervous energy, others are engulfed by it. It's very human to obsess about an audition; but the more you audition, the less you'll obsess about it."
Most gratifying part of their job: "Finding interesting, fantastic actors that everyone is thrilled with because they're so brilliant, fresh, and exciting," Finn concluded. Hiller added, "When I've believed in somebody for so long and I finally see them get the break they deserve—whether I've cast them or someone else has and I see them working—it's great to see a good actor get a good job." BSW
Randi Hiller, CSA & Sarah Halley Finn, CSA
Finn Hiller Casting
588 N. Larchmont Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Casting Qs is a weekly column by Bonnie Gillespie focusing on the casting directors behind the projects. Suggestions for Qs are welcome via e-mail at CastingQs@yahoo.com.
