In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast features in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy actors and creators. Join host and senior editor Vinnie Mancuso for this guide to living the creative life from those who are doing it every day.
Jenny Lewis and Sara Kay know a little something about what BookTok fans want to see. They are, after all, the casting directors who launched Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams into the A-list through the hockey romance adaptation “Heated Rivalry.”
“I think we do know what’s hot. And that might not be just visual. It’s the whole package,” Lewis says on the latest episode of In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast. “So when we see it in an actor, we’re like, ‘OK, we know that this person is going to meet the requirements of the audience.’ That’s something we really get and we’re tapped into.”
For anyone who wants their own “Heated Rivalry” story, it all starts with nailing the chemistry read. “Even in a Zoom room, you have to be connecting, listening, and willing to give to the other person,” Lewis says. “Even when we were [in person], you could feel people jockeying to be the number one in the scene, and that doesn’t work if you’re looking for chemistry. You need people who are really willing to work together, make each other better, and feed off each other.”
Kay agrees. “You just need to be open. Some actors are very self-serving and maybe don’t even realize it until they have to be in a room with someone,” she says. “When you see actors who haven’t worked a lot, it’s like, ‘Do they really know that you have to do this back and forth?’ ”
“A lot of the time, people are very like, ‘This is about me.’ Or they’re really nervous, and they cannot see what’s in front of them. They’re just like, ‘I’ve got to do what I prepared,’ Kay continues. “So we always say to keep it loose and don’t overprepare, because the second you’re in the room with another actor, you have to be open to that process. Which means that you have to be really listening and really engaging.”
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