Spooky season is officially here, and Freeform’s “Coven Academy” is leading the charge starting Oct. 1 (with next-day streaming on Disney+ and Hulu). Created by Tim Federle, the mind behind “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” the new young-adult dramedy promises a spellbinding mix of supernatural mystery and teenage angst. Think you have the chops to land a role in a YA project like this? Here’s your insider guide to getting cast in this new series.
JUMP TO
- What is “Coven Academy” about?
- Who is in the cast of “Coven Academy”?
- Who are the casting directors for “Coven Academy”?
- What was the casting process like for “Coven Academy”?
- Where can you find “Coven Academy” casting calls and auditions?
- What are the best audition tips for landing a role on “Coven Academy”?
Set in New Orleans, “Coven Academy” centers on Crescent Veil, an elite magic school for those with supernatural talents. The series follows three teenage witches as they train to meet their destiny: saving their city from ancient forces that threaten their safety. However, as they uncover dark secrets that threaten the world as they know it, the trio must also navigate the friendships and heartbreaks that come with being a not-so-average teenage witch.
The Season 1 cast includes:
- Malina Pauli Weissman as Briar
- Tiffani Thiessen as Miss Graves
- Malachi Barton as Jake
- Louis Thresher as Ollie
- Jordan Leftwich as Sasha
- Ora Duplass as Tegan
- Brendon Tremblay as Alexander
- Swayam Bhatia as McKenna
- Keegan Connor Tracy as Tamora
- Devon Sawa as Mr. Cole
- BJ Harrison as Agnes
- Nathaniel Logan McIntyre as Teese
Danielle Aufiero and Amber Horn (“Zombies,” “Good American Family”) of Aufiero/Horn Casting are the primary casting directors behind Freeform’s “Coven Academy.” The duo cast Federle’s other supernatural Disney project, “Vampirina: Teenage Vampire,” too. You can follow the CDs on Instagram for casting news and production updates. Be sure to check out some of their best auditioning advice.
To bring this ’90s-inspired supernatural teen drama to life, the team behind “Coven Academy” wanted both familiar names and fresh faces. To touch on nostalgia, Federle extended direct offers to ’90s icons Thiessen (“Saved by the Bell”) and Sawa (“Casper”). As for the coven’s emerging talent, the casting journey was highly competitive. Weissman, Leftwich, and Duplass spent months navigating extensive self-tapes, callbacks, and virtual chemistry reads to prove they could nail the show’s mix of high stakes and sharp comedy. To ensure the ensemble clicked, final contenders were brought to Los Angeles for in-person chemistry reads, including Weissman testing alongside Thresher.
The process also involved some creative reshuffling. Barton originally auditioned for Ollie before being cast as Jake, a character he says he helped shape while traveling on tour.
It’s still too early to tell whether Season 2 will get the green light. In the meantime, we recommend exploring our fantasy and Disney casting pages, which regularly update with the latest related opportunities as they become available. You might also find our guide on how to audition for Disney useful since Freeform is part of the company.
For more help landing a role on “Coven Academy,” we suggest finding an acting agent who can represent your best interests as you pursue a career in acting.
Sawa’s advice comes from years of experience in the industry. “It takes work to succeed in this business,” Sawa told On Film. “Like a professional athlete, actors should always be training when they’re not in the game,” he said.
Surviving that game requires enduring deep disappointment—a lesson Thiessen learned after narrowly missing out on a dream role in a James Bond film. “I wanted this job more than anything,” she told the Chicago Tribune. But despite making it through several callbacks, she didn’t get the part.
The rejection hit hard, prompting Thiessen to take a break from the industry to regain her footing. She returned with a more detached philosophy toward the grueling audition process. Her advice? “Learn how to stay focused on something that you want, but know that it’s not always up to you, even though you may give it 110%. There is a path that sometimes you can’t change. There’s something very freeing about that,” she said. “If it doesn’t go my way, it’s not that I didn’t give it my all, it’s that it wasn’t meant to be."
