Patrick Rush has a reputation for being kind to actors, and this comes through on meeting him. "I want the audition process to be painless for everyone but me," he said. "It's never going to be painless for me because, after you walk away, I stay in the room. I'm on pins and needles while the producers decide whether we need another session. If the session ends and they tell me they love several of the actors equally, that's a good day."
From the seventh floor Everwood casting office in Burbank, Rush and his associate, Alyson Silverberg, populate the eclectic world in which the Brown family lives. The show is shot on location in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Rush takes great pleasure in bringing an actor to producers on a Thursday and having him fly to Utah on Friday to join "the family we have assembled."
First Casting Job: Assisting Julie Selzer and Sally Dennison in casting the features Robocop 2 and The Accused. "I think it's a fun job," said Rush. "I really liked the idea of casting. It seemed creative. I still like the idea of casting. We're the first people hired on. It's great to be involved with something creative from the very beginning."
Coolest Casting Gig: Rush couldn't single out one gig. In addition to naming his current project, Everwood, as coolest, he named episodic underdog Party of Five and the Danny DeVito/Billy Crystal feature Throw Momma From the Train. Why these two, out of a casting resumé that includes the feature film Bounce and hit episodics Dawson's Creek, The Pretender, and Farscape?
"Throw Momma From the Train was an assistant job for me with Julie and Sally," Rush recalled. "And Momma was my idea." Anne Ramsey—the only woman who could have possibly played the horrific Momma—was brought in by an assistant? Yep. "She and I went to the same dermatologist when I was in high school. We would be there on the same day, and she would always tell me about stuff she was in. When the need for Momma came up, I knew she was perfect. They had seen everyone. They kept looking and looking and then finally, they said, 'Fine. Bring that woman in!' Within three hours, she had the part."
As for Party of Five, Rush's fondness stems from the show's heart and soul. "I loved Party of Five. I worked on it for the four years I was with Liberman Hirschfeld Casting. That was an amazing experience—a great place to work. Meg [Liberman] and Marc [Hirschfeld] are such craftsmen, artists, hard workers. I left Liberman Hirschfeld a better casting director than I would have ever been had I not worked there."
Currently Casting: The breakout WB hit Everwood. "I loved the pilot script," said Rush of the Treat Williams starrer about a single doctor and his family. "It had so many different characters, so many different types of characters. And ever since casting the pilot, it's been a pleasure to cast more than the usual five 30-year-old guys every week. We're casting people in their 60s all the way to teenagers. This show has allowed me to bring in some of my favorite actors I hadn't been able to work with because they're not normally up for series regular roles at pilot season." Rush said he appreciates above all the show's writing, calling creator/producer Greg Berlanti "so wise. He's smart and he writes great voices for the characters. This whole writing staff that is assembled just makes each week better and better."
What about the nuts-and-bolts casting needs of the show? "Our budget allows us to send five guest stars per episode—which is a decent amount—and a lot of those are brought back as recurring [characters]," Rush revealed. Everwood was the first one-hour episodic to be picked up for the whole season this year. Now that the back nine episodes are scheduled, Rush is busily casting three new episodes every month. "Treat is very passionate about the project," Rush said. "He'll call me with suggestions. Now we've cast John Savage [with whom Williams worked in Hair] as a hermit who lives with a bear after his wife has left him for his brother. Treat has to go to him because his brother needs a kidney," he explained of a typically offbeat storyline.
Key Things He Looks for in an Actor: That old standby, preparation. "Being prepared includes knowing what you're auditioning for. This is especially important when you come to producers. Don't come in and gush about the show, but at least see it before you come in. Or call friends and ask them about the show. You have to know its tone. This is part of your homework."
Is training important? "Well, yes," he conceded, but he added, "There are plenty of well-trained bad actors out there. I say that because—trained or not trained—actors go through the same process here: preread, read, producer callbacks, testing at the network, testing at the studio. You either have it or you don't. It's a gift and it can shine through if you work on it. But the most important thing to learn is how to get up in front of people and share that gift."
Advice for Actors: "Acting must be your passion," he advised. "There is so much rejection. It is so much easier on my side of the desk. I'm not saying casting is an easy job by any means, but I don't have to go out and interview two or three times a week to get a job. It's hard. It's heartbreaking. And the only way to combat that is to have something else going on in your life—friends, family, volunteer work—that allows you to be of love and service. You must have a whole life outside of what you do for a living so that you approach auditions relaxed."
An actor delivers his best audition, according to Rush, when there is "no way" he will book the job. "An agent will call me in the morning to tell me that an actor who is coming in for me in the afternoon just booked a job that will conflict with our shoot dates, but the actor still wants to come in and read for me, so that I can keep him in mind for something in the future," Rush explained. "One hundred percent of the time, that is the actor the producers want to hire. The actor just throws it away more or doesn't have that desperation or nervousness. That's the way all auditions should be."
Best Way To Get Seen by Him: "I go through all of my mail," Rush insisted. "I pull pictures that stand out, I pull different types, I pull ones with smart cover letters. Here," he said, as he flipped a postcard onto his desk, "I loved her name. It's just whatever grabs me."
Rush strongly recommended the use of postcards. "Postcards are the most reasonable way to send yourself out. It costs less [than sending an 8x10] and it works." He also scouts at the theatre and advised actors to drop him a postcard when they will be performing.
How Far He'll Go To Cast You: Rush was working on the short-lived episodic series Time of Your Life when he spotted Hal Ozsan in a series of telephone commercials. "He was great. I kept thinking, I've got to use this guy. So I put out a search in the Breakdowns to find him, cast him in the show, used him again on The Pretender, Freakylinks, and now he's a recurring character on Dawson's Creek. He's just great. He delivers every time he is in the room."
Most Gratifying Part of His Job: "I am so lucky to get to do this for a living. I am humbled by the fact that I get a paycheck for this. Actors think they've cornered the market on insecurity, and that's just not true. Every time I drive up to the gate and say my name, I am thrilled that the guard actually pushes the button for the arm to go up to let me on the lot. It's amazing." BSW
Patrick Rush, CSA
3400 Riverside Dr., Ste. 700
Burbank, CA 91505
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.