Fans of M. Night Shyamalan know Douglas Aibel’s work well, as do fans of a long list of prestige TV and film. The two converged when Apple TV+ put Shyamalan’s “Servant” into production, and now the series is looking at its third season. Following a family who suffers the loss of a child and invites a mysterious woman into their home as a nanny, the series is almost a sequence of tableaus that might seem normal at first glance but really descend into the filmmaker’s trademark eerie tone and unexpected plot twists. Aibel worked with casting partner Stephanie Holbrook and Philadelphia-based casting duo, another Shyamalan go-to, Diane Keery and Jason Loftus, to build the series’ core leads, as well as find a rotating cast of supporting and guest actors to match its singular tone. Aibel and Holbrook share their process as well as the pros and cons that came out of quarantine casting changes.
Lauren Ambrose on the Thrilling, ‘Holy’ Process of Bringing a Character to Life Why was “Servant” a project you were interested in casting?
Douglas Aibel: One of the things that attracted me to it, besides working with Night again, and Tony [Basgallop, showrunner] was these characters in a very unusual situation, mostly shot in their house, with a tone that was alternately dramatic, eerie, and comic. When I first read the pilot, it reminded me of a Roald Dahl short story—creepy but elegant and witty, spiritually, which, for me, was quite unusual. I’ve never read a script like that before. It was a lot of fun to put actors together who would capture exactly the right tone for it.
“The more experience you have in and being comfortable in front of the camera, even if it’s the camera on your iPhone, and bringing your best sense of yourself to a film or television audition that you’re creating, I think is a very positive development opportunity.”
How was casting a series for M. Night Shyamalan different from films you’ve worked on with him?
DA: You’re first given a pilot that obviously has asked a bunch of questions. You start with a couple that you think have a baby and then find out something else, you realize that a puzzle is being set up. As you work on the show, you’re discovering the journey of the show. On a film, and especially when you have the whole script in advance, you know who all the characters are and what the emotional arc is for all the characters before you start the process. In a way, we have to play along with the audience game of discovering things.
Stephanie Holbrook: Doug and Night have such a shorthand after so many years of working together, the main difference would be that there were just a few there were more people involved, writing and directing episodes. There’s a broader collaboration.
With that being said, how did the cast come together?
DA: That initial process was very rigorous; a lot of people were auditioning and meeting on it and that brought us to Lauren [Ambrose], Toby [Kebbell], and Rupert [Grint] as our central characters. Once that initial group was solidified, finding people who fit in in that universe was interesting. Whether they’re playing the detective or the mysterious uncle, we were always looking for that ability to be both dramatic and comic. We wanted people who, even in repose, even when they weren’t playing anything, conveyed a mystery and had dramatic chops. The tone was a very precise one, it’s very eccentric and understated and menacing.
SH: At the same time, to make the reveals realistic, and to not give away anything, you’re focusing on the elements of each character, making sure they’re real and authentic so that they’re not revealing any story points that are coming out.
How does that mystery factor into the audition process?
SH: In most cases, they probably didn’t know either until they got their scripts for that episode. That’s helpful; you don’t want to see an actor playing as if something’s going to happen with their character.
How Rupert Grint Builds a Character, From ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘Servant’ How could you ensure that actors would achieve the right tone during the audition process?
DA: There’s a challenge on any show in the first season because actors are sometimes given a scene that they know very well about the project, but they haven’t seen the show yet. You really have to find people who have that ability, just by their nature, to get that sense that they’re spiritually and dramatically attuned to the style of the piece that hasn’t been released yet. I would think in Season 2 and Season 3, actors auditioning have already gotten the advantage of having some sense of the style and the tone of it. I give a lot of credit to the actors in the first season. They’re sort of like pioneers, they had to jump in perfectly.
“I’ve been really pleased to see how many actors have created their own work and have been very creative about producing it in these crazy times and just popping it online. Just keep doing that, keep watching and keep creating.”
How did you work with the casting team in Philadelphia?
DA: Diane Heery and her partner had done the local casting on most of Night’s movies. We’ve had a good relationship with them in the past. Usually when you’re breaking down the script, you mutually agree what roles might be found locally, and what roles will be exclusively New York. Sometimes there’s crossover, where the director and the producers will look at both local and national actors and pick the best person. It’s a very open process.
SH: I think it’s nice that the show is set there, and Diane Heery was able to find people who really feel like local Philly people. It’s definitely an asset to have a partnership like that.
What made casting “Servant” unique for you?
DA: For me that very interesting sort of literary quality. That eccentric, menacing, sometimes dramatic, sometimes comic, sometimes scary, sometimes moving tone. All of them are these miniature scenes in which you see a few people under a microscope by and large in the same house. It has a different tone than almost anything I’ve ever worked on before. It almost feels like working on a play, and you have a small ensemble of actors working on a unit set, and there’s enough time with them that I think that they really do get to explore every nook and cranny, every avenue of emotional experience, every color of these characters in a really intimate way. It’s sort of life under a microscope in this wonderfully odd little world. And it’s a unique challenge for them.
SH: You have this core cast, and then these other interesting characters dropping in. It was a unique challenge for me and Doug, between the two of us, to make sure that the people who were dropping in work well with that core group and fall into the tone of the show.
To Work With M. Night Shyamalan, Reconnect With Your Inner Child How did you have to make adjustments to casting during quarantine?
DA: Auditions don’t exist anymore, all auditions are self-tape or callbacks online. It’s a very different experience. It was particularly challenging because I believe we were halfway through Season 2 when lockdown began, and we had to quickly readjust to a different form of interaction than the norm, which would be in the room with an actor working with them on their audition. It was unsettling, but we found a way to make it work.
SH: You miss the process of working with an actor helping them find their best position directly. But there are a lot of advantages too, I think. Most professional actors over the last year, if they haven’t already had a lot of skill with self-taping, have learned how to do it. In some respects, it empowers the actor, because they can put forward the audition that they feel best about to the casting director and the production team, which is not always the case when you just come in and read for something.
DA: It really was a challenge for everybody, both actors and production, to figure out a way to do this. It provided a lot of opportunities for actors to be ingenious. How do they do this when they’re alone in a room, with their phone, or on a very busy New York street or with a cat climbing on them? I saw a lot of actors reading from their kitchen or their bathroom to find a spot where the sound was good as the light was good. Directors and producers were very forgiving.
What advice would you give actors about moving forward and staying positive right now, as things start to open up soon?
DA: There’s a lot of production going on, I think people should take heart from that. On every production that I’ve been involved with, the producers and parent companies have been very focused on safety; the protocols are rigorously followed. That’s a very encouraging sign. And I also think that using this time to develop your skill at film or television, auditioning, practicing with just scenes you can create for yourself is a very positive thing. At another point in time, there were some actors, especially actors who work more commonly in theater who didn’t get as many opportunities to tape for film or television. It’s a really nice period because everybody’s doing it now. The more experience you have in and being comfortable in front of the camera, even if it’s the camera on your iPhone, and bringing your best sense of yourself to a film or television audition that you’re creating, I think is a very positive development opportunity.
SH: I’ve been really pleased to see how many actors have created their own work and have been very creative about producing it in these crazy times and just popping it online. Just keep doing that, keep watching and keep creating.
Check out Backstage’s TV audition listings!