I recently had a meeting that didn’t go well. It was just me and an experienced woman named Brenda, who would have made a great addition to my list. Here’s a transcript of the point where our conversation took a turn for the worse:
SAM: I love the first two scenes on your reel. Those roles were so different from each other.
BRENDA: Thank you. I enjoy playing a wide range of characters.
SAM: And I can see why. You’re a talented actress.
BRENDA: Oh, is that what I am to you? A talented actress?
SAM: Uh, yes. Did I say something wrong?
BRENDA: Let me ask you a question: Would you call a female doctor a doctress? Or would you call a female lawyer a lawyeress?
How To Find Your Type as an Actor She wasn’t being funny. Her tone was serious. I realized it was game over and there was no way Brenda would ever sign with yours truly. That’s a shame, because I sincerely believed she was a talented actress!
Since that encounter, I’ve spoken to a handful of female-identifying performers about that meeting with Brenda, and I asked for their opinions. Approximately 50% of them agreed with Brenda; the other half said they couldn’t care less.
Look, the world has changed a lot, and that’s a good thing. We should be able to have nuanced conversations and disagreements like this. The problem is that we’re all playing with different rule books. That makes it hard for someone like me to make everyone happy.
The challenge gets harder when you factor in race. As projects become more diverse, casting directors want to be clear on a performer’s ethnicity. They don’t want Italian actors playing Cubans, and they sure as hell don’t want Native American roles going to actors who aren’t really Native American. So, as an agent, I have to be clear on these issues with my clients, and being clear isn’t as easy as it used to be.
When I asked an older actor from Mexico if he wanted me to refer to him as Latinx, for instance, he laughed and told me to stop worrying about labels. But then I asked a Colombian actor in his 20s the same question, and he gave me a definite yes.
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Who’s right? Who’s wrong? The answer is no one’s wrong and everyone’s right.
My opinion is that every individual has the right to choose the language that makes them most comfortable—you’ve just got to communicate that. I’ll make every effort to honor that choice if it’s made clear to me. But there is a line I won’t cross: I will not be politically correct just for the sake of sounding politically correct.
Here’s what I mean. This is a transcript of a call I had with a casting director about a role in her project that was described as an African-American woman:
CASTING: So who did you want to pitch for this part?
SAM: Susan Green. I know you like her. And she’s Black.
CASTING: Well, I don’t think you should call her Black.
SAM: Why not?
CASTING: Because the correct term is African-American.
SAM: But she’s from Jamaica.
CASTING: So?
SAM: She’s from the Caribbean, so it is unlikely she identifies as African-American.
CASTING: ….
Later that day, I shared this conversation with Susan, and I asked how she would like me to describe her. She simply said: “Talented.”
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