She spoke to us from her office in Sydney.

Key Insights

• Danny Long believes the best auditions happen when actors stop performing perfection and lean into authentic, truthful choices.
• Self tapes have transformed casting, giving actors more control while still requiring strong instincts, genre awareness, and emotional honesty.
• Successful casting depends on collaboration, empathy, and extensive global searches to discover fresh talent and underrepresented voices.

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A lot of casting directors start as actors, and there’s inevitably a moment of clarity when you realize you want to be behind the camera instead of in front of it. Did you have that?

I think I loved it immediately. As soon as I started reading and just playing with actors and having all the joy and none of the stress of it, it was like playing tennis with people. You’re riffing on ideas. I immediately wanted to be a casting director. I just chopped off the acting part of myself, and stopped cold.

Was there anything in particular that made it so special for you, besides the playing with actors?

I just found it really freeing. I think my strongest suit is I have a lot of empathy for actors, so I really enjoy making people feel comfortable in the room, and trying to get the best out of people, and also just making it a really collaborative process. I don’t think I received that so much when I was an actor, so I wanted to break the mold.

A bit less of a power play between the casting director and the actor, and make it a little bit more equal. Auditioning should be an enjoyable process. Joel Edgerton actually said the best thing to me about auditioning. When he used to come in and audition for me, he was just flawless. Casual. Relaxed. I asked him his secret, and he said he just treats every audition like a workshop.

I agree. It should be collaborative. No one can operate from a place of fear. To get the best out of someone, you need to make them feel comfortable. And I really enjoyed that part of the process.

Are you able to do that with the way things have shifted to online and self tapes?

We offer both. Always. Actors often prefer self tapes now because they get to do a gazillion takes and they get all the time in the world to perfect it. I give feedback on self tapes I make people re-tape. If I see a kernel of something in there and I think they’ve just missed it or misinterpreted something, I will say you need to go again with these notes.

I love both. I love being in the room and I love getting self tapes, because you get to see what an actor will organically bring without any interference, instinctually. It’s pretty fascinating, and sometimes when you get self tapes, you’re like, “Oh shit, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

I don’t know that I would have got that in the room, but then you have the inverse to happen when they are in the room and you you tweak something, and you know that wouldn’t have been possible with a self tape.

Do you think your background as an actor gives you an advantage?

It’s definitely helpful, for sure. You understand the craft. You’ve been in their shoes. Yeah, you have a better language base to be able to direct from, but you can learn that as well without having been an actor. You could be working with someone for six years, watch them and learn by via osmosis.

I think having been an actor, it’s definitely a bonus. 

Working on a studio film like Send Help, do you find your reach as a casting director has extended beyond Australia?

Well, [Dylan O’Brien and Rachel McAdams] were cast by the studio and Nancy Nayor, but the rest of the roles are all mine. But obviously, boots on the ground in the territory that you’re working in is the best way to cast so yes, we all cast globally. We all come up with ideas globally.

I think if you’re actually in that territory, of course, you’re going to have greater knowledge, greater capacity to come up with ideas than somebody who’s on the other side of the world. I do like working collaboratively with another casting director. I find that really useful. 

I worked on a film called Tenzing, about Tenzing Norgay, which is all Tibetan and Sherpa speakers. So we did a global search for that during COVID, my associate Ryan Madden and I, auditioning in a foreign language. Casting in communities is my favorite thing. I think people know me for that. Moana was another one where we cast globally in the Pacifica community all around the world.

That was fun. We just did a series last year [where] everyone in it is living with a disability. That was amazing. You get to learn so much about the communities. It’s probably my passion — research and learning about different cultures, and different people with different backgrounds and trying to find the unicorns to be in series that are telling stories that are different [from] the mainstream.

Unicorn finder is a good reputation to have.

I guess so. I think that’s project related, though. I don’t think you can cast unicorns in everything. You often need to attach a name, and in a way that’s tougher when you’ve got a clean slate and you’re finding a Tibetan man to play Tenzing.

How many Tibetan actors do we all know? We probably auditioned over 1,500 people globally for 10 roles in that project. In a way, that’s easier, because when you’re casting attaching names, it’s availability and money, all of that juggle.

It’s a completely different stress to wide searches.

That seems like a good segue into our final question, which is what piece of advice, or wisdom,  would you give to somebody coming in to audition for you?

Look, I don’t think I’m going to tell you anything you haven’t heard, but one of my pet things is to make sure you know the genre that you’re taping for. Bring your authentic self to the role. When I say authentic self, I don’t mean the homogenized, shiny version of yourself that you think we want to see.

We want to see the warty, real human aspects. That’s what’s going to set you apart, what makes you you. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Sometimes, it can be left of center, and that’s what makes us sit up and notice your tape or watch you in an audition room where you’re like, “What? What just happened there?”

That’s fresh, but it’s also truthful and authentic.

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Actress Christina Villa, studied acting at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York and learned first-hand what it takes. She has since relocated to Los Angeles, but that New York mentality never left her. 

It’s that mentality that has led to her casting in the 2025 Dolph Lundgren action Netflix film Wanted Man, as well as the sci-fi thriller Spark, currently playing on Amazon Prime. She still carries the lessons she learned in New York, lessons that have served her well.

She spoke to us from her home in LA. 

Key Insights

• Building an acting career in New York requires persistence, community, and a willingness to consistently put yourself in the room.
• Christina Villa credits her growth to intense craft training, continuous self-development, and learning directly from working actors and casting professionals.
• Success came not from one breakthrough moment, but from years of networking, showcases, self-tapes, and showing up professionally at every opportunity.

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What first got you into acting?

My mom was a singer, and so she would perform at local venues and stuff. Sometimes she would have us come on stage with her. I was actually a pretty shy kid, but there was something different about performing. [I said to myself], “‘Oh, I have to do what mom’s doing,’ which is, ‘Don’t get nervous, and don’t be shy, and just do it.’” My mom eventually stopped singing, and I put it aside around middle school age. 

I went to [college] in Austin, at UT. I got my degree in communications, specifically PR, and I just started seeing people actually be artists as they’re in their lives, and going to different improv shows, and there’s music venues everywhere. Upon graduation, I was just not excited about becoming a publicist.

When I was interning, I would sometimes be on commercial sets and think, I want to be that person in front of the camera.

What changed?

I took my first acting class, and I just loved it. I loved being on set. Then I just decided I’m gonna pursue this. I don’t come from money or anything, so I have to support myself. I’ll keep working with a full-time job, and while I’m doing that, I’ll also do theater.

I found a book called Breaking Into Acting for Dummies, and that’s where I learned what a demo reel was and what a casting director was. I knew I could do student films to get footage for my reel, and I need to go do theater so that I can sharpen my skills.

I started doing that, acting any way that I could, wherever I was, and that eventually led me to applying to grad school in New York, and I got my MFA there in acting at the Actors Studio. 

Was there more to your education?

It’s definitely an industry where you can’t do it by yourself. You have to have community and reach out to people and ask questions and just be out there knocking on doors. Whenever I met somebody doing what I wanted to do, I’d invite them for coffee, ask them how they got their start, where they’re going and what they’re doing, and just learning along the way. It’s really been one foot in front of the other.

Why the Actors Studio?

When I started taking acting classes and actually learning the craft of it — Strasberg, Stanislavski, Stella Adler, Meisner, they all originated in New York. That lit a little bit of a match there. It really culminated for me when I saw Al Pacino speak at the Plaza Classic Film Festival in El Paso.

I reached out to an acting teacher that I had in Austin, Amber DuPuy, who gave me a list of schools that she thought I could do well at. One of them was Pace University, and I saw that they had the Actors Studio Drama School. 

Once you got to New York, what was that experience like?

I was focused on my studies. I did a couple of little student films here and there, just to start developing my reel. But that program was very intense. It wasn’t something you could just phone in. You had to immerse yourself, and then I was also working part time. I started to realize that the students doing the best were the ones constantly working.

After class, I was constantly booking studio space so that I can go and take my two-hour block to create different elements of whatever scene I was working on. The method gets misconstrued, but what it’s really about is basically building a house.

You have to have a good foundation. You have to know who your character is, but also building from the outside in, too. You had to put a lot of time into your work, and that’s definitely laid down a foundation for me.

When you finished the program, did you find representation?

Yeah, so I when I graduated, I found that I had to really look within and say, “How bad do you want this?” Because I wasn’t one of the students that got called into a meeting after our showcase. That realization, that everybody was getting calls, and I wasn’t, knocked the wind out of me.

Well? What did you do?

I had to hit the pavement on my own and just figure it out. I bumped into some walls, but it was really just Actors Connection, One on One, The Actor’s Green Room, doing all those things to get to know casting directors, doing showcases.

I did plenty of showcases. I worked full time at a mattress store on East 60th, and that’s how I was able to fund all these different things, but I was able to meet agents and casting directors by doing everything I could.

So it was just always saying yes, anything that got you in front of people, got you on stage, and it might get you in front of the right person who’s going to notice you and put you in something? 

I was called in for FBI for a costar [role] and Jonathan Strauss’ office was casting. [Casting director] Alexis Atkinson was there for my audition, and I got a callback. I didn’t get the part, but I got an email from her asking if I would be interested in working with her.

She’d check out my headshots, my reel, and then we’d work on self tapes together, because at the time I had an agent that I submitted to, and she would get me auditions. It really was just one foot in front of the other.

This person giving me a tip over here, this person over here a referral. I definitely was not shy about asking for help. I feel New York was definitely planting all the seeds.

How did you get the agent?

I had seen that somebody booked a costar [role] on one of those procedural shows. I thought, “Well, I fit that world, because I’ve been called into that world, so let’s see who their agent is.” I submitted to their agent, and she got back to me within minutes. She was looking for my type.

I think that serves as such a good example for anyone who might be reading this, about doing research and pounding the pavement.

Yeah, and sometimes you feel overwhelmed because you’re not sure and think, “Well, what do I do?” It’s not linear. Again, put that foot in front of the other, and then just see what happens. If you’re doing something and it’s right for you, then the door will open, and if it’s not, the door will close, and then you’ll just have to walk down the hall and see if any doors open over there.

There’s no formula where it’s A plus B equals C. I’m still trying to meet more people and knock on more doors, but it’s helpful that now others are willing to go to bat for me with the people that they know, and I think that’s something to really keep in mind, is that when people go to bat for you, you need to be able to show up.

Somebody who’s on time, somebody who does their part, and who’s constantly working on their craft.

Do you still find you think of yourself as a New York actress?

I think I always will. It has community. People were always so open to lend a hand. Just reach out and say, “Hey, why don’t you come to this workshop with me?” Or, “Can you come to this event with me?” So I try to make sure that I pay that forward as well. I think a big aspect of being a New York actor is really desiring and creating community in artistic spaces.

When somebody is your friend in New York, they’re really your friend, and that’s super valuable. And obviously in New York, you can go into a small theater and see amazing work, and I think that’s just something to always strive for, that you’re working at that level, no matter where you’re at.

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There are some general misconceptions about background acting. Legendary casting director Rose Rosen walks us through the process of how you can become a background actor.

Key Insights

• Casting directors care more about reliability, professionalism, and adaptability than trying to “steal the scene.”
• Your behavior on set, wardrobe choices, and ability to follow direction directly affect whether you get booked again.
• Successful background actors treat extra work like a real industry job and use it to build connections, experience, and opportunities.

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The First Step: How To Get Into Background Acting

Depending on where you live, do some research about who hires background. Is it agents? Is it casting directors? “Follow them on social media,” Rosen says. “Get involved. Then sign up. We all love a list. This is how we live.” If there’s more than one such service, sign up for all of them. “

There’s no exclusivity on this,” she reassures. “Nobody cares. If you happen to live in a bigger city and there’s more than one or two of them, sign up with all of them. Go deep.”

Know How To Dress

Plain wardrobe is your friend here. Anything with a logo? Lose it. Can’t use them. “I was at a film festival,” Rosen recalls, “I’m watching the shorts block, and in this cute little movie, the girl had a Barbie T-shirt on in featured background. I thought, ‘Really? You couldn’t turn that inside out?’”

What You Should Be Thinking About With Your Headshots

The simple truth is that they should look like you. Not too airbrushed or altered, just nice photos of you, as you really look. “Plain is your friend here,” Rosen says. “

And make sure it represents you well. When I was working with Tim Burton, we were choosing featured background, and had these photo arrays. He wanted to pick them out one by one, because these people would recur at their homes. Mowing their lawn, doing the things people do. He would literally sit there, look at the photos, then at the people, and say, ‘Wait, is this you?’ So many people don’t look like their headshots, and that’s a big problem.” 

This was a bigger problem before, when headshots cost a lot of money. Now, you can take quality shots with your phone. “Use a plain background, look like yourself, wear something clean and nice, a simple outfit, that’s it,” she advises.

“As light makeup as you can and still be comfortable. No characters, nothing. We want to just see that you’re you, and then the proof is in the pudding when you show up, right?

Showing Up: Know the Rules of Being on a Set

One of the best ways to be noticed on a set is to not be noticed. Ask your agent or casting directors what the rules are before showing up, but also use common sense. Don’t eat before the principal actors. Don’t take up the director’s time with questions.

Find out the rules ahead of time, and follow them, and understand that they want to move you out, so go there as quickly as possible. “Sometimes you’re going to be pissed because you don’t get the same food as other people,” she says.

“They’ll brown bag the extras if there are a lot of them, and serve hot food to the crew. It’s common sense, mostly, but definitely have somebody run you through this stuff ahead of time. Once you’re there, the less questions, the better. Show up and do your job. If they’re calling for you on set and somehow you’re not available, or not within earshot [and] nobody can find you, that’s a problem.”

Using Background as a Springboard To Something Bigger

Background acting and principal acting are, in fact, two different kind of skills and two different kinds of trajectories, so you should approach it in two different ways. “I love the retired people who just decide they want to do background. They get with some agents and certain casting companies that hire background. They’re in a proper city that needs that.” 

Of course, if you’re in a smaller community, the opportunities might not be as plentiful, but even if you’re in the middle of nowhere, a movie or TV show could come to town, so you can keep your eyes open for those kinds of things. “That would be a fun day for you, but typically in a bigger city that’s doing some movies, you could figure this out anyway,” Rosen observes. 

For a person who wants to be a speaking actor, starting out in background is an excellent educational opportunity. “You get to see what everybody does on set,” she says. “You get to see set etiquette and make sure you are an observational person, not a participating one. Because you need to watch what [everyone] is doing on the set. This is huge, and I recommend every actor do it a couple of times at the beginning, at least.” 

Also, if you need money, keep doing it, but don’t put it on your resume if you want to get speaking roles. “I know people trying to make their insurance are doing some background,” Rosen says. “None of it matters. If you want to be a background actor, great. Do that. If you want to be a principal actor, there are different skill sets to learn, but learning how to be on set is a huge skill set that is the best vantage point.”

The Best Way To Build a Consistent Career in Background Acting

Do all the things: sign up with the agents, follow the casting directors that do that in your area, read the newspapers, or whatever passes for them these days, which will tell you when something is coming to town. “Every time something happens locally here, people reach out to me,” Rosen says. “Those jobs are out there. Apply for them and show up.”

Building a career, or even an avocation as a background actor is like any other creative endeavor. It takes discipline and attention to detail. It also takes the ability to follow direction and do what you’re told. It’s not for everyone, but if it strikes you as something you want to do, there are plenty of chances to do it in most states.

One way to keep on top of things is with the help of Casting Networks, where your profile could help you get work as well.

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The post How to Become a Background Actor: What Casting Directors Actually See appeared first on Casting Networks.

There are plenty of do’s and don’ts that are helpful to know as you encourage your child to pursue their dream.

Legendary casting director Rose Rosen has lots of experience in this area, and discusses it in her podcast, “Casting Confidential.” She dedicated a 2025 episode of the podcast to this subject, and was more than happy to talk to Casting Networks about everything parents should know about their child’s journey and, of course, their own.

Key Insights

• Legitimate child acting opportunities start with vetted agents, not expensive “star-making” schools or upfront fees.
• Parents should focus on supporting their child’s enjoyment of acting rather than chasing bookings or careers.
• Successful child actors thrive in safe, well-managed environments where authenticity, protection, and fun come first.

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The First Step Is Finding an Agent

Truthfully, the buffer between that talent agent and the job is what you need to make sure you’re not getting scammed. Avoid schools for children that advertise they’ll turn your kid into a star. “If you want to take theater [classes] depending on your age, that’s fine,” Rosen advises, “but don’t ever take from a place that says they’re going to make you a star. That’s ridiculous.” 

How do you get an agent? Well, for starters, avoid anyone who wants to charge you money for anything. “That’s scam 101,” she says. “The best thing you can do is go to the SAG-AFTRA site, then find your area and check the list of agents. Then only go to those agents because at least they’re vetted.” Those approved agents will usually have portals for kids and offer specific ways for you and your child to sign up with them. 

Headshots Should Look Like Your Child

If it seems crazy that this is an actual sentence, it’s because some headshots are airbrushed into something not even resembling a real human person. Your child’s headshots should properly represent your child’s look, and make them as current as possible, even if that means updating them every few months.

“The quality doesn’t matter nearly as much as exactly what they look like today, exactly what their age is, exactly what their height is, so we have an idea what we’re getting,” Rosen says. “We love a smaller child, an older kid who plays younger, because they have a bit more maturity and sometimes they can work a couple more hours.” 

Make Sure You Know Local Child Labor Laws

Do your due diligence and check your local ordinances. “I know Florida has a very good site for that,” says the Florida-based Rosen, “and you want to make sure that the production is is adhering to these laws. This is so important.” Teams are important, but you cannot expect anyone else to do this for you. 

There Is No Right Age To Start

Babies get hired for photo shoots, commercials, TV shows and films, but if you’re talking about cognizant acting, kids as young as five can start to understand what they’re doing and be brilliant at it. 

“Every kid is different,” Rosen says about the desire to perform. “I’ve seen kids hit their marks and do the thing, but that is completely dependent upon the director and the environment they put these kids in.” That’s why having an agent is important, and also why it’s good to have a casting director attached.

“We do a lot of vetting to make sure that the kids are taken care of,” she says. “Particularly a commercial that comes in for a day, and they need kids, and they want this, that and the other, and I tell them, these are your rules, these are the things you must do, you must avoid. I think it’s really, really important. Point is, try to have different layers of protection for your child, regardless of their age.”

Classes Can Be Good, But Are Not Necessary 

“I think if they want classes, then they should have them,” Rosen says. But she also cautions, “I really think kids needing anything in this process is a problem. I think we have to let kids be kids, and if they want to do anything within the scope of theater and acting, they should lead this train. Once I see the mom leading the train and the kid clearly not wanting to do it, I won’t hire him. I won’t even put that audition forward, to be quite honest.” 

Don’t Be the Problem

Don’t push when they don’t want to be pushed. Don’t make it be more important to you than to them. Don’t be an issue with casting directors or agents who will then take it out on your child.

“I’m very into enabling kids to do things — go ride that bike, take a chance, you know what I mean?” Rosen advises. “When it comes to that stuff, it’s okay to push, obviously. But if it comes to acting, that has to come from them, because I feel like there’s a lot of parents that have their own issues to work out through their kids.”

Most importantly, those kids with problem parents don’t generally get that far. “If the parents are terrible, we as professionals see that and somehow throttle it,” Rosen says. “Sometimes bad parents get through and the kid’s a good actor, but it’s rare.”

Take the Sting Out of the Rejection That Goes With Acting

Don’t make booking the job the goal. Instead, make it about the audition itself. “It’s how you frame it,” Rosen suggests.

“We are going in to act for some people on Zoom, or possibly on self tape. The goal is to do the audition. That’s the fun part. Okay, if you get the job, you get the job. The parent needs to not focus on the job, they need to focus on the audition and make sure that kid is having fun and enjoying the process. And if they are not, they need to tap into that and let them stop.”

That way, if the child doesn’t get the job (and odds are that they won’t), there’s no sense of rejection, or being made to feel like they’re not talented or don’t have something that someone else does.

Ultimately, the Best Thing To Do Is Stress the Show and Not the Business

“None of this is rejection,” Rosen reiterates, “and if you’re using that word, or if that child is feeling that somebody in the process is mishandling the discussion or the situation, it has to be turned around to focus on fun.”

At this age, it has to be about fun. That’s far and away the most important thing. It’s about creating the right conditions for opportunity, to learn, and to enjoy performance. It’s not about creating a career. 

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The post How to Get Your Child Into Acting: A Parent’s Real-World Starting Point appeared first on Casting Networks.

Starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law, the show follows a restaurateur who sees everything he’s built threatened when he lets his troubled brother back into his life. Bateman plays against type as the bad seed brother, while Law shines as a man fighting his own demons.

Fogel spoke to us from her home in Maine.

Key Insights

• Alexa Fogel prioritized authenticity and emotional specificity over nationality, casting actors based on the essence they brought to each role.
• Black Rabbit blends emerging talent with seasoned character actors to create a grounded, layered world across the show’s many intersecting social circles.
• The casting process emphasized collaboration, chemistry, and tone in roles involving sign language and highly specific character dynamics.

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Were Jason and Jude on board before you came to cast it? I know they’re both EPs on it.

As I understand it, Jude brought it to Jason’s company. I think they figured out internally who’s gonna play which brother. It flipped on the heads of people’s expectations in the best way. 

I noticed that there is a distinctly foreign aspect to the cast. There’s a lot of Australian and British people in it. 

The world is my oyster. (Laughs)

I’m fascinated by the international scope of casting now. Do you go into it with the idea of, let’s just open it up to the world?

I went into Oz and The Wire with that idea. Idris Elba and Eamonn Walker and Dominic West. For a long time, I’ve just tried to look at the essence of characters through the essence of what actors can bring to it, whether they’re mostly theater actors or whatever. It was harder to do then, because crossing oceans, tapes having to go in the mail, but it’s a little bit easier now. 

Let’s start with Sope and Amaka, both of whom really pop off the screen.

I think because Jason and I talked about certain things, Sope’s character, because he was an international star, could be almost anything, and he’s an actor I’ve loved for ages. Slow Horses, Gangs of London and the Nigerian film, His House.

Interestingly, Amaka had never auditioned for me before. I knew her work, but she was always working. And I think again, [for] a chef, you’re looking for certain qualities, She can come from anywhere to be successful. Once we had both of them, we also talked about the fact that they couldn’t both be British.

So we had to decide which one of them was going to be the American character, and I felt like the the rock star of it all lent itself to the British of it all. Also, Amaka’s American accent was really good. (Laughs)

Do you find that international actors bring something extra to a role?

It depends entirely on the role. In the case of Sope, his presence is so singular, that’s what that character needed. And Amaka’s real female strength, being someone who’s running a kitchen, it’s like casting someone in the military.

It’s hard to find. I’m not targeting somebody who’s foreign. I didn’t just see people from [far] away. I just know the qualities that I need to find.

One of the things that’s really interesting about the cast is the mix of new faces and more established ones.

We had Don Harvey on The Deuce. The great thing about working with Jason is he loves actors and he appreciates careers, and so if you show him somebody like Don and you correlate between the work and my enthusiasm, he gets it.

I also think when you’re working on gritty piece like this, and you’re looking for a level of heightened authenticity, you need people who can really do that. Don is a master. For Forrest Weber, that role as well as the role of Lou, there was a sign language component to that audition process, so that separated people out very quickly, because we also sent auditions to Troy and his consultant to make sure that things were authentic. 

Did you know Forrest before? 

I didn’t, and he’s wonderful. It’s just my good luck. I mean, it’s never lightning in a bottle. It’s a process. Like anything that is specialized, you’re going in a direction that’s very specific, so you see a lot of people, and you need one part of it to work, and then you also need another part of it to work, which is acting, and all these things have to alchemize.

It’s not really about, “I can’t believe I didn’t know him before.” It’s that all of these things in this moment in time met. I say this all the time, but you only need one. 

Forrest had less actual experience than a lot of other people coming in, but he had all of those qualities. He was teamed up with Chris Coy, who I’ve cast many times. He’s so seasoned and he’s so generous, and they were really partners in this.

That was an amazing professional marriage, and I think Chris’ part got a little bit bigger, as I understand it, but for Forrest, I’m sure it was a great ongoing lesson of how to work on set, how to do everything.

One of the things that works well on the show are the smaller parts. One specific example is the Wall Street Guy in episode 2, whose behavior at the blackjack table costs Vince $150,000.

I did this with Kathryn Zamora-Benson, and we take that really seriously in terms of maintaining tone, [and] everything we do. Some of it’s instinctual. You know that when it’s right, it’s right. You see people, and I try to never show people to my collaborators, that I wouldn’t be happy with them being cast. Y

ou want it to be a range, but it can work in one way or another within the tone of the show. I think that’s what you’re doing with the one to five lines in the scene, and really understanding what the scene is trying to say.

So much of acting seems to be about persistence. Have there been actors who auditioned for you multiple times before finally landing the right role?

A long time ago, I used to be a little embarrassed about bringing actors in for for tiny things, small roles. I feel like we’re always respectful, we’re always happy to have them there.

The reality is, people want to work on good stuff, especially in New York. I don’t feel that way anymore. Because we’re all there to do a job. 

There’s so many different worlds in this story, some of which never really overlap. 

That was really fun about it for me. I was casting the kitchen, and then I was casting the front of house, and then I was casting upstairs, and they do interact, but they’re slightly different worlds. Then there’s the creepy people, and Anna [played by Abbey Lee] and the people that interact with her.

It’s a big cast, but you have to understand the function of character and tone. All of the ways the characters fit in with each other is critical. But each component of the restaurant world, and then obviously what happens in the criminal aspect, is really fun.

The post Alexa Fogel on Casting Netflix’s ‘Black Rabbit’ and Building Complex Characters appeared first on Casting Networks.

She joins Season 2 of Beef following the show’s breakout Emmy-winning first season. The season follows a pair of couples, one played by Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, the other by Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny. The show also stars Oscar-winning Youn Yuh-jung, Song Kang-ho, Seoyeon Jang, William Fichtner, and Mikaela Hoover.

All episodes are streaming on Netflix. Bacharach spoke to us from her LA office.

Key Insights

• Jeanie Bacharach says successful casting always starts with finding the humanity and relatability within even the darkest characters.
• The massive success of ‘Beef’ Season 1 helped attract top-tier talent like Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, and acclaimed Korean actors to Season 2.
• Bacharach believes the best creative collaborations happen when directors, studios, and casting teams stay open to unexpected actors and bold casting choices.

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Knowing the subject matter and how difficult it is, how does that affect your work?

It always just comes back to character, and can I relate to these characters? Can I see the humanity in these characters? What are they saying about the world we’re living in, or the world we once lived in? If I’m going to do a good job casting the show, I have to have a way into these characters and understand them, even if they do awful things. 

Sonny’s just such a beautiful writer, and as terrible as these characters might be to each other, I think the thing that makes people uncomfortable watching the show is [that] there’s truth in what they’re doing, and things that we can see in our own lives that make us uncomfortable. I think that relatability and humanity is really key for me. 

Coming off the success of the first season, is there something to that success that makes your job easier?

Success is a magnet, but it’s also tremendous pressure, and the expectations are so high, but it certainly makes casting easier. People responded so strongly to the first season, and the way Sonny works is also so collaborative that I think that’s a huge draw for creative talent. Charles and Cailee were already on board when I came on, and the conversation with Oscar had begun. And then Carey’s as well. 

Was there a conversation about what kind of Korean actors you were looking for?

Yeah, they’re just dream actors and I can’t take any credit. But when I talked to Sonny about possibly joining for the season, he had told me that there were going to be some Korean characters that were very important to the storytelling. But again, that’s where the success of the first season certainly comes into play, and people wanting to be part of it. 

Seoyeon Jang was someone who came through the audition process. The Eunice character is a tricky one, because you have to believe both that Chairwoman Park would choose this person to represent her, to speak for her, to interpret for her, to be the face of her, and yet there needed to be something you weren’t quite sure about. Seoyeon just brought this wonderful sort of mystery. You’re drawn to her, and yet you don’t really quite know who she is.

Any time Bill Fichtner shows up, I’m thrilled. Especially as a character like Troy, who walks a delicate line that almost dips into parody. 

That was a fun list of actors to come up with, because Troy is just such a great character. And yes, tonally, it’s tricky. Both he and Mikaela did a lot of exploring and working with Sonny on those characters.

How much leeway do you have in bringing in lesser-seen talent? 

Honestly, that’s the wonderful, collaborative experience you hope for. Sonny is so open, and so loves the process that we just developed a trust right away, and that is key to any creative relationship. Most people I’ve worked with are open to it, but you have a studio and a network that are, as well.

Aren’t we seeing more of that from creators? The willingness to see things outside of what they’d envisioned?

Ideally in a collaborative relationship, you can say, “I’m going to try something wild here. It may not work, but are you open to seeing it?” And, at the same time, I have to also be willing to hear, “Interesting thought,” or, “Nice, but it doesn’t work for A, B or C reasons,” or, “Yeah, it’s fun here, but where the character is going, or what the story is that I need to tell, it doesn’t serve it right or it takes you out.”

But that give and take is, again, what you hope for and dream for in a creative environment. So, yes, I think so. 

When do you think that started happening?

It maybe started to happen when there was so much being produced that the more known quantities were being taken, and there was so much being made that people had to maybe become more open to newer faces and lesser-known people.

But I’d like to think that people who are making things want to be open to it. It’s also dependent on the studio or the network you’re working with in terms of how supported you’re feeling that way and how much pressure you’re under to deliver something.

Or how much you’re being squeezed in a different area, whereas you just have to get this done in order to do the 50 other things that you have to get to. 

Do actors come in with bold choices and make you rethink what you had in mind?

I mean, there’s no greater thrill than having this kind of crazy idea that actually comes to fruition. Or seeing an actor do something that you never really thought they could do, or haven’t gotten to do that maybe they are capable of, but no one’s given them the opportunity to explore.

Or championing someone who’s been kicking around for a long time. The saying, “Right role, right time” is so great. They’ve so earned that moment, and they’re ready for it when it happens, too. 

The post Jeanie Bacharach on Casting Netflix’s ‘Beef’ Season 2, Korean Talent, & Creative Risk-Taking appeared first on Casting Networks.

She’s worked on shows as diverse as The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Crown and Victoria, and movies like Den of Thieves 2: Pantera and Hustle. One of her latest projects, the crime thriller Islands, hits theaters January 30. She spoke to us from her home office in Barcelona. 

Key Insights

• When auditioning internationally, anchor yourself in why you are the right fit, because confidence travels further than trying to match someone else’s idea of the role.
• Your cultural background and perspective aren’t obstacles, they’re often the exact lens casting is looking for in global projects.
• Focus on clarity, presence, and emotional truth, since those are the universal currencies that connect with casting directors across languages and borders.

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How did you get into casting in the first place?

I’m very much a product of my time and my generation. I’m Irish. Ireland was not a wealthy European country like it is now. I went to college in the U.K., and then I did my junior year abroad in Barcelona in the ’80s, and it was an amazing city. It still is, but it was a really fun time. It was just before the Olympics had come here, there was a real buzz, and it was meant to be just one of those great years of your life.

I finished my degree, and had a very clear idea that I wanted to work in NGOs and make the world a better place. But there was no work, and I didn’t realize that I wanted to help people who were poor, not become poor, but I quickly found out that what I was going to do was going to make me poor, which had never entered into my plans. 

When did you end up back in Barcelona?

I ended up living in Italy for a bit, then came back here. I didn’t really want to teach English, which is what a lot of the people do when they move to another city, so I started running nightclubs, which I did for a long time. I set up some clubs with some other friends of mine, and they were very successful.

I was very lucky, because I got to know everybody in the city. I did the guest list, and I was also allowed to give as many free drinks away as I wanted, so I was very popular. That’s when I met actors. I met filmmakers. I met people in the film industry. 

What was it about casting that spoke to you?

I love problem-solving, the idea that every project is a problem to be solved. I like people. I also like weird people. I like brave people. I feel that people who work in the film industry usually are brave in the sense that they’re not doing something that’s logical. That’s why I love actors, and I love people who are left fielders.

An actor is somebody who everybody told them, “Don’t do that,” and they do it anyway.  And they have passion. I love story. I love narrative, and I really enjoy reading scripts. I’m also quite nerdy. I like technology, and I like Excel. I actually like putting lists together and doing the deals. I’m so happy because I actually love every single part of my job, except two bits.

Which are the two bits?

One is letting actors know that they didn’t get the role. I find that very difficult, because I believe, and I really wish that actors knew this, that we as casting directors never put forward anybody who we don’t believe in. I’m happy with whoever gets the role, and I think they forget that we’re not over them. The second one is when I don’t get paid and I have to chase production companies.

Do you find that you have an advantage working in Barcelona and being multilingual?

Yeah, totally. I mean, I’m very lucky. I always say that I owe my entire career to the fact that Pep didn’t speak English, and still doesn’t, because his generation studied French here. If he had [spoken] English, he wouldn’t have made me a joint casting director with him as early in my career. It was a door opener.

There are plenty of other people who speak English now, but there weren’t so many when I started. It’s also an advantage to have a different perspective. I know who an American thinks is good looking, and that’s very different from who a Spanish person thinks is good looking. Or humor, or energy. It’s also the ability to know the different worlds, see things in different ways.

Do you find that Spanish actors are different from English-speaking actors?

It depends. I know actors from all over the world. There are some fundamental differences in terms of how people are trained. For example, Russian actors, when they go to drama school, they go eight hours a day, and they have to learn lines outside of those eight hours.

They come out extremely well trained, but they’re always looking for somebody to tell them that they’ve done a good job. Whereas American actors are much more independent, more self validating. I’ve asked actors from over 75 countries their origin story, and it nearly always is the same. It goes back to childhood. It goes back to wanting to be seen. It goes back to be wanting to be heard. 

The other thing is anxiety, which is something that I think we need to talk more about in the industry. I think a lot of actors suffer from anxiety, but they found peace at that moment when they’re acting, because once you’re properly acting, that external voice is switched off, and you’re in the moment. I think it’s very important that if you are an actor who suffers from anxiety, you think, “Oh, I found this thing that gives me joy and peace,” [and] to treat the anxiety as well, because [it] makes it worse when you get rejected for a role.

It doesn’t matter whether they’re in Hawaii, Russia, France, Mozambique. It’s the same thing, and it’s very important for people to know that I think actors from all over the world have so much in common, but it’s their differences that make them interesting.

There’s also the escape and being able to inhabit the world of someone else.

That’s what I meant. It’s because you’re not you anymore, so it’s all switched off and you’re just 100% being somebody else, and that’s great, but you can’t take that home. You can’t take that into your relationship with your friends, your family, your partners. That’s where some actors struggle. Find the balance, so that you remember the joy.

What piece of advice would you give to somebody coming in to audition for you?

When they receive the audition from me, sit for 10 minutes before they start preparing, before they start investigating, before they do all the work that needs to be done. Just sit, have a coffee, have a tea, do something, and think, “Why am I right for this role?”

What is it that made Luci’s office ask me to come in, and connect with why they’re totally perfect for the role, because then all the preparation will be done from a position of self confidence, and when you do it from self confidence, you’re not out there trying to prove something.

Remember, you don’t have to prove to me that you can act. You just have to connect with this wonderful world and this character that I have invited you to play with.

The post How to Audition for International Casting with ‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Casting Director Luci Lenox appeared first on Casting Networks.

The potential of AI replacing actors, such as background roles and extras, was a major part of the last round of SAG-AFTRA contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP).

This raises another important question: How will Hollywood protect the people lower down the ladder, whose jobs could be more vulnerable to artificial intelligence? Actors need to be proactive and raise their awareness of how to protect themselves.

Key Insights

• Many fake casting calls and talent agency scams now hide risky AI clauses that can give away your digital likeness without proper consent or pay.
• SAG-AFTRA protections center on Consent, Compensation, and Control, making union guidance critical when reviewing contracts.
• Sticking to legitimate casting websites such as Casting Networks is one of the strongest defenses actors have against casting scams.

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Know Your Rights

Legally, no one is allowed to use your image unless you have given them consent to do so. Thus, every contract you sign must be examined closely to ensure there is no AI language in it, and that you are not signing away license to use your image.

Acquire Legal Representation When Needed

Whenever possible, have a lawyer look over your contract. There are plenty of attorneys who are willing to work with actors for discounted rates. Simple internet searches can help you connect with someone who will help. However, if for some reason you are unable to work with an attorney, the following suggestions can help you stay protected: 

Be On The Lookout For

Language might include phrases and clauses like, “technology now known or hereafter devised,” “digital simulation,” or something similar, including requests to allow your page to be scanned. Any reference to technology at all should be red-flagged and checked to make sure there is nothing hidden that might lead a performer to unknowingly sign their rights away.

Check in with SAG-AFTRA

The union can be a valuable resource for actors, advising members on how to protect themselves from the encroachment of artificial intelligence. They also sure that producers and production companies do not cross a line into phasing out human performers.

SAG-AFTRA said in a statement, “Our commitment is simple and our position is unwavering: performance must remain human-centered. AI can enhance creativity, but it must never replace it. AI use must be transparent, consensual and compensated.”

The Three Cs

Written into the new agreement between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are certain protections and guardrails, known as Consent, Compensation, Control. Clear consent to use a member’s name, voice  and likeness. Fair compensation for the use and using economic equivalency as a deterrent to synthetic performers. Control over performances and replicating, to the best extent possible, the in-person work experience. 

Be Specific

If you do enter into a job that involves a digital likeness, make sure contracts have clear limitations. This means the scope of use, with a defined project, on defined platforms and campaigns. It also means time limits, approval rights before any likeness is repurposed, and separate compensation for AI training, reproduction or derivative works.

Protect Yourself

When it comes to protecting yourself, SAG-AFTRA advises you never to allow a digital replica of your likeness to be used for any performance or union-covered purpose unless a SAG-AFTRA agreement is in place. If you’re uncertain about whether something is covered, contact SAG-AFTRA for guidance.

That includes making sure a standard contract does not include any clauses about digital replication and perpetuity, and never lose control over the use of your likeness. In other words, if someone offers you the chance to sell your digital likeness for any purpose, the answer should be “no.”

The post AI and Acting: How to Spot Casting Scams and Protect Your Likeness Before You Sign appeared first on Casting Networks.

The odds of her earning another Emmy nod this year are pretty high, judging from her work on HBO’s Task. Created by Mare of Easttown’s Brad Ingelsby and starring Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey and Emilia Jones, the show follows an FBI agent heading up a task force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspected family man.

Kaufman talked to us from her New York office.

Key Insights

• Casting decisions are driven less by credits and more by whether an actor feels authentic and fully “molds” into the role.
• Kaufman emphasizes trust on both sides, believing actors know when to take risks, pass on roles, or step outside their type.
• Access, persistence, and communication matter, as seen in her relentless push to get Tom Pelphrey to read for Task.

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Let’s start with [your decision to cast] Tom Pelphrey as Robbie.

I was relentless. That’s the tricky thing about casting. I speak for myself only, but you read something and you get a feeling for it. It was important for me to have different voices tell this story, and Pelphrey was not a new name in the world, but I was relentless. I just felt like he could go toe to toe with Ruffalo.

What was it that made you so relentless about him?

At first he wasn’t going to read, but they said he had to, so I begged his team. And he did. It was that simple. 

Do you find there are more actors now who won’t read? Or are reluctant to?

I don’t think it’s an attitude, per se, for everybody. I feel that when some people feel like they’ve done it before. I feel that way sometimes if I’m asked to take a meeting and I’ve done it. It’s a tricky thing. I never say this, and I’m going to say this is now, you need an agent or a manager or whomever it is that’s taking care of the talent to have a good conversation.

I was able to speak clearly with his team just to say why it’s important for this reason.

There are at least three major actors, Alison Oliver, Sam Keeley and Phoebe Fox, who are either English or Irish, and I’m curious about how you found them and brought them in for this very American story.

I had seen Alison in two British shows, and at first I was like, “Wait, is that the same person?” Because she’s a chameleon. She read on a Zoom and everyone loved her. Same thing with Phoebe. Sam as well. If I’m lucky enough to get visas, I love to look at talent from all over the world.

If they can have the proper accent and we can get a visa, that’s just fun for me personally. People don’t want me to do that most of the time, but it makes my job a lot of fun and curious and imaginative.

Is that one of the things that you would recommend to any foreign-born actor? To get their American accent down? 

I’m going to recommend doing whatever you feel comfortable with. I just feel like that’s the one beautiful thing in seeing actors, is we can all feel when they’re comfortable. They just mold into the role. 

Emilia Jones plays something I hadn’t seen her do before, which is always good to see from an actor. 

You never want to say this out loud, but there were choices, and the team really loved Emilia. When I saw what she did, I was so deeply proud of her. I mean, the relationship between her and Tom was so interesting and strong.

You never know what it’s going to be like, y’know? You read something and then they go off and shoot it for nine months, and then we get to see it two years later. Sometimes I’ll look at shows I’ve worked on and I’m going, “God, I don’t remember that character … ” (Laughs) 

Should actors be trying as many new things as possible?

It’s interesting, because I’m here to talk about one show, but there’s a show I worked on last year, where an actor in the movie passes on a role. I used to get upset, and I’m sure I still do because I take everything too personally, but if an actor passed on a role, I didn’t even want to share it with the director. I didn’t want to feel it.

It’s taken me many years, but I feel that I have to trust if an actor passes on a role or accepts a role they’ve never done, it’s what they need to do. I have to trust that they know. We don’t know. It’s so hard to be an actor!

It goes hand in hand with what you said before, about an actor needing to do whatever makes them comfortable.

I don’t know how other people work. We just love actors because that’s what we do.

Two of the things that stood out for me were the motorcycle gang (the Dark Hearts) and the kids. Let’s start with the Dark Hearts. 

It’s interesting because I had done a show with Wagner Moura and Brian Tyree Henry [in Dope Thief] right before I did Task, and we were looking for similar characters [for the] motorcycle gangs. Bad boys. Dark characters. So it was just a deep search because I couldn’t use the people I had just used. Just auditioning a thousand people.

And the kids? Especially Ben Lewis Doherty as Sam.

And the kids! I’ve [cast] a lot of kids in my time, and I love casting kids. You’ve got to cast close to the bone. You have to understand who this kid is. And even for Sam, I like to talk to the kids for a long time to get to know them to see if they are actually ready to do something like this.

These are tough roles for a kid. Sam, especially because, to be kidnapped? But kids … it’s about love. I think, hopefully, [with]  human beings, animals, we follow the love. Hopefully, we follow the love and keep trust in there because he had to have some trust as well.

I think that applies to acting in general.

And life. You have to trust, you have to love, you have to do all of it, and it’s all part of the same thing.

The post Audition Preparation Tips from Avy Kaufman: Inside ‘Task’ and Her “Relentless” Push for Tom Pelphrey appeared first on Casting Networks.

Key Insights

• Ian Bender’s acting background shapes his casting approach, keeping the actor experience central to every audition and decision.
• He actively looks beyond traditional “type” and values unexpected, creative choices that challenge assumptions.
• Casting blends creativity and logistics, requiring both artistic instinct and strong organizational discipline.

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How did you get into casting in the first place?

I started as an actor, just taking workshops and classes as a kid, doing community theater stuff, and then I went to college for that, and did my best at trying to pursue it. Musical theater was my goal. Around the time I turned 30, I started to think, okay, what can I do with all this passion that I have for this industry and acting in general? I was lacking stability, and every time I would book a job, it would be, pack your bags. You’re going away for a few months at a time. A few friends of mine suggested casting. So I started working for Ashley Hallihan with Hallihan Casting here in Toronto, as her assistant. It was a really great opportunity for her to take me under her wing and show me the logistics behind casting, because it really is a very different job than acting. 

Yeah, no kidding. 

(Laughs) You get the creative muscle, of course, but it really is quite clerical. Heavy paperwork.

But that tends to appeal to a lot of people, too, being able to do both.

Yeah, exactly, and that’s how I feel, because I’m very type A, so it really fits me nicely. I love organization and have just as much fun with the business side of things as the creative side, where I get to brainstorm and think of people who would be great in a part, or auditioning actors and finding a new face that I haven’t seen before, seeing what interesting choices they bring to the table. It’s really nice to be able to flex both and to work on both sides.

Do you find that because you’ve had an acting background, that’s given you an advantage in working with actors in the room, or even by giving them feedback with self tapes?

Yeah, I’d like to think so. I still think of everything as an actor. Everything that I do, the way I release my breakdowns, the way I conduct my auditions, all of that, I really am trying to keep the actor in mind, because I think of things that were pet peeves of mine as an actor growing up, or things that I wish casting directors would know. I really love getting to meet actors in person as well, and hear what their thoughts are and what their challenges are.

Is there a checklist of things you go through in that regard?

Yeah, for sure. For example, there are a lot of factors that go into helping you get seen and recognized by casting directors. I had a lovely team of people helping me, but I wasn’t with the biggest agent in town, and I didn’t have those opportunities. So I keep my mind open when I’m going through my submissions from the very beginning, and considering everyone that gets submitted to me, and taking the time and due diligence to look at their resumes and consider them seriously for the part. Also, I love a wild card. So if there’s an actor that may not seem like they’re visually right for the part, I want to explore that to see if they give me something a little bit different. Those are the people that really make it far or get booked in some of these roles. It really forces the creative team as well to think outside of the box, and opens up new ideas for them. Sometimes I wish that had happened to me when I was an actor. I was a queer dude trying to find opportunities in the early to mid-2000s, and a lot of [them] just weren’t there. There’s only so many gay best friends that you can put in a series or film. (Laughs) I’m always thinking about that, trying to keep it as open as I can, because you never know.

That’s the thing that you can pass along to actors, that you make sure they understand that their uniqueness is a benefit, even when it sometimes doesn’t necessarily feel that way to them?

Absolutely. It’s your superpower, really.

Let’s talk about Undertone, which received the kind of pre-release buzz that a select few horror films get. That must be very exciting.

I’ve been very lucky. Because I’m so interested in the industry, I continue to improve and learn. I was basically a student every day. So, to have an opportunity like Undertone, I worked with Black Fawn Films, Cody Callahan and Dan Slater before, and they’re really great guys. The writer-director, Ian Tuason, was new to me, but that script, when I first got it, was so wild, so interesting. It’s exciting when I get the tingles and start brainstorming right away. It’s a whirlwind. I don’t know what it’s going to look like for me. I still have that imposter syndrome in the back of my head going, keep working, take meetings with everybody, because I’m hoping that this gives me some more opportunity to show what I do best. I have so much fun with these horror and genre films. They’re my most favorite films to watch, so the fact that I get to help find these characters and work with these amazing writers and directors every day is just a dream.

You talked earlier about working with actors and how much you enjoy it. What piece of advice or wisdom would you give to an actor coming in to see you?

Just know that I’m on your side and that if you’ve done the work on the role and on the material, then just show it. You don’t have to bring anything else into the room. Put the nerves aside as best as you can, and just be yourself and show the work that you’ve done, and then it’ll all come together. If you’re right for the role, you’re right for the role, and it’ll show itself in the room. I want every single person to walk in that door to get the part. That means I’ve done a good job. I used to have the worst nerves going into audition rooms. Anytime I’d get a job, I’d be surprised, because I was a nervous wreck going in. But I knew that if I did the work and put the time into the material, it would release in the room, and I would make the choices that I’ve prepared. That’s the biggest thing, too. Make interesting choices.

So often, a wrong choice is better than no choice at all.

Yes, because it shows me that you can make a choice. If a choice has been made, I’ll see that, and it shows me that they’ve actively been thinking about the part and that they’ve internalized it enough to get there. It means that there’s the likelihood that the director on the day is going to probably be able to get a different choice out of them. It’s exciting when that all happens and comes together.

Key Takeaways

• Preparation and authenticity matter more than perfection—actors should focus on doing the work and trusting it in the room.
• Making a bold or unconventional choice is often more impactful than playing it safe.
• An actor’s uniqueness is their greatest asset, even when it doesn’t seem to fit the role at first glance.

The post Casting Director Ian Bender on Championing Uniqueness and Breaking the Mold appeared first on Casting Networks.