The Business: Excellence in Casting: An Evening with 2017 Emmy® Nominees

[Applause] Mike and I'm not even using my mic we've got Carmen Tiffany John Rachel I just honestly have to say I'm pretty on it when they asked me to do this I'm like who me just with these people so I'm really honored I'm a fan of all of your work and all of your shows and so so thank you and congratulations to all of you all right I'm just gonna start this off a little there's you know the stop questions but I like to mix it up so my first question is I want to know what you are watching right now insecure season two love it right I'm also watching the HBO documentary with Jimmy Iovine man I ain't won this defiantly Tiffany Ozark okay yep yep just finished narcos last night great I'm total Game of Thrones and Defiant ones which I'm almost done binging which is amazing binging we love it don't we alright so first of all you all have been nominated and/or have won an Emmy before correct [Laughter] that that's pretty awesome so there's that question for you that's what I'm here to do okay I want to know how you all got started in casting what was the first thing that happened that you're like Oh casting can you truncate at all go ahead Carmen the real way that I got started - the long story is that honestly a friend I had been working in document on the documentary side of it and I was sort of feeling like I was maybe you know done with that version of it and a friend said oh you should just try casting regular things scripted that's how she said it just regular things scripted stuff I know a casting director you should meet her and then she wouldn't hire me and I harassed her but she yes eventually hired me I graduated with a degree in directing from the North Carolina School of the Arts and moved to New York and wanted to get a job somewhere whether agency casting product you know something in the theater to learn who the players were and I just seen Moulin Rouge seven times and so I answered an ad on playbill.com to work as an assistant casting La Boheme which was Puccini's opera La Boheme being directed by Baz Luhrmann they wanted an opera person I had seen half an opera but I told them I have a degree in research so what do you need me to know about opera and they hired me and that was that tell see ya and so I've stayed and that's worked out for you it was a good one to go for it and that's why I always tell actors don't you tell yourself no let us tell you no I went to New York for graduate school and got out of circle in the square and and realized I then after my first commercial audition had no business being my soul just couldn't take it I didn't have the ego to be an actor and so after many years I couldn't take the I couldn't take the rejection after as you'll see during the night and after many years of running restaurants in New York and London and out here I thought what am i doing and I knew I wanted to be back in the entertainment business and and Casting felt like a really good fit for me because it urged both creativity and being around actors in business and so I started as a casting director at the an assistant I'll back up I started as an intern at the Mark Taper Forum and and then went on to be assistants and independent casting directors and I went to New York University and knew that I was gonna definitely do something in the industry I just couldn't figure out what it was and at that time I was assessed with Letterman so I was positive I was gonna be writing for Letterman of course and then Janis panino who ran the NBC page department did not hire me so I remember her name I just want to say it out loud so when Janis panino did not hire me I went back to Chicago afterwards and I worked at a talent agency and then an internship opened at a casting agency I went there they were doing hudsucker proxy it's right when we got there so that was like the first thing and you know of course I loved it and it was one of those odd moments like an opportunities where it was like an internship part-time full-time and I bought the company by 25 so I had a company in Chicago for eight years sold it Ellen Chenoweth who I'm sure you guys know called and was like oh me and I said you know I'm think about go in LA and she said you know I'm about to do the boys movie why don't you come out be my associate and so I came out here to do in Thabo cruelty with her and then of course loved it sold my part moved out here and that's it so can you tell us a little bit about how you think the casting process has changed like for the shows you're nominated for safe casting the pilot what what do you think has changed over the years well okay I can only tell you okay so what I've noticed things changing certainly the content is way different than it used to be certainly in television you know what you're working on now is so creatively fulfilling and exciting and totally challenging and you know I'm sure you all you know obviously watch TV so you know what the landscape looks like so that's I think one of the big changes and the other thing I've noticed ashlee more in the business end of it is how many more people are involved and more than it used to be you know how many more and I'm kind of late to the hole you know I haven't done like a pilot season ever experienced and so I haven't really been part of some of these aspects of television that I think make people really great cast it's because I think it's really intense and you can really um make some great work out of it but I have noticed that like the way the industry changes I feel like there's a lot more people involved in decisions and the whole creative input altogether so that's what I've noticed I'm confused about the question meaning that how did it change between the pilot and then the series over the years passing pilots I've seen differences this is an old-timers question as what you're saying not at all I think I mean you know I've seen it change I mean is dramatically in the stories that you're telling and the people that you get to work with you know having come basically out of a feature background and only doing features for so many years I like to liken it that all my producer and director friends figured out they can make a shitload of money and tell and so they all migrated there unfortunately I was drug along or fortunately and and I think you know the difference is is that you do have a lot of gods to serve you know there are a lot of people involved in the process much more so than in features mainly you know you sit in and in one of the things I find challenging about it is that you sit in a room on features mostly with a director and a producer and maybe you deal with the studio me mostly and that's it you know and television there are layers upon layers of people that you deal with so I think it takes a lot of skill and trying to get everybody on the same page and and on one vision of what you're trying to do and that can be challenging you know it can also be really rewarding when it all starts to come together and you actually see that I actually persuaded 30 people to you know this point of view but but that is I think that's the biggest change I mean certainly the mature material and certainly the people that are now doing television and you have an opportunity to cast I mean you know when I first did television there was a huge brick wall between you know who would and who wouldn't do TV and now that wall is pretty much gone I mean there's still you know holdouts but you know the storytelling is is really amazing right now in television so you know I think those are the big differences for me I think it's a numbers game if you look at even ten years ago how many were the 200 shows now there's 500 shows and because the nature of television is to lock people down under contract with exclusivity that was the standard way I feel because there are just so much there's so much opportunity for actors people are having to be more creative in the deal-making I feel like the deal-making I've had numerous times where I convinced the team let's hire the person as a guest on the pilot knowing we'll do an option for a series if we get picked up because I know that shows not coming back do you know like you have to like keep your ear to the ground have a sense of who might become available where I feel like even three years ago I could never have convinced during pilot season or on a network pilot to hire someone in a non-exclusive way and take that risk now I feel like we're having to have those conversations all the time in order to get the top talent I've also never done a traditional pilot season [Music] well I'm I protect myself it's not it's not a good match for me from from what I hear and I come from features also but and have only been in TV for I think like four years but in those four years it's been obviously very dynamic one of the things that I've noticed was also what Tiffany said but another layer of that which we were talking about before is that so many people are on so many things and so you really are having to juggle once you've even cast them if you've done a trick deal we're talk like we're talking to each other much more than we used to trying to help each other keep your actor on your thing and have them also work on ours and I think the deals have changed people who were would have been series regulars you know four years ago are now doing 10 episodes of a 10 episode show as a guest star also to give them this flexibility but that's also complicated so that's the stuff I've noticed and it's really ramped up very quickly you know people that that I think are obscure thought were obscure when I read something and I go it's gonna be that person and you call to check their availability and they're on some show you've never heard of on some channel you've never heard of and they're locked up for seven years and I'm like what's him I thought he was my secret that there are no secrets anymore and everybody all the room are people we're all going after the same people and much grateful for you for Fargo it changes every season which is great right so they do like one-year deals it was I'm guessing for a lot of the people I mean we would never be have access to the people that we were able to have on the show if we weren't a one cuz it's ten episodes it's what three months four months it's like nothing it's doing a movie so I mean look even as simple as that is there's always still problems you know cuz the network's want to tie people up for all sorts of reasons but yes that's the way we would have access to those people for sure yeah yeah seeing I mean just seeing the people that have come to do television but I think it's because the material out there is phenomenal right now that's what John said the great writers the great Broadway if someone has a Broadway off-broadway hit the next season they're on a staff of a television show or starting their own show so it's the talent and I think I mean does it do you feel like it makes it easier to cast when you know the material is good and or even and not necessarily for series regulars but even you know the recurring characters or whatever you know that changes everything it does come down to material at some point but you know you guys have already said it I mean everybody unless everybody in this room has a television show everybody has television shows you know and it's incredibly difficult to juggle that and try and find people that are available because they're tied up with other shows so it gets you don't have one you're ready for one okay so that availability issue is huge you know you'll check somebody and then it's like okay I got a show who doesn't have a show yeah there's not I feel like before you we would get scripts and you'd think of people and then that would be the conversation you'd have with the director and now it's really like I'm afraid to have any ideas until I know who's available oh yeah then do it and that's very different from how we used to do it so our type meeting is really a prototype you can't have any of these people exactly so that kind of leads me to my next question when people you all have found very interesting people that have not we haven't seen a lot of how do you find new talent what where do you look how do you do it talk to me Carmen watch a lot of stuff read a lot sorry I keep saying um I know theater sort of everything that you would imagine and then I actually do have a few sort of key people I have someone in New York who you probably worked with her Heidi Marshall a woman who hired me for La Boheme that's why I thought you probably worked at them Heidi Marshalls is brilliant around theatre director and who who has always sort of worked with actors and just is somehow on the ground with up-and-comers in New York and so I'm not gonna lie I send her my breakdowns and she sends me tons of people who don't have agents who are and I read all of them because she knows me she knows my tastes and and I trust her and I've cast lots of people from her so that and I have other people like that people who I know are you know who run theater groups who are at theater schools and the introduced me to people agents obviously are always sort of pointing out new talent that's pretty much I agree with that I would add for us we do generals and we do we see a lot of people we see more and what one of the things that also we didn't really discuss how technology has changed our industry recently but the whole self taping thing it's very stressful but when I want to discover people we might only have room to see ten actors live because you know auditions cost money and time and space and as you know you have to get in your car it's like it's exhausting for all involved but it's important but yet you can also ask maybe for the other people to self tape and so you're actually able to see so much more than you would if you were constricted by time and space which you are for auditions so we do a lot we see a lot more people than I think we used to because we feel like every role is a chance to discover new people that we didn't know and I'm sure you guys do this too with self tapes sorry if I'm hogging it with self tapes too because we can see so many more I'm often asking people to tape who aren't gonna be right for that part but who look interesting and who I can sort of then catalog for something else so I think it definitely has built our databases in that sense yeah I think you know for me I'm just listening and stealing your ideas but for me it really is about being open to the process you know ideas everybody listens on every show on every project everyone feels they are a casting director so any assistant will say you know who'd be really good in this role and and so I think it's about remaining open to the process ideas come from everywhere and you find people everywhere and so as much as people think oh you see somebody in a drugstore and you it's not usually that it's usually a manager it's an agent it's a theater director it's somebody that opens your eyes to someone else and and I think it's hard I think a lot of casting directors and people in general want to own their ideas you know and this is mine and this is which has a lot to do I think with ego and a lot of you know other things in this town but I think the more you can remain open to the possibilities the more creativity kind of flows through you I mean we just see a ton of people I mean I every time I do a job and I'm like okay let's see my focus was an 18 year old boy and then we can't you know we did a huge search and we just either you just open it up to the whole everywhere you know and actors access and theatre companies or whatever it is just open it up and I'm like adavi sleeve is super important for all of us so but I'm more apt to just try everybody that and not and which I also think is a detriment sometimes for myself because once I cast that 18 year old boy and I get the next job and it's an 18 year old boy I'm like oh who's an 18 year old boy like I start oh it's like my brain like starts over again and then I'm just really like meeting a whole new group of people so it's like I can't do though if I have a problem or not but it's my staff I'm sure is about to quit but we do I feel like we just see a ton of people and it's the best way because I feel like once you get your anchors in your show depending on like what the intent is about how Namie or how much people want to stun cast it like once you get those anchors then like the world is your oyster like you get to find whoever fun person as long as your team's open to it but you can find some person who's been toiling away in Chicago or here you know like we just Amazon I was talking to some on Amazon today and wait we did get shorty and we cast this woman as the lead mafia woman and she was like she's old she's like we've only cast her she's only like on her resume she's only been a maid like four times but like you know but she's awesome she's killer and she did a great job and like why not do you know just because she didn't have the opportunity to do it before now she does so that's like the fun part about casting right like it's just getting to fine you know like I'm stranger things which is like ridiculous like those kids and the tone and everything's so perfect but I'm sure it was just like when you found those kids you must have had like a high every minute like it's just exciting you know David Harbour owe me when I saw David Harper I was like I'll be there right there no that was very easy he's the one that's always on the list but it's like nope he's doing oh he got that great alright so but this leads me to the question of self tapes because this is a thing now am i right what is it about what what draws you into a self tape and how long do watch it out active good acting thank you how long do you watch I mean how fast can you tell why you want to know that is that helpful at all your process is it why do you want to know there's no formula for it I don't yeah I'm you got yourself in that one go ahead okay here's the thing we are looking at we're not looking for people who are just talented right it's not a talent contest it's not American Idol you're good you're not good we are looking through filter a filter a filter of the character of the writing of the tone of the style of who our creative team is so if we see someone and their voice comes out and we just know this is part of the art of it the same way you could look at a Rothko or a Pollock and you'll feel different things and we know this person is in it why would we watch to the end we have 50 more to watch however at least then that's a nice day if so yes we definitely turn it on but you weren't gonna get that part anyway so why does it make a difference it's like a first date we see we're expecting something we see it we either yes then the audition you know if we are here or here helps us decide what's if there's a second date that's the way it is it's just so there's every answer to that question sometimes sometimes we don't sometimes we're like maybe and then we watch more but if I know for sure that it's not right then I don't watch I also have a category in my notes which is interesting but not for this and I could have watched for two seconds and thought that and that gets put into its own thing and I will always go back and look at that and I'm just gonna bring up the technical part of self taping cuz that's important to remember too we gotta be able to hear you we gotta be able to see you and you know ideally obviously if you're gonna read with someone or whatever you're doing you know just like you don't look directly at the camera you can look slightly off the camera but it's really a shame when you've got something that you cannot hear you cannot see the person so take the time to just you know think about what you're what the visual and the sound is gonna be like before you send it but Ashley's channeling in my office is we were talking about this before I last night and you know we lately had some actors really go for goal and their self tapes like really kind of go balls out on that like they really like just you know whether it's the location they put themselves in or the outfits or whatever and some of them have been brilliant like I've been joking with my directors I was like why don't we just drop it in and like that you know like you don't even have to shoot I'm like let's just use this and it's true like a couple people have really nailed it and been obviously hired because of the level of their self tape so it's kind of blown my mind as to where some of these tapes are going in the direction it can go to and so you can think about how you want to do it but if you know if you got the gumption to do it or the urge to do ago and a little extra step you know try it I guess I mean I think it does come down to confidence and choices of an actor you know when you when you self tape you know I a couple things I would say I you know and I don't know about you guys but there's no need for for takes of one scene you know because most of the time we won't watch or can't watch every take of it and even if it's a self you know editing process or you have somebody else a manager an agent a friend whatever it is watch it for feedback I think you send your best stuff you send your best foot you put your best foot forward and I and I agree with you I mean there are some people that do great doing that I think some go horribly wrong and so it is a you know it is again it's about really having a sense of who you are what's obtainable what you can honestly look at and go that's awesome or that didn't quite you know but I don't think at the end of the day it's about acting it's about you know an essence of a person and that's what we're looking for you know it's not a wardrobe and it's not a hat and you know it's not all those things it is about how do I match this soul of this person to something two-dimensional on a page and that's what I look for and tone comes into it looks come into it all those things come into it but you want to be you do want to be taken away you want to be drawn into that that reading that audience and you know some can be bold and fantastic but I would say you know simplest is better you know for me I'd want to see the actor I don't care if you're a set designer and I don't care if you're a costumer and I don't you know what I mean or you can shoot it 8,000 ways you know straightforward so that you know it can be seen with a not a lot of fuss you know I mean bad openings and this goes back to demos and I'll be quiet but you know most directors that I work with they don't want to sit through titles they don't want to sit through sequences of montages of the person running and music and like they won't give it that much time they just won't they will say get through this or okay that's enough you want to put your best foot forward act show them what you got be there be present nobody's gonna get tricked into hiring you what is gonna get you no I mean it's not like oh my God look at this production value let's give this guy on you know it's gonna be about showing the goods about baring your soul about you know having a real intent and and showing something about humanity and that character on a piece of you know it's not a film anymore on a chip technology goes over my office all right I want to go okay so back to the shows that you're all nominated for what I want to know what your favorite part of the process of casting this particular show that you're nominated for like what what makes it easy so I'll just jump in I felt hesitation as people are thinking not hesitation but thinking and I know mine everybody read except for Gerald McRaney in the pilot everyone and I think if we had done the show during pilot season we would not have had that experience so I feel like the chemistry is real because we got to chemistry read people and I think agents are very much in the business of protecting their actors from auditioning but what they forget is that auditioning is a two-way street you're interviewing the show - do you want to work with this director I know it's hard to think of that when you're hungry but it's a long contract you're signing and if we've seen what happens to actors who are on shows they don't love it's tricky for them so I felt like what the magic happened and like what you said earlier I trust the process we got to have one so that's the best thing I think it's a mixed bag you know I do think it cuts both ways unfortunately for actors you know I've found again having a feature background and and coming into television I've found that you know on some level I think I gotta be careful on some level I think that you know television the community is used to seeing people read is used to hearing it read is used to that process and I think that cuts both ways you know on some level it's lazy casting I feel in that people don't do their homework they don't look at demo reels they don't watch an actor's work that it's just well if they're not gonna read then they're not right and you know I can't tell you how many times that I'll be advocating for an actor you know I'll pull out Tom Waits it's not recently but when I did a series called Carnivale for HBO I was begging them why don't we go to Tom Waits well is he gonna read no he's not gonna read Tom Waits like so I mean I think there are those things yeah yeah yeah yeah and I think that that it is great when you get that opportunity to be in the process but I also think that you know actors experience both sides of that you know and it can be a great thing it can work against somebody you know and just getting back oh well you know I think the thing that I mean I love working with Jonah and Lisa and they were friends and so I get an opportunity to work with them I guess the thing that I like most is that it the expansiveness of what that canvas is you know it is it's everything from Rihanna - fantasy - play-acting - role acting like it's everything you know and I think the objective when we started with the pilot was that an actor doesn't just have to play a role he's got to be able to play five roles because one day you could be a cowboy the next day you were a dead father and the next day you're a piece of meat in the locker naked much too many people chagrin and and that is you know I mean it was a hunt and a search for actors that were bold and brave and willing to lead with their talent and and that's I think what excites me about it that's what still excites me about it and and so the the the massive expanse of canvas of that show I love I came up with my answer mine is mine for stranger things is actually if I think of the the one thing specific to it that was the most exciting is really that I I have two sons he they're 10 and 13 and the duffer's are I think now they're 32 years old I've known them since they were I think 26 so being able to bring their idea into this world when no one was paying attention no one thought this was gonna be a show anyone saw it was just a bunch of us getting together and wanting these kids which they're not kids anymore but you know thinking of how we could help them with this they had a beautiful script it was great and then this was the first time I'd cast kids that were the exact same age as my kids at the time and my kids are you know I find great wonder in my children and and you know I think I observed them a lot and I just think that they're much more complicated than me often see in television and and so the mirror of trying to sort of match the complexity of my own children with with finding actors to portray that was really exciting for me and I didn't actually know that that's as we often don't know that it's opening to us in the moment I didn't actually know that that's what I was experiencing but when it was done and I saw it on the screen I was like oh that's what I did that's how I connected to those kids was it's my own kids and their boys also and so it was let's see I have informed my answer but I I I think the two of the fun things are exciting things about Fargo was the opportunity to get to put actors in roles that we haven't gotten to see them too yet or maybe explore some other sides to them that you know in your gut that's casting directors that they have no doubt but they just either haven't had the opportunity or that's not what they're known for and seeing kind of what happens there but I felt generally with Fargo there was a it just was a very cohesive passion about this show from all the creators and Noah Hawley obviously wrote like amazing scripts and everything so it was very celebratory so in the same way that when I work with Joel and Ethan and how they you know you find one person who says one line and they can like talk about it for three weeks because it made them laugh the way they like you know blinked or something it was the same kind of vibe on the show where you'd find somebody really fun to bring in for something and there would be that same kind of passion and celebration of that actor in that role and I thought that's kind of what made it fun and and as it went on like this year was the least amount of actual casting casting this was a lot of just like oh hey you know they'll be really fun in this role and then no being like oh my god this yeah let's do that and then that's it so it was kind of a weird season this year compared to the last ones or like the first year with Alison Tolman where we read like a thousand girls for that role so but I guess that's the question I love the celebratory thing that's awesome that they're excited about one of one line role like they're just as important nobody has more passionate about one line rules than Joel and Ethan Coen that is from soup to nuts there is nobody nobody more celebratory that's awesome okay how there's there's probably a lot of people here that are creating their own work and how for people starting out with their own because I think that's what people are doing now you know you create your own stuff because if there's not the opportunity for you how do you suggest when they're looking to cast their projects you know how do you help new people kind of navigate the casting process I think it's like anything else sort of the steps I think what I would do is look at casting directors offices who casting directors who I think their work is connected to the kind of thing that I would like to do and then reach out to these interns there just get I don't know get Carmen Cuba no not we're very busy any time some office what I'm saying it's called job you have to network you have to network you have to get involved you have to meet someone that hopefully you can inspire with your vision you know because it's a lot of work so it's not like I mean especially if you're starting out with your own thing you're probably not bringing a lot of what I call pitch to it like I need a little bit of a pitch it can't just be a good script because guess what everyone thinks their script is good it's so weird it's a very rare they come to me and me like we want you to cast this it's a piece of but we're all gonna make money never happens even if it is a piece of we're gonna make money they still think this time we're changing it it's a really good script so you need to have some kind of pitch so you're not gonna have a pitch right cuz you're new to so don't think that the casting is going to upgrade your project it's crucial but you're gonna still have to do the work you can't find a fancy casting director who's going to just all the doors open because people take your clear calls they're not going to be able to do which because what they usually do is have a pitch so I think network meet people I think Carmen's idea brilliant find someone that you connect to who is passionate about what you're doing and is inspired because otherwise it won't be good I agree I mean I know no I totally agree I mean that's the I mean and and I think at the end of the day I think you know people that create their own material can get very stuck in no it's this you know no it's that and I think the more you can be open to surrounding yourself with creative talented people it can be anything you know I you know in television this is you know a thing you know I'll say bring up somebody that maybe isn't what it is on the page and you know certain people will go will know that's what that's not what this character would do you wrote it a week ago how do you know that that's not what this character will do change it and so I think is a part of process of creating your own stuff find creative people around yourself find talented people and and change your vision include them in that you know I'm sure it's when Steppenwolf was founded or any any you know great theater company they weren't sitting there going mmm she doesn't have red hair not gonna take her it's about creativity it is about commitment to excellence and so that's what's gonna make your projects stand out differently and so surround yourself with those people and and believe in them allow them to create help create that I wanted I'm being obnoxious I'm sorry but what you said just inspired me something I've been thinking about a lot which is the collaboration of the process and how crucial it is like sometimes people ask why do you think this is us has touched people and stuff and part of me wants to say because the guys have all worked together for years and they trust and love each other and and I've heard many people during the comments tonight I worked with this team for so long these two writers who collaborate you know Joel and Ethan Coen you know these people I think of Hamilton and go is it just on the genius of lin-manuel Miranda yes but he's also worked with the same director choreographer and musical director and producer since the beginning when he graduated from college the trust and I'm casting that that is so you cannot put a price tag on real collaborators so I think that's I think that's one of the things I mean I am very grateful and blessed that I get to do what I do and and and make a nice living doing it that being said the I'm not going to die with hundred-dollar bills you know pouring out on my mattress the the the end of the day it is about collaboration you know the fact that I have worked with Chris Nolan and Jonah's brother and for 17 years I mean that is what you know I even get chills just saying that that is what matters to me people that you know people that you trust people that you have a shorthand with that's what makes me feel like it's a success that what I do has some value to it is the collaboration of people around you and and even in my office you know the collaboration of me and my staff that's what makes me laugh every day that's what makes me want to get up and go to the office is that you know you get to do stuff with people that you choose to and I think that's what brings success around it for me I think that's like the Utopia of casting is getting to find the like the fact that you've had that work in relationship with them for with Christopher Nolan for like 15 years is like that's I think one of the main goals certainly is for myself as a casting director is that repeat opportunity with a director you know where things then even because it just elevates everything every time you work with them it's it's more and more elevated because there's this shorthand and this comfort and and it's just an ease to it that makes your creativity just work even better and so it's very exciting I you know and by no means is it like name-dropping I don't you know I mean Chris and Joan and stuff I mean I have the same relationship with people you know and agents would say to me wait a minute how do you go from doing this not chronological but how do you go from doing dark night to then doing taken to we're taking three or whatever it was and my answer is because they're my friends because I know that director and I want to help him make a project because that is what matters to me and so I do feel like my you know I look at my resume and go but you know but it's because you know that that personal connection to me is what makes it rewarding at the end of the day and makes it different I've actually been thinking about collaboration a lot lately to and including in it agents because I think we don't and managers representatives I think we don't think about those as those kind of relationships but they make our lives really it really is a huge part of it and and it goes back again to people who know you those are the relationships when you've been around long enough you know when someone calls and they say you know I really think you should check this person out it's a shorthand you go yes fine I'm not gonna don't you don't have to prove it to me just I'll do it and that's huge it's huge for saving time it's huge for staying open all of that but it is it's relationships it's people you trust people who aren't gonna waste your time cuz you're not gonna waste their time collaboration I love all of that I love all of that okay so I'm gonna ask this question I think it's a hard one or not I don't know but so the world wide web social media all the different ways to reach out to people and what have you I just want to know actors always say how do we get in touch with you what is the line I mean because these days it is so blurred as far as you know being able to reach someone quickly through other means other than just through an agent I mean please to respond this is not the question I thought you were asking so this to me is way easier postcards for me in my office I just think don't put them in an envelope otherwise you miss like to me that's like the first they're not meant to go in an envelope it's a postcard that's the whole intent so if you put the postcard in an envelope and send it to me you fail test one okay but I will look at every postcard that arrives in postcard form that's the best way to reach out social media is such a long shot because I use that for my life cuz you know I have kids and relatives and if you don't want to Skype a hundred times a week you better have Facebook and post some stuff people can share and comment on right so that's a very big time-saver for life unless you're like a one-armed boy in Louisiana that I cannot find and happens to Facebook message me and I happen to be looking for a one-armed boy in Louisiana you know some insanely difficult thing I'm not I'm not looking at actors facebooking me right that's not the right way you should go on actors access you should fill it out honestly you should look at auditions you should show up to them you should do everything you can we also like postcards and we also like actors access and I think that's kind of it also I probably go on Facebook once a year so when somebody you know sends me something I see it two years later and then respond so it is not a good way for but you know my office is a little more savvy with social media but I think good old-fashioned postcards is a great way to do it and and just kind of staying proactive and doing like the actors access and theatres and workshops or comedy or whatever you're doing but you know just kind of staying proactive on your job I agree postcards yeah that's right so social media I don't I don't know it's not because I don't know how to do it I don't do it I mean yeah I don't know I don't publicize my life and you know whatever but I do postcards are great I do think you know it's because you're always it's also what we do we're looking for faces you know and so seeing somebody in front of you you kind of go oh that might be good for next time that might be good for this so yeah I would agree with that but I don't have a lot of rules like I don't you know what I mean I'm not a big rule follower like everybody's got their own path everybody is trying to make it and so I try and give people the benefit of the doubt you're also not on social media but I'm not on social media and I feel like the postcards are like old school like it reminds me of like before we had what we were able to cast you know on the Internet we used to get bins and bins of packs of headshots and you would alphabetize accent there was just something a lot more visceral and I think things probably didn't fall through the cracks even like as much in the past cuz you used to have everything so tangible so postcards make me happy in that way but I'll add one other thing to postcards one for the office is good 9a starts coming in is a waste of your money and a waste of your time because you know my associates share with me my assistants show it to me like you everybody doesn't need one what what do you wish actors understood about the process of casting as far as you know people get frustrated oh my agents not getting me in I'm not getting auditions how can you help to explain that the process what the process is or what they could know that could help them understand way it can be hard sometimes I think auditions cost money I think that's hard for people to realize we just can't see everybody when you put a one-line part out and in an hour you have 1,500 submissions from agents alone how can you see everyone it's impossible and everyone's not right for everything unfortunately and even if it is a one Ryan role like usually we're coming at it with a pretty specific I mean we have a point of view that you're trying something you're trying to achieve so even though it seems like oh my god like why wouldn't I be going in for that that's you know I'm so that person you might not be for this project because it's not what we're going for so that's something to keep in mind I mean I think to see this is gonna get off the subject but I also think that you know academia by and large has been really for me and my opinion has been slow to come around to the idea that not every actor can play everything I think most teachers and universities and programs still teach at acting for repertory actors which really don't exist by and large very much and that most people really want to be in television film you know repertory companies and Broadway are looking for TV stars to put in their shows so for me I think the reality is is that everybody's playing some version of themselves and so it's a misnomer to think well I can play any role that I am given in film and television will go find an eighty-year-old person it's not that we're gonna hire somebody and put a wig on him and you know it's it's just very different you know and so I think you have to have a clear understanding of who you are you know I think a lot of a lot of teachers and studies would be much more served into in having reading a book about philosophy or psychology or taking a look in the mirror and figuring out who you truly are and what makes you unique then it does you know a lot of other you know methods so I think that's also part of you know looking at those roles what you understand about casting or not is that you know not everybody's going to get every role now that he's right for every role and from your point of view knowing who you are can only help make that easier I think and I was gonna say you said something that hit me that I think is true is the thing that is that you that makes you unique you might think is your flaw that's keeping you out so that's why your photographer has you tilt your head so you have a heart-shaped face because everybody who has a heart-shaped face seems to have an agent and work all the time but you have a square jaw so when you walk in one I see a million pictures of the heart-shaped face when I'm looking for a square-jawed person so bu the thing that makes you you should be you should be fully embracing it and aware of it because it's gonna be the reason you get the job that makes you pop I think also just accept that you're not gonna know everything about the process I think that it's a mystery and and that that all of those sort of factors are never gonna be fully revealed to you even when you see who they ended up casting you will not be able to actually put together the reason why you were not cast so let it go it's again it's about being open it's just do your best just do good a thing goes back to what Tracy said too about the process and when you get the opportunity just said about about the process is that you know magic does happen you know when you get to be able to be in that room you know ultimately if you trust the process and I say this to producers and directors a lot if you trust the process it will occur you know I mean you build the field that you know people will show up there is something intangible and and all the films I've done all the television projects 99% of the time something happens something between an actor and a director of in the moment reading with somebody else magic does occur so I for me I don't even know that we can kind of define that you know definitively and the only other thing I would say is the approach of when you come into a casting room is just to recognize that we are all hoping you're gonna be amazing right like it's a positive experience regardless of what's going on your brain we're hoping that you're gonna solve this puzzle piece for us just as much as you're hoping to get the part so I think you'd like I think people come in very discouraged or chip on their shoulder you know expecting the worst and it's just not the environment that it should be I mean look you have to do your business you have to come prepared you have to make your choices you have to do what you need to do to come in and do the best you can because some people you know everyone's different like some offices do one takes offices do 10 takes like you have to be able to bring what you need to bring but it should it should be a positive experience you know when you come into our offices okay what do you love about actors you can act honestly to be honest I can't I mean I can't act so I do think it's like one of the most tremendous abilities and skills and I respected and appreciated I mean you know what are the things you remember most the most moving movies and television performances that you see that you know they really can affect you so deeply into your soul so I think it's you know something I wish I could do but I really that's what I respect obviously the most and your tenacity I respect the ability to be vulnerable in in these brief moments with people you've never met before I that's something I can't do this is out of my comfort zone right now and and you know I'm sort of I know what I'm talking about but going in and just giving it your all I'm always at the end of a day honestly this sounds corny but at the end of the day where I've had a big group of people I'm I feel honored afterwards that they would do that with me you know that they would give themselves in that way and it's just amazing it is amazing it's a hard thing to do it's hard it's hard for me to imagine doing something like that so I have a lot of respect I I think it's I mean everything that's been said obviously but I really love craft as well so I feel like I expect I'm I have a craft background so I know how to approach the script so I feel like I have a strong sense of what should be happening but I love the actor who nails that but then brings that thing that I couldn't bring it you know it brings the thing that is truly them their choices their creativity and that's to me that's the perfect audition is someone who makes me maybe see this role in a different way or deeper or whatever yeah I mean it's all those things for me and and yeah I mean there's creativity involved I love us you know a soul of an actor I like you know the fact that they're brave you know they're much braver than I think most people give actors credit for to stand in front of a room and be judged is a hard thing you know and and it's wearing on a soul and so that people do that it's incredibly courageous and and real and it's visceral and I think that you know so I love that about them but I agree craft is fantastic and and somebody that makes choices comes in and does their work and leaves you know in it and and that's when I feel like I'm in the presence of an artist those are the things that I remember the most and those are the biggest impressions left on me and and so that I think you know actors should strive for that you know and that's what that's what makes me at the end of the day go Am I I'm incredibly lucky to be part of that process here's a question from centa what does it take to move someone with co-star credits up to guest star auditions for example is it the number of co-star roles I don't I don't make that distinction when we're auditioning people like if they have co-star credits but I think they have the right type or whatever then I just bring them in to try it yeah I agree I don't I don't watch that I don't look at that it's not a formula I mean I'll just speak I I also think that the idea of co-star versus guest star those lines are a little blurred right now anyway and when it comes down to it it's the real definition is money I think that's what we forget that sometimes it's like well it's a bigger part but we can only pay this amount because we didn't we can't pay top of show you know we can't spread them eight days I mean I think no I agree and I think it is something that a lot of people don't understand that we are hemmed in by producers and budgets and you know requirements from a studio and and I don't know that you guys have dealt with this a lot but in talking about trying new people there's many directives on shows that I work on and and that you can't hire non-equity Anan sag actors and that they don't want to go through taft-hartley and someone oh they don't want to pay initiations so there's a lot of rules that we have to abide by that limit what we can do as well Carmen this is a question specifically for you when this is from Mario Corona when it comes to a co-production and you have like a local casting director who's got the last decision on to hire an actor you or the local casting director I mean do you look at like if there's a local casting director do you look at all those auditions as well on my projects and I think this is maybe not usual but my projects everything goes through me so I deal with the director with all parts so the local person sends me her his or her stuff I narrow it down I then talk to the director and we choose together great fantastic that was a great question Mario okay this is for everyone from vivvy do you look for different qualities between feature actors and TV actors if so what okay no right moving on um this okay this is a good one for anyone and everyone from Tiffany can you talk briefly about what your rooms are like do you all only do pre-screening via tape says I've experienced people's CDs state that you only get one shot or otherwise they're moving on is it like that for you to like how does your room work do you pre-read do you put on tape Mila it's all it all depends on the project and what timing I would assume everything I mean I usually tape everything because I go back to everything a million times over but as far as like takes and stuff like that it's just in the moment right like you do it and if there's stuff to play with or tweak we do it and if not then we don't I don't think there's like a hard rule for anything for me yeah no I agree with that I mean I think the thing that I've run into lately just luckily being busy that you know I'm not in every session and especially in television with there's so many roles and so many things so I'm not in every session I try and go out and say hi to people that I know when I know they're coming in but it changes I watch everything and you know we tape everything and I end up watching it even if I'm not in the room but I think you know we work really hard to try and make actors feel welcome and and that they are a vital part of what we do not an ancillary part that's I would agree I feel like we work in the coldest room in the world where one person goes in knowing they could be rejected and the other person goes in knowing they might have to reject someone and those are human experiences we usually seek to avoid so I feel that our job is to make the coldest room in the world warm and so but that doesn't mean that I'm going to do takes to be polite because I don't want to waste your you know that it is I don't think well I guess I don't put on it that if I do more than one take that means you're good or that means you're bad I've had people who do one take and I'm like that's it we're going this is great by but you I think if you're going in the room trying to see how you're doing or the likelihood of if you're gonna book by guessing like how you're treated you're focused on the wrong thing good answer I won't drop it this is from Joe this is a good question what is the hardest part of casting additional roles on a TV show that's a huge hit so is there pressure to get you know I don't know if it's expectations but I think that you know once a show is a hit big names become fans of the show and then want to be on them and it just sort of depends on how your team responds to that kind of thing and and you know for us on stranger things I can say that we've been very good about just sticking to the integrity of the piece that we imagine no one would see so season two season two will be similar there's no Tom Cruise yeah it's it's I think still driven by the writing so if we have an episode and I do have an eye-roll when I read someone famous playing themselves because I'm like I hope that was your college roommate you know because it's people don't want to play themselves even if they're on edge like they want to act they're actors you know but so I have a joke about that but it's always driven by the writing I mean I think you know in most cases it might in in the creator's Minds emphasize a role like oh we have something really special coming up so now we need somebody special kind of thing and I think at the end of the day you know somebody said to me recently we just wanted you to know we need a really good actor for this role I love that my just a good actor just a really good I'm a little edgier than that I was like thank God because I usually bring you shitty ones so fantastic we're on the same page they hung up they hung up quickly after that comment so true I mean they think for Fargo when season one did so well certainly the network and the studio was like oh my god we gotta really have you know each season it's like who's the big person that's gonna come this season so the expectations did would get bigger and bigger but you know there's a reality to it all of us you know even though there's so much transition with feature actors big feature at shows in television it still doesn't mean everyone's willing to play still you know so okay this is from Kevin to all of you what are the reasons and circumstances that led you to watch the last demo reel that you watched to see how old someone played I literally the last one I watched was showing a director and producers and everybody someone's work so it was again it goes back to you know not really wanting a ton of upfront credits and music and you know and also wanting it to be current you know work from 10 years ago though it may be great is really not relevant to you know what they're looking at now so I think that's what drove me to it you know explaining who people were showing them that work I'm doing a project right now where the whole intent is to bring this authenticity to an event that really happened so I think I watched a demo real just to get a sense of who the actor was they didn't know them and whether they kind of fit the bill of bringing that really specific flavor to that role but you I don't know what I really love right now are those sleeves those slates that people can do now when you hit the play on the slates I'm the breakdown do you guys know oh my god they're the best those for me are like what I love right now the demo reel I watched was for an actor that I didn't I didn't think back to what John was saying I didn't think he needed to audition for this part he has a body of work but I wasn't sure if he if I had a piece I was looking for a piece of work that was current and would speak to the part so that I could just show the director that and say you know just to jump on that demo reel that's why I like when they send me a list because sometimes what happens is I'm trying to sell the person is this like edgy downtown part but if their first part of their reel is Gossip Girl where they were a stockbroker my director turns it off but if I go oh Deadwood there we go we can show the edgy er side so I prefer that than actual cut together demo real great and I hit all the questions so I will I want to ask one last thing what what is the most favorite project that you've each cast and why well I think they all have different reasons it's all I don't know so specific it's also two parts of our lives probably like whether it connected okay I'll go I'll say a serious man and I'll back it up with because that was like everybody on location in Minnesota in Minneapolis and it was like again just such a community feel and literally I would be like at synagogue every weekend in the back you know looking at people and then like going up to them and you know afterwards and trying to get them to do a role in the movie or something like that like it just was very like ground you know like a lot of just a lot of work but a lot of passion and a lot of fulfillment on that one that helped me think of one although I love Rachel getting married was the first time I work with Jonathan Demi and he basically said don't let gender and age and type limit you and I was like those are our tools like what do you mean so we just he said bring in your favorite actors on the planet and we'll and we gave people packets that had multiple roles of different ethnicities everything in fact if you know that movie Sebastien Stan's part was written as a woman in Ross ruffs part was written as a man in this script but it just was and then he added people I think the line producer was going to jump out a window but like we just got to it was like truly creative like we just got to create what it was as opposed to Phil tracks it's hard yeah I mean it's it's hard I for different reasons I mean memento was one because it was so easy Chris didn't know anybody so he was just like bringing the best people that you like and we made choices it was really quick you know on the other end of the spectrum Dunkirk probably in that it was a new process in that you know Chris hadn't really worked with young actors before and guys that didn't have a lot of experience it was a whole different thing but everything has its own fun or whatever but those are two that stick out I've done sort of experimental movies with Steven Soderbergh there's two of them and they unfortunately don't involve actors but what was interesting about them was that I got drugged there's one called bubble where I got dropped in the middle of West Virginia Parkersburg West Virginia with a maybe three sentence description of what it was we didn't have a script and five characters or seven or something and with very little description to who they were and here was in the small town and we don't talk a lot Steven and I about the actual project that we're working on so I was left just walking around town going where would where would you find the prettiest girl in town and so I walked around and walked past a beauty school and I thought they would probably be there and I walked in and asked the manager if I could interview all of the girls who were training with him and he didn't hadn't heard of any movie that Stephen had made and didn't care but said yes and so I interviewed them all and then I decided I would just edit little clips that seemed interesting and I would send them to Stephen and he picked people that way he wasn't because he wasn't him in the town in in Parkersburg yet and so that was interesting and fun for me and another way to sort of see performance all right well I think we are gonna wrap this on up I am wait wait wait wait before before we wrap I congratulations to all of you again I personally am so inspired by all of your work so it's really awesome to hear you guys and talk with you all and thank you for sharing with all of these fine folks thanks for coming out tonight and good luck is it next weekend or this weekend oh this weekend okay fantastic well good luck to all of you thank you [Applause]

Channel: SAG-AFTRA Foundation

Views: 8,179

Rating: 4.9316239 out of 5

Keywords: SAG Foundation, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Acting, Actors, Carmen Cuba, Tiffany Little Canfield, John Papsidera, Rachel Tenner, The Business, Casting Director

Id: Osh3Vcdfsmk

Length: 72min 48sec (4368 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 06 2017