The show follows an over-the-hill ex-golfer who, after his wife leaves him, sees hope in coaching a troubled teen prodigy named Santiago “Santi” Wheeler, staking his future on the youth’s success.

She talked to us from Los Angeles. 

Key Insights

• The strongest auditions don’t simply match what’s written on the page—they help casting directors discover new possibilities for the character.
• Expanding casting searches globally creates opportunities to find authentic performers who might otherwise never enter the conversation.
• When evaluating actors, specific choices, vulnerability, and authenticity often matter far more than technical skills that can be learned later.

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Owen was attached to the show before casting began. What about Marc Maron?

I’m a huge, huge fan of [Marc Maron]. Every time I get to see him in something where he’s doing something outside of how we normally know him, doing stand-up or his podcast, I love him. I think he’s so much fun to watch.

I think all his choices are always so interesting, and I love the way he approaches his characters. He was a very obvious person for that part from the beginning, when we were just creatively discussing it.

I’m interested in the casting of Mariana Treviño as Elena. I’d seen her in the Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto, but otherwise she was new to me. Her chemistry with Marc was impressive. 

The key for that role was we needed to find Santi first. By the time we landed on Peter, we knew what we wanted to do for the mom, and we wanted to make sure it was someone who spoke Spanish, and the way they interacted with each other was authentic.

So that opened up the opportunity to go a little bit more global for that role. Mariana is so exciting to me. She’s a huge star in Mexico, so it’s a big get to have her in this. 

Did she do a chemistry read with Marc?

She actually flew in and did a chemistry read with Peter, so we got to see her in person, and she’s so charming and so adorable and funny, with so much heart. [She’s] really such a special person that we knew [she] would match with Marc.

Digital outreach is so much more available than it was, even four, five, six years ago. Has the ability to go global made your life easier?

Oh yeah, I love it. I’ve completely embraced the opportunity to be able to open up things. There’s obvious limitations with budgets and visas and things like that, so everything can’t be bringing in people from all over the world, but it’s fun when you have the opportunity to be able to do that kind of outreach.

I really welcome that opportunity to get to expand that way.

It must open you up to all kinds of talent that you would not have otherwise considered. 

Absolutely. There’s just so much you can access, so much stuff now, it’s amazing. Rick Messina is my associate, my right-hand man. We always talk about how we act sometimes, maybe we shouldn’t be setting up this many people, but at the end of the day, you can’t help it.

Sometimes at midnight when I’m watching everything, I want to punch myself in the face, because I did this, but it does have its own reward. (Laughs)

I had definitely never seen Peter before. How did you find him? Were you looking for guys who could play golf? Or, did you figure, “Let’s get an actor first, and if we have to, we’ll teach them how to play golf?”

It was the latter. If they knew how to play golf, that was a bonus, but we were trying to do it with enough time that they would have training and be able to do what was necessary to at least make it look legit. I think over time, he’s actually really gotten into golf, but obviously this was a big search.

I think it was a very interesting process, because when we read it, we were thinking real, hard-core comedy. As we started doing the scenes, we were seeing what was working and what was not, and then really also settling on the tone, because the tone was a little mysterious  as you started getting into it.

It started feeling they weren’t matching up 100%, so we kept shifting the idea of who this guy was. 

What set Peter apart?

What I really loved about Peter is he had this Patrick Dempsey in the 1980s feel about him. There was just something very nostalgic about him, his humor, and the way he approached everything.

That made him feel a little different than other people. We just loved the way he approached this character and his choices and his humor, but then also his heart, and his vulnerability, and he just seemed very lovable.

Do you find that actors who audition for you can help shape what this project is going to be if they’re making interesting choices? That they can actually make a difference in the creation of the show and the execution of it?

Oh, that’s interesting. I think actors, in general, they’re always bringing themselves into something, so I think they’re always helping shape a character, because they’re coming in with their own choices and all the quirks and things that make up their own person.

I think the process helped me understand what was successful with this character, and I think it helped me hone in specifically about how to get what I need from people. It helped me get specific that way, and it helped me see what works and what really brings out the parts of this character that I wanted to see more than others.

So it wasn’t just Peter, but other people coming in, showing you different things, that allowed you to understand, “Oh, this is not what we had envisioned. I have to reconsider exactly how we’re judging who this guy is.”

I think so. Honestly, I think it’s great because when you’re sending them to your showrunner, you can say, “Neil did it this way, this is one version. Peter did it this way. This is a different version.” I think it’s important for everyone to get to see the different versions of it, because they’re all successful in their own way.

They all make sense in the world, it’s just, what’s the version where we ultimately land? Because you read it and you have something in your head, you talk to everybody, and then when you start seeing it, it finds a new home in your brain.

What was the process then with Lilli? Because that character is very specific. Androgynous, gender queer, but who falls in love with a guy and all the internal conflict that goes it. 

That was a very specific process. It was very important to everyone to make sure that it was authentic, and we were dealing with people who identify in certain ways and felt comfortable with the storyline and the narrative. I loved [Lilli] from Your Honor, and I remember my friend [casting director] Lauren Grey sending me a video and saying, “This woman, isn’t she great?”

Watching her read this, and then talking to her more about how she identifies, and the journey, and the story, and going through all of that with her was very meaningful and exciting. I thought we had a good opportunity to do some good representation there.

I feel there are a lot more opportunities for actors who fall into that category than there ever used to be.

Absolutely. This is the biggest generalization you’ll ever hear, but there is so much more openness for people to be anything and identify any way. There’s just room for everybody in these shows now, and it’s just great.

You’ve finished season 2. Were there any specific challenges for season 2 that you didn’t have in season 1? Or was it easier because it’s an established show?

It makes it easier, definitely, for people to have seen it and know what they’re participating in. If they love it, then they were game, and if they weren’t a fan, then we didn’t have to worry about it.

There are a couple really meaningful roles that we had to get settled for season 2, but I’m not going to say anything about it.

Oh, come on!

I don’t see anything on the internet about it. So I’m gonna wait. I’m not gonna be that person. (Laughs)

The post Apple TV’s ‘Stick’: Rachel Tenner on Authentic Casting and Surprising Choices appeared first on Casting Networks.

The latest series focuses once again on Michael C. Hall’s title character, now in New York City, as he navigates a whole new world of serial killers. Both seasons star Uma Thurman, James Remar, Jack Alcott, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Kadia Saraf and Peter Dinklage.

The casting directors are in the midst of their work on shooting season 2, which is currently in production. They talked to us from LA.

Key Insights

• Great casting isn’t always about finding the actor who matches the role on the page—it’s about finding the actor who reveals what the role can become.
• Small roles often carry enormous story weight, which is why casting directors approach one-scene characters with the same care as series regulars.
• Unexpected choices create memorable television, whether it’s casting a comedian as a serial killer or discovering a lesser-known actor who brings something nobody anticipated.

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Are there certain advantages to coming onto a show that is already in full swing?

Ross Meyerson: I actually worked on the pilot. The show was going to shoot on the East Coast, and then it ended up not, so we left. Or it left us. Then we came back on New Blood, because CJ and I had worked with [showrunner] Clyde Phillips on a number of shows, so we had some familiarity with the background of the project.

I think it was really more about our relationship with Clyde and [EP] Scott Burke, coming into a project where we were already had worked with the producers, and that always makes things a lot easier, because you understand them, and they help you understand the fabric of the show.

CJ Molidor: That helps us so much, knowing them, but I also think, obviously, it’s high expectations. There’s a lot of fans that love this show that have their own theories and thoughts, and what they want, so there’s a lot of expectations to make sure we’re living up to what the fans want.

Do you find yourself checking online to see reactions?

CJM: Ross reads all the little theories. (Laughs)

RM: They all had theories, even this year, about who should be in it. They know what’s coming, they know the folklore of the show so it doesn’t sway us, but then it’s very hard not to chime in when something is written online and say, “Hey, that’s not the way it happened.” At one point, Tom Cruise was being bandied about, and then the whole fan world thinks Tom Cruise is going to be on the show. CJ, do you feel the pressure of thinking, “Are we got to live up to that?”

CJM: No, but it is very interesting to see what the people think, or all their expectations. It’s fun to see that side of it, and then also to see the reactions when they announce the people that we do cast.

What about the casting of established actors in those cameos, like Eric Stonestreet, Neil Patrick Harris and David Dastmalchian? 

RM: I think we felt we could get people, and it’s at least partly about seeing people that you might not expect. When Clyde and Scott and [EP] Marcos Siega talked to us about Eric’s character, I can’t think of too many other times in my life where I called CJ up and I was like, “it’s Eric Stonestreet.” Every single person that we offered it to said yes.

Eric Stonestreet is not someone you think of as a serial killer. David Dastmalchian, however …

RM: Yes, that’s what made it such a great mix of characters, who to expect and who not to expect. That’s a challenge for this show. It’s not like we have to guess who the killers are. But I think it’s still fun for us to then have those characters appear, and people go, “Wow, did not see that coming.”

What about less familiar faces, like Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine and Kadia Saraf?

RM: Here’s a crazy thing about Ntare — he was in the graduate acting class of my roommate, and I saw him at NYU, many, many, many, many years ago. When I read the role, I thought of Ntare, and he had been on another Showtime show, and then it was weird, [everything] started clicking because Showtime knew him, [EP] Scott Buck had worked with him, so that was just universes aligning of somebody who we all knew from different walks of life. CJ, had Kadia been on your radar at all? 

CJM: Between Rescue Me and when we saw her, only through Instagram, but not really in anything else, I’d just met her before and known her, but no, not really.

RM: I can’t tell you how many people we read for that role. It was just an incredibly difficult role to find. You name an actor, we read them.

Why was it so hard?

RM: The fact that the character, I guess we could say is on the spectrum, and that’s a really hard thing to find, and was a really difficult thing for people to understand. Tell me if you agree with me, CJ, but I think Kadia was the first person who we saw where it was effortless for her. It didn’t feel she was playing at being on the spectrum, and I don’t even think we called her back. 

CJM: No, she had it right away.

RM: She just understood. I don’t know if she knew somebody, or she had some sort of history that gave her the understanding of the character that just helped her, but again, it was just effortless for her.

What about the sense of satisfaction you get from finding someone lesser known who comes in and knocks it out of the park?

RM: One role that comes to mind is the guy in Ohio last year that Uma’s character goes to see [played by Max Von Essen]. That was a one-scene role, but it was with Uma Thurman, and that scene itself had an arc to it. Maybe it was one page to a page and a half, but it was an incredibly important scene, because it was establishing the story.

CJM: That established the whole club thing, the red envelope, the money, all of it.

RM: It’s roles that you don’t think [of], when you’re reading the script the first time, how important they are going to be to the story, how important that character is, and how important finding the right actor for that role is.

It goes to show how important bringing interesting ideas and big choices are to auditions, and how that can actually affect the final version of the character. 

RM: Yes. Going back to Kadia, I don’t know that we knew what that role should be, and we didn’t know what it was until we saw it. That role probably defines that. It happens on certain shows, because sometimes we think we know what it is, and then we bring it in, and strangely, our producers go, “That’s great! We love that!” Sometimes, it’s by accident.

And that’s how some of the best alchemy happens.

CJM: Yeah, for sure.

Halfway through the second season, are there specific challenges this time around that you didn’t have the first season? Or is it easier?

RM: I don’t ever say anything’s easier, but because a lot of the characters were established from the year before, we set the table nicely, which I think makes this season a little easier. However, setting the table as nicely as I think we did, it also makes us have to live up to the challenge of living up to that season. In finding Dan and Brian, it was in the back of my head, “Let’s knock this out of the park again.”

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The post What Ross Meyerson and CJ Molidor Look for When Casting ‘Dexter: Resurrection’ appeared first on Casting Networks.

The Emmy-winning casting director (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley), alongside casting partner Matt Lander, assembled the ensemble for Apple TV+ and A24’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles by balancing established collaborators with emerging talent.

Based on Rufi Thorpe’s novel, the series follows Margo Millet (Elle Fanning), a young single mother who turns to OnlyFans to overcome financial hardship.

Rubin spoke with Casting Networks about building the cast, finding chemistry between actors, and why performers should stop trying to guess what casting directors are looking for.

Key Insights

• Bring your own interpretation to the role instead of trying to predict what casting directors want to see.
• Strong casting often comes from relationships, recommendations and unexpected discoveries, not just traditional auditions.
• Chemistry, collaboration and authenticity can matter as much as experience when booking a role.

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With such a storied history in this industry, what was it like to reunite with so many familiar creative partners?

David Rubin: I have many relationships rolled into this project, including the folks at Apple TV and David E. Kelley, who is a wonderful producer, writer and extraordinary person. I have a long relationship with Nicole Kidman. I was involved in the first job that Nicole had when she came to America, a film about NASCAR called Days of Thunder.  

When you first came on board and began breaking down the script, who was already attached, and what did the puzzle look like at the start?

Elle Fanning was involved from the start. She actually was hip to the novel already and had been in touch with the novelist. David E. Kelley had read the novel and was attached. There was some question whether Michelle Pfeiffer would be joining the cast. She hasn’t done many series, and she had never worked with her husband, David E. Kelley, in a professional way on a series. Yet, when she had read the novel, she was completely entranced by the character of Shyanne [Margo’s self-centered mother].

Nicole Kidman plays a wrestler-turned-attorney in the series. How did that role come about, considering it is a character that doesn’t exist in the book?

It was an added idea, and a very clever one. Nicole was an executive producer on this, and at first it wasn’t clear exactly which role she might play. But it turned out that she perfectly fit into this role, where she got to play a former wrestler and attorney. I think it gave her a big kick to do both.

Once the foundational characters were cast, which roles became your primary focus to fill out the ensemble?

The focus initially was on two key roles. One was Jinx, an ex-wrestler and father of Margo.

Jinx is a highly physical role, but it also requires serious dramatic chops and sharp comedic timing. How did you approach finding an actor who could deliver all three?

That process was unique in that we weren’t sure whether it was even feasible. We wanted to explore the idea of having a professional wrestler play the role. However, that character is so multidimensional and challenging. It had to be someone who could believably, and with nuance, play a character that was part of the comedic side of this series, but also part of the emotional, dramatic side. 

At what point did the focus shift entirely toward Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) for the role?

Very early on. From the beginning, without question, Nick Offerman was extremely high on our list, because not only had we seen him do great comedic work, but he had begun to do very memorable dramatic work [he won an Emmy for HBO’s The Last of Us]. We were hopeful that he would respond to the material when it was ultimately offered to him. When he read it, he was inclined to go deep into this character’s pathology and his history. It’s a remarkable performance.

What was the second key role you needed to lock down immediately?

The other one was Margo’s roommate, Susie. Thaddea Graham was a delightful surprise. Our director, Dearbhla Walsh, worked with Thaddea on Bad Sisters and suggested that we explore her.

With that kind of directorial recommendation, it must have been a straightforward booking.

We came very close to not having her available, because at the same time that we were exploring her for this role, she was offered a job at the National Theatre in London. We had to get a bit competitive. We got to know her mostly on Zoom auditions and did everything we could to suggest that this series might be even more fun than a play at the National Theatre.

The series features wrestlers, OnlyFans creators, college students and church groups. How did you approach populating all these various character groups?

This is not a series that takes place with people who all know each other and who share similar interests. Everybody is part of a “pod” of characters, if you will. When it came time to find very conservative roommates for Margo, we had fantastic readings from Annalise Basso and Marisela Zumbado. You would believe them as students at Fullerton College. 

How was populating the specific world of OnlyFans, especially Rose and KC, the two girls that Margo looks to collaborate with on the platform?

Capturing those characters was a completely different world from the other pods of characters in this piece. Lindsey Normington (Anora) had already caught our attention [for Rose]. She was an exotic dancer, a pole dancer, but also had developed a real knack for acting and understood the world of this piece. In many ways, she educated us.

Pairing her with rapper Rico Nasty as KC felt like an inspired choice. How did that partnership click?

Rico Nasty is a fantastic musician and very popular, but had never auditioned for an acting part before. We tried combinations of actresses from various worlds for these two roles. It was great to see Lindsey and Rico ad-libbing material together during the callback. It was a bit of a eureka moment when we saw them as a couple.

Speaking of callbacks, how vital is that interactive element when you start putting actors into the same room? 

Matt Lander [my casting partner] and I are huge proponents of seeing people in person whenever possible. There’s nothing better than spending time with two or three actors in a room talking about the material, focusing on the tone of a piece. It’s invaluable. 

If you could offer one definitive piece of advice to actors coming in to read for you, what would it be? 

The one piece of advice I would give is to not spend any time at all being concerned about what we, the casting director, the director or the producer, are looking for in that part. Don’t ever pander to what you think we are looking for, because when you bring something fresh, suddenly, the light in the room changes, the energy in the room shifts, and we start to rethink what we thought we were looking for. It’s not about guessing what we’re up to. It’s about creating a very fresh idea that only you can offer.

As the former (and first casting director) elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, what does it mean to finally see Achievement in Casting at the Oscars? 

The one thing that is 100% clear to me is that the casting process is as essential to the filmmaking process as any of the areas that have been in a position to be awarded in the past. To reach a point where it was recognized [equally] with the other essential filmmaking [disciplines] was enormously gratifying, and I would be lying if I didn’t say emotional. It was nice to have it acknowledged.

Why do you think it took so long for casting to become an officially recognized Oscar category?

There are lots of reasons why it’s been neglected over the years, and it has to do with when the casting director’s job emerged in the history of filmmaking, which was not until the mid to late 1950s. Before that, actors were under contract to studios, and it was the executives at the studios who had lists of actors and made decisions about placing them in various roles, about which the actors themselves had very little control.

What eventually shifted the industry landscape away from that old studio system?

When the studio system began to fade in the late 1950s, suddenly, there was an opportunity for filmmakers to hire people who were incredibly well-versed in the acting pool. It didn’t have to be the people that were under contract to 20th Century Fox or Warner Bros. It was really just the knowledge, an understanding and an appreciation of the breadth of possibilities in casting, and that’s when casting directors came to the fore.

What helped other guilds, unions and Oscar voters to finally understand the importance of casting?

The relationship between a casting director and a filmmaker often happens behind closed doors, where none of the other people who are also instrumental in making films see what happens in the casting process. [Therefore], organizations that give awards and acknowledge the work of casting directors had to be educated about what we do, about what the process is.

What kind of advocates did you have within the Academy to help push that education forward?

That was done, ultimately, with the help of directors and producers who are in the room with us, who do know what we do, and they advocated for recognition of Achievement in Casting, because they know what it is. Ultimately, they were helpful in bringing together a lot of other people who needed to learn what it is, and to agree wholeheartedly that this should be one of the major award categories.

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The post ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ Casting Director Reveals His Best Audition Advice appeared first on Casting Networks.

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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The post Casting Director Danny Long Shares Audition Tips Every Actor Needs to Know 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.

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.

Responsible for mega blockbusters (the Mortal Kombat franchise), International Emmy-winning series (First Day), iconic cult classics (Wolf Creek), beloved indie features (Storm Boy) and award-winning television commercials (Cannes Grand Prix winner, “Be Consumed”), Angela and Lou Heesom are the “go-to girls” for all things happening in Australia’s southern state. 

Key Insights

• Self-taping has shifted power toward actors, offering more creative control while expanding access and opportunity across the industry.
• Luck opens doors, but only actors who are consistently prepared and deeply invested in their craft are ready to walk through them.
• Great acting isn’t about flashy choices but about work that feels fully alive, emotionally transparent, and impossible to ignore.

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Heesom Casting was responsible for the Australian casting of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II. What can actors learn from your experience casting such major international co-productions? 

That luck definitely exists! But you have to be ready for it when the moment arrives. 

Mortal Kombat came to us through the legendary producer E. Bennett Walsh. This man’s credits literally define eras in cinema! Meanwhile, we were these little-known Adelaide-based casting directors who, while having had the privilege of working on some seminal Australian productions, had never worked on that international scale before.

Yet, for whatever reason, Bennett saw something in us and was willing to take the chance. That was the moment that changed everything. Suddenly, we were working on the Australian end under US casting director Rich Delia, watching pure mastery in action. 

But none of this could have happened without Bennett. We’ve now made three films together, and I can honestly say I owe my career to the belief of that man. 

I think that, in many ways, it’s the talent-based philosophy that has been the universal thread in all three productions we’ve done together. These highly revered giants of film really give weight to the power of instinct, and that when someone walks into the room and has that magical quality, you trust that.

You don’t always have to wait for the CV to give you permission to hire. You back the talent, you back the actor and you back the work. Across these three productions, we’ve been able to cast actors in key supporting roles who, at the time of auditioning, had nomajor film or television credits. 

You never know when your big break could come. It could be your next audition, your next tape. But you have to be ready. You have to keep up the momentum — working, stretching and deepening your craft. And do it not for the credits or fame, but for the pure joy of the work.

As casting directors, we see all of that. We see all those hours of unseen preparation, the heart, the craft and quiet sacrifice. When that’s all coalescing inside of you, that’s what sets your work on fire when the big moment arrives. 

Your team has almost as many TV credits as film credits. How does self taping or auditioning for a series differ from self taping or auditioning for a feature? 

It’s subjective, but for me personally, I don’t think there are specific rules for feature auditions vs. episodic auditions. Of course, you have to do the right research in terms of genre and tone of the filmmakers, plus the rhythm of the writing, so your work lives within the same universe.

However, at the end of the day, all we are truly looking for is good work. Work that is fully formed, honest and teeming with life. It’s always about how the actor brings themselves to the part and expresses this in artistic terms. 

For general advice, and this is not a blanket rule, but for episodics or features that have a writer/director, actors should stay true to the text, and not assume they can improvise or be too loose with the dialogue. Often, writers are also watching the auditions, and by the time we’re at the casting stage, they’ve spent years honing the language.

If you want to improv, I always suggest doing the first take as written. Then, if you want to offer something more unique to you and your sensibilities, deliver it in a second take. Then you are honoring both creative partners: the writer and you, as the actor. 

You joined Heesom Casting in 2009, so you’ve had a front-row seat to the many shifts and changes the industry has undergone in that time. What realities do you believe today’s actors most need to be aware of? 

Casting wasn’t an industry sector in South Australia before my mom, Angela Heesom, created it over thirty years ago. I’ve seen firsthand the grit behind the glamour, the depth of her craft and her dogged determination. She cares so deeply about our industry. A lot of that has informed my approach as well. 

Yes, the landscape has undergone radical evolution, particularly with technology. The great conversation piece is, of course, self tapes, which have now become a routine entry point for first-round auditions. But all casting directors mourn the days of solely in-the-room auditions.

That was our lifeblood — that exchange between us and the actor, together mining the material for all its infinite possibilities. Most of my friends are actors as well, so that sense of daily community has really shifted and taken some adjustment. 

Yet we can’t resist technology; we must embrace it and evolve alongside it. Where we once would have seen four or five actors each hour, I can now watch twenty self tapes in the same amount of time. That has undoubtedly widened the horizons and given greater permission for experimentation, because I’m not limited by the time available in the room.

Tapes have become a great democratizer. We can push the envelope more than ever before to challenge, to give space for new voices and spotlight communities not represented, or authentically represented, on our screens. So, I’m truly grateful for the power of that. 

Plus, it can give actors a sense of agency. You know the audition you do, and then on the way home you suddenly realize all the ways you could have done it in the room? That no longer exists. You have complete creative control. [With a self tape], you can hone and develop it until you are totally satisfied. I’m constantly marveling at how actors arrive at such precise and imaginative interpretations of the material. It’s wild watching a great creative force be creative.      

Similarly, you’ve mentioned that simply being “good” just isn’t enough. In your eyes, what separates the good actors from the great? 

That’s a difficult question. Quite frankly, Australian actors are extraordinary. Beyond world class! We’re currently casting an ensemble film and it’s almost impossible to arrive at any type of shortlist because, audition after audition, every actor’s work is just so good. 

Then, all of a sudden, an actor walks in or a tape arrives that transcends everything that came before them. Not because of a specific choice they made, or some bold idea they’ve inserted to make their work stand out, but because the work is so organically alive. It breathes. There’s an emotional translucence and an energetic undercurrent that makes you hear the material anew. 

I always know when an actor has achieved that. Something almost leaps through the lens and into your body. By the end of the scene, not only have I forgotten to call “cut,” but I’ve completely stopped breathing. Literally. Because the actor has me so fully suspended in that moment, I’ve forgotten that there’s a script and we’re just two people in a room reading a scene.

That’s what’s so exquisite about that level of craft and execution. While it looks effortless, it carries the weight of a lifetime. For me, that’s what separates the good from the great. It’s lightning in a bottle. 

Your Screen Acting Masterclasses constantly sell out. If you had to guess, what would you say is their secret sauce? 

I wish there were a secret sauce! If there is one, it’s the actors themselves. I’m continually in awe of the level of talent and commitment they bring to the room. The classes are such joyous spaces full of experimentation, risk taking, discovery and laughter.

At the same time, they’re deeply practical. I feel a real responsibility to ensure every actor leaves with tangible, actionable tools they can use immediately, because in auditions, the window to bring material to life is so fleeting. It’s a high-pressure environment, so my focus is always on keeping the actor open and accessing their best work.

There isn’t space to dismantle what they’ve prepared, even if something isn’t fully serving the material, because in that moment the actor tightens and I lose access. In the masterclass, we’re given the rare gift of time. 

Ultimately, it’s about giving back autonomy and creative control. Helping actors understand their process, trust themselves and acknowledge the extraordinary artistry within them. Then it’s about elevating that work to its fullest expression, and giving permission for their entire being to completely fill the frame. 

What’s the best way for emerging actors to get on the Heesom Casting radar? 

Knowing good actors is a casting director’s currency. We’ve always got an ear to the ground! 

However, I also don’t sit in an ivory tower making all the decisions alone as to who I bring into the room. So much of this job is about collaboration. Collaboration with our team, and  importantly, collaboration with agents. Agents don’t get nearly enough thanks for what they do, or the hours they work. They work harder than anyone in this industry.

If you can find an agent who really believes in you as an artist, please know they will literally kick my door down to make sure I’m seeing your work or giving you audition opportunities. If an agent or manager calls me and says I have to see this person for this role, I generally trust that. 

If you don’t have an agent, however, it’s about putting yourself out there. And I know that is hard when you are first starting out, but work truly begets work. Do local theater, star in your own web series, make a short film and put it into the festival circuits. Oscars have been won by films made on iPhones. Actors have so much more agency than ever before. 

Be reassured that if you’re doing good work, you will get noticed. It’s our job to notice. Stay curious, stay engaged and stay passionate. That energy, that love for the process, fuels everything you do and is always visible. Remember, no one can take away your right to be an artist. It’s a game of luck, perseverance, passion, preparation and opportunity.

Embrace the work. Hone your craft. Trust your instincts. Be bold, be daring and never stop believing in the artist within you, as the only sure way of not having a career in this industry is by giving up. 

Amen! Finally, any films or series you’ve seen lately that should be on every actor’s watchlist? 

I’ve actually been revisiting some old classics and am into the final season of The Sopranos. But I’m obsessed with the Brazilian film I’m Still Here directed by Walter Salles. Plus all three seasons of The White Lotus, The Correspondent (cast by the incredibleAnousha Zarkesh) and Bring Her Back by local Adelaide legends, the Philippou brothers.

Looking back to 2024, Ripley was a masterclass in establishing tension through silences. The volcanic internal life all those actors brought was breathtaking. Such a great example of how doing less is always more, when the internal life is fully supplied. 

Every actor should be across all series and films being produced in this country. Know your casting directors, producers and directors. Notice who they are casting and ask yourself why. How can you speak to their sensibilities, and film self tapes or scenes that deliver that as explorations? 

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

Special thanks to Lou Heesom for her time.

The post When Luck Meets Craft: Lou Heesom on What Makes Actors Unforgettable 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.

It was at least partially due to her vision that we’ve seen faith-based films explode over the last decade, though she is far too humble to acknowledge that. She has over 150 credits to her name, with the latest, the sequel I Can Only Imagine 2, currently in theaters. She spoke to us from her home in LA.

Key Insights

• Casting director Beverly Holloway emphasizes that actors don’t need to share the same beliefs as a project, but must genuinely respect and connect to the story.
• Preparation goes beyond memorization, as understanding the filmmakers and their work can give actors a meaningful edge.
• Authenticity consistently outperforms trying to fit a perceived mold or “perfect” version of a character.

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How did you get into casting?

Well, it was a little bit of a roundabout way. 

It usually is.

(Laughs) Yes, I had a friend who was a filmmaker, and I had done other careers. Directing community theater, youth theater, producing shows. I had that creative heart, but I really didn’t know anything about the film industry. I went to my friend and said I thought it could be an area that I could be good at. I’d love to just intern. I was 30, and just started over as a $50 a week intern. 

Okay, so then how did that transition into casting?

He’s the one who suggested it. He put me in that role before I ever really understood it was an option, if that makes sense.

I jumped in and figured it out and learned on the job. It was great. It just was one of those wonderful things that grew organically. For me, being a person of faith, I like to say that God sort of planted me in there, and then I just walked through the steps as they came to me.

What was it that spoke to you about casting once you figured out what it was?

I love actors. I love working with actors and understood them, and so I really enjoyed that community of people. There was a little bit of a continuation of my directing roots, and also, my father was an engineer, my mom was an interior designer. I literally think I have a split brain.

I hear that a lot, the creative and the clerical going hand in hand.

I’ve actually seen pure creatives struggle with the casting part of it, just because you’d like to think that every decision is purely creative bliss, right? But of course, we’re taking into account scheduling and budget things and how family groups look together, and heights, and, you know, a lot of things that have to go hand in hand with the creative decisions as to the actor’s performance.

That can frustrate some people who I think are purely creative. So I do think casting is a great mix of both of those worlds.

You mentioned your faith, and I’m glad you brought it up, because I was going to ask you about the films that you make. Much of your work is in the faith-based world, and while they don’t tend to get the same level of respect as other genres, it’s incredibly lucrative and you never stop working.

Yeah, that’s true.

Did you get into it as an intentional move because of your own faith?

The filmmaker who got me into this was a friend from church. That very first project was actually for an organization called Youth With A Mission. That was the kind of content he was making, and of course, that was consistent with my own personal faith, and I loved being a part of stories that made people feel better, or met them in a time of need.

It just grew, and the films grew. I’m now going into my 32nd year, my career has grown as the faith, family, inspirational industry has grown, and it’s kind of a perfect mirror of that. I just inadvertently became an expert. I didn’t set out to be. It’s just I was in it in the early days, so as other filmmakers came up behind me. I had more experience and I could help guide them. 

Was there ever a conflict or a struggle with this direction? 

Yes, there was a time where I butted up against it, because I saw other casting directors doing films that were mainstream and more readily accepted. In the early days, I did have to explain what it was and why it had value, talking to agents and actors to help them understand, really, what these things were and the impact. But I did butt up against it because they weren’t hip and cool and, you know, you don’t get awards for them. But I was passionate about it, so I became a champion for it in the agency talent world.

Trying to really help them understand why actors who didn’t have that same personal faith belief or faith journey could still understand the value of encouraging another human being or sharing someone’s inspirational, true story, and just realizing the positivity, the power, the impact of that. 

How have things changed for the genre since you started in it?

Faith films really got a bad rap for a lot of years, and rightfully so, because they were not great. The acting was horrible, because in most cases, these filmmakers had no money, and so they were casting from their church or friends or whatever.

So they kind of just did the best with what they had. My mission was, no, let’s go out of our little circle to get the best actor. Let’s bring up that quality. Because if we truly believe we’re telling the greatest stories out there to tell and and we are excited about telling them, then we’ve got to do it well.

We’ve got to do it with excellence. Bringing SAG to a lot of films to up the quality. What’s exciting is that there are filmmakers now who are really bringing beautiful filmmaking, people who are matching that level of quality. And when you get all the pieces together, great actors, great visuals. It’s really exciting. It really is so satisfying.

Do you have a type of actor you go for? I mean, does someone have to be a Christian or a believer to be in your projects?

The audience embraces actors who are great. There is an element of an added positive with someone who either has the same faith journey or the same belief system personally, or someone who respects it and embraces it. But really, we just want actors who love the story, love the craft, love the film and the team and all of that, and respect the audience, regardless of their own personal journey.

There are people who, maybe they’re at a different place in their life, or they become parents or grandparents, and all of a sudden they want to do something that their kids can watch, that they can feel good about. There’s a lot of reasons why people resonate with the material, and we just want to find those people who want to be there, that it’s not just a gig. [As with] any film, they want to know their actors are engaged on a deeper level and really passionate about it. So it’s the same for us.

It must be enormously rewarding to not only do something you love, but to be part of creating something that actually helps people.

When it’s hard, or when I’m frustrated or exhausted, at the end of the day I can say I’m helping to put something into the world that makes a difference, and whether that difference is just encouraging them that day, or providing a pathway for something for them to explore, or helping them feel like they can accomplish something, or that God’s just there and cares about them, for me, that matters.

With all that in mind, what piece of advice would you give to someone coming in to see you?

Do your research ahead of time. Look up the filmmakers. What are the kinds of projects they do? Understand the kinds of stories that they tell. I don’t want people necessarily to come in and feel like they have to clean themselves up or abide by a bunch of parameters. We just want the most honest, truthful performance.

I don’t want people to feel like they have to be something they’re not. We’re not looking for perfect people. We’re not looking for perfect Christians. We’re looking for great actors who resonate with the story and who resonate with the characters in an honest way, and who see value in the stories we’re telling and are willing to be a part of it and respect it. The rest we will figure out along the way.

Key Takeaways

• Research the filmmakers and project before auditioning so you can align your performance with the tone and intent of the story.
• Focus on delivering an honest, grounded performance rather than trying to guess what casting wants.
• Approach every role with respect, curiosity, and genuine engagement, because passion for the material is often what sets actors apart.

The post Casting Director Beverly Holloway’s Advice to Actors: Be Authentic, Prepared, and Story-Driven appeared first on Casting Networks.