The Casting Director

The casting director; well what can I say? If I say the wrong things and slag the casting directors off one of them may read this one day and take offence. Then what would they do? Stop giving me work? Who knows?

A lot of people who are not in the business, don't know anything about it or just don't care, think the the casting director is the person that casts films and TV – stage and the rest of it – but they don't; or do they?

They should really be called a casting producer just like you have celebrity producers of talent, associate producers, line producers and the like.

Some castings directors are good and some leave a lot to be desired and some, just like in all walks of life, relish what bit of power they have.

In Los Angeles casting directors are trying to get on to the awards list so as well as an Oscar for the actors there will also be one for the casting director.

So what do they do?

Well they charge anything from $40,000 - $60,000 to cast your small budget film in Hollywood; for big budget movies it's a lot more.

For this they will provide a full staff and use of their office – if they have one. If it's a studio film they will use the office at, maybe, Warner Brothers or Paramount. If they are in those studios they will be getting a lot more than $60,000. Some casting directors have permanent offices at the big studios and they still work freelance.

Their staff will be made up of assistant casting directors who will be fully fledged casting directors one day so you need to be nice to them when you meet them; this instruction is drilled in to us so when we go into the offices we are even nice to the typist (you never know) and the janitor!!!!

Sometimes they advertise or put a call out for somebody or something special like a Clark Gable look a like. That happened in Hollywood when we lived there and I remember the line of Clark Gables along Melrose Avenue one day. I wish I'd taken a camera as it was a sight.

 Rather like the one above where they put out a call for black cats.

When I first started I got to know two very famous casting directors – Miriam Brickman and Maude Spector. They both gave me work – Miriam died in the seventies but the great thing about her is that when I called her she knew she didn't know me so she called me in for a chat. She had given people like Alan Bates and Susanah York their first breaks, I believe, and she got me a small role in my first film called The Ragman's Daughter, directed by Harold Becker.

I would call Miriam on a regular basis but I would never call her Miriam – always Miss Brickman. Well I was from the sticks, walking around some of the most beautiful streets in Mayfair – she was in Half Moon Street – like some hick in a city for the first time. I was in Half Moon Street on Saturday and it is still as beautiful with wonderfully shaped buildings and chauffeurs standing in the street; it's another world.

I would also call Maude Spector on a regular basis too and she, or her assistant, Anne, would never moan at the regularity of my calls. One day she brought me in to see a film producer about a movie and a few weeks later I was booked. I noticed that when I went in to the office, which was actually her apartment in Park Lane, she was dressed to kill; as was Anne. They looked lovely and made me feel they had gone to a lot of trouble to meet me.

Maude Spector was the first casting director to mention Sean Connery as James Bond, even though she didn't get the credit, and I believe she was one of the first freelancers.

A little story here – in Los Angeles they have a strange way of casting. The casting director calls you in for the audition, then you get another call if you get a callback and then, if they really like you, they put you on avail – this means you have to keep yourself available for the period of the job; but they can drop you and they do.

Last year I was 'on avail' but they wanted to see me again (it was for a commercial) and when I went in, there were two others 'on avail' too. An assistant casting director said to me 'if you are lucky enough to have the privilege to work with this director, he does some really great national commercials.'

One day Maude Spector introduced me to Tobe Hooper who gave me nearly 3 months work in his movie; when I finished the job I called and thanked her and she said 'Don't be so silly, Chris; we were lucky to get you.'

Struck me as a huge difference between that coke sniffing hysteric and Maude Spector.

So what do they do?

They are supposed to go and see as many actors working as they can; this is done by going to the theatre most nights, covering actors performances on TV and movies and meeting as many as possible.

They will have some kind of office, as above, or they may work from home, and actors will send their head shots and resumés for them to file away.

When the casting director is hired on a movie they will show the files they have chosen to the director, or verbally tell them who they like for the role, and then the casting director will arrange a pre-read, and audition with the director or put it straight onto tape for producers and the director to look at later.

When the successful actors are hired, the casting director will do the deal with the agents, try to arrange schedules, if there are slight conflicts, and then look forward to their next job.

Because of the rarity of the casting directors – mainly one per film – and the plethora of available actors, the casting director is sought after by the actors. It is the actors job to get to know the casting director and sometimes the casting directors doesn't like it if an actor is too persistent. Gone are the days of the old school casting directors like Maude Spector and Miriam Brickman.

What most of the casting directors don't realise is that some of us actors are intimately acquainted and related to some very powerful actors and producers and once in a while we might be asked our opinion. I have recommended a casting director 3 times – that's how I know how much they charge. A director has asked me because they don't know any – why would they?

Some casting directors give seminars and charge actors for the privilege of attending them. The actors go because they might get to meet the casting director and be recommended for a job? Or they might learn a few tricks? Or they might not. There are loads of companies who arrange these seminars in Los Angeles and sometimes you get the assistant to the casting director's assistant; and are we nice to them? You betcha!!

I read on the Internet about a certain casting director who does not recommend 'networking.'

Obviously she has never worked in Hollywood where 'network parties' take place. There's a bar on Sunset Blvd where, once a month, actors who subscribe to a particular casting service go, with their head shots under their arm, and meet casting directors. Does it do any good? I don't know. I went to one once, felt a fool, and walked out!!

This same British casting director, by the way, doesn't recommend sending taped auditions along to the casting director or director.

There is one huge movie star from Ireland who got his sister to hold the video camera and sent his audition off to a film director and he hasn't looked back so in the words of that great screenwriter, William Goldman, Nobody Knows Anything.

If you are an aspiring actor or director take no notice of anybody.

But you know what? I don't mind the casting directors even though these days they are more like gatekeepers who keep the actors and directors separate. I can understand that as directors can't go anywhere without actors bothering them – they even get women throwing themselves at them – so I have heard.

In Los Angeles I once heard someone say 'Gone are the days when you could have an extra for lunch!' I wouldn't bank on that statement.