The Casting Director Casts.

A lot has been written about casting directors and the way they cast plays, movies and television drama, and whether, in fact, they cast anything at all or even direct. The first point I'll make is that the casting directors I know are usually quite clever, sometimes with a degree in English or drama (they may even be ex-actors) or even risen through the ranks from being a casting director's assistant. It's not as easy as it looks; I have done it a couple of times – mostly for myself – for small cast productions one was for a movie in Hollywood, a movie that I was supposed to be in and which got as far as the read through but the money didn't arrive to carry on so the film went in to turnaround which is a term they use for saying it's gone up in smoke.

Now the read through is when everybody is cast and in America it is called the table read; but no matter what you call it they are quite pleasant experiences to me at least; you get to meet everybody who turns up and hang out.

Some years ago I had a role in a BBC Shakespeare in which I had only one line. The reason I got the gig was that I was a good broad sword fighter – at least that's what I told the director - so I had to learn before the job started and get better during the three or four weeks of rehearsals; which I did.

The read through for that was held at the BBC Rehearsal Rooms in North Acton, which I have mentioned before and, to use an old phrase, I was the only person there I hadn't head of; there was Helen Mirren, the guy who played Darth Vader in Star Wars – David Prowse – James Bolan and others too many to mention.

Also around the huge table were the producer, the director, famous and not so famous cast and some not too well known but considered geniuses or even genii, in the profession.

Huddled up in one corner of the table was a group of scholars and experts from some of the most renowned places of education and research into all folios of Shakespeare's work life and repute. It was their job to listen to every word, pronunciation, stress and accent and who, out of all who were seated around, do you think they came up to see when it had all finished?

Yes – me!

One of the fellows (for he was a fellow and not a fella) came up and said 'is that the way you are going to pronounce importunes?'

I was struck dumb ' . .erm . .erm . .whi . .whi . . which . . what word?'

'we think it should be importunes – you said importunes.'

' oh I see'

'a bit American I think your way.'

I sat back down.

'Bit American aye!'

You may ask who cast this production, well it was done by the director himself and the interview was arranged by his PA.

We just talked and talked for half an hour or so. He wanted to know which role I should play and I said William - I had played William in the theatre and it got plenty of laughs but he didn't agree.

I played Dennis and when I got there that day for the read through he said 'You told me you were rather good at broad sword fighting.'

That information plus my personality had impressed him and I think that's the way to cast.

But the most important thing to me, when I cast my play in 2016, was the fact that as soon as I cast someone to play my daughter and she agreed and we did the deal she was in the most powerful position in the scheme of things. From the moment I cast her I was relying on her to play the role. Maybe most directors don't realise that but it's a fact.

I was up for a movie in Los Angeles and when I arrived at the casting session there were over fifty people there for the job; boys and girls.

They were working as quickly as they could; we went in, had a quick word with the director then I filmed a scene with a girl – I say a girl which, I suppose, is not quite politically correct but who gives a stuff - but she was young enough to play my daughter and old enough to vote. They were casting for both roles and the story was about a father who kept the daughter in a confined way as some kind of obsession and I had to use an American accent.

A week later I got a call back and when I arrived I sat with two of the contenders for the daughter. A little while later a well known actor arrived – well known in Hollywood as I had seen him being interviewed on TV but no movie star or anything like that.

He didn't look at me but chatted to someone who worked there asking if he could sit somewhere else in private – I thought that was a bit of a cheek – and they put him into the casting director's office as he was with the director.

So it was between the two of us.

After a few minutes David Carradine came in and I thought well that's it then I might as well go home, but he came up to the girl that I was going in with and said 'I need a pee!'

He had been waiting in the car for her outside.

So it was between the two of us after all – well I didn't get it. 

I got on well with the director, we both did some good work in there, she produced tears and we got on really well.

A week or so later I went to the Pantages Theatre to see a musical – Miss Saigon, I think it was – and as we were in the foyer the casting director came up to me and said 'you were their other guy' which I think about sums me up.