Checking In With Current Casting Trends

Posted on September 2, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from December 7, 2009)

Since I meet with a lot of young actors just about to embark on the professional acting arena, I’m always pondering issues such as “should one go to college to study acting?” and “do young actresses always have to be way too skinny?”  It feels like the rules of being a young actress are changing a bit . . .or are they?  When I see Elizabeth Moss on Mad Men, who has a normal body and has a lead role, I feel heartened.  She is a really good actress (who, by the way, not only did not go to college to study acting or otherwise but, in fact, left high school early to pursue her career) and her skills trumped her physical appearance.  Same with the actress who plays ‘Joan’ on the same show, Christina Hendricks, who is incredibly curvy.  She’s not an ingenue, but still, it’s good to see no one on that show apparently told her to lose weight.  Would that have been the case if this show were on NBC?  Interesting question.

It feels to me that the “rules” of weight are not as strict for non-white actresses. Look at Sara Ramirez (Grey’s Anatomy). But maybe she had to win a Tony in order for the unspoken rules to not apply to her.  And Marianne Jean-Baptiste from Without A Trace?  If she hadn’t been in a highly acclaimed Mike Leigh film, Secrets and Lies, would someone have asked her to lose weight?  She’s not “overweight” mind you!! Just normal.  Unlike any of the Desperate Housewives, who are in a constant state of hunger, apparently, according to Marcia Cross when the show first aired.

The unspoken “rules” for men aren’t about weight but about sexual orientation.  What’s cool is that there are a spate of young actors now on the scene who are downright flamboyant and it’s okay.  Chris Colfer on Glee being my favorite. Love him. Also, Michael Urie and Mark Indelicato on Ugly Betty. And for the record,  Chris obviously didn’t go to college but Michael Urie graduated from Julliard.

And most of the young casts from the Twilight series and Gossip Girl?  No college.  It just eats up your prime years as a young actor. But damn, if I don’t admire greatly the programs at the Guthrie and NYU and the like.  But one graduates with a financial burden, so there’s no winning there.  The debate continues . . .

And let me leave you with this:  After Precious Does Hollywood Have A Place for Gabby Sidibe? A Great Article . . .

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“Theater Scene in LA Defies Stereotypes”

Posted on September 2, 2010 by cathy

(Reposted from November 27, 2009)

Great article in the LA Times today, written by Charles McNulty.  ”DROP THE CURTAIN ON L.A. BASHERS”

Seems like this debate has been going on since the beginning of  time, and I first became aware of it in my late teens when I was pursuing a professional theatre career full-force in the early ‘80s.  LA has never been taken seriously as a Theatre Town, but here’s an article that parades out the statistics once again and reminds us all that LA is not just a place for “showcase theatre”.

Stat #1:  LA has roughly 79 theatres that use one form of Equity contract or another, vs. Seattle, that has always been known as a city with great theatre, with only 15. There are also 40 or so (in addition to the 79) LA theatres that sometimes use an Equity member or a guest artist or special appearance contract.

Stat #2: There are approximately 1000 productions a year produced under the “Equity-waiver” banner, in 99-seat houses or less all over the Southern California area.

Stat #3:  Yes, Seattle has had it’s tremendous share, especially lately, of pre-Broadway workshops and runs, but the following theatres found south of San Francisco, have commissioned and produced a lengthy list of award winners, Broadway runs, and just plain damned good theatre:

South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA

Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles proper

La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, CA

Old Globe in San Diego, CA

I just recently ran a weekend workshop at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with some lovely and talented young actors.  One actress had expressed that she wanted to go to Seattle as soon as she graduates so she could get her Equity card first and then move to a larger city to get work.  She, and many others like, need to seriously evaluate this somewhat popular notion.

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So You Think You Can . . .Act?

Posted on September 1, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from November 12, 2009)

I’m addicted to the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance?”  And if you’re not watching it, start immediately.  As the title suggests with a taunt, “who do you think you are, saying you’re a dancer?  Do you really know what it takes to be a great dancer? (can now plug in ‘artist’, ‘actor’, ‘singer’, ‘performer’, ‘writer’, ‘filmmaker’).  Oh yeah, you think so??  So prove it.  Show me your stuff. And we’re not suggesting you tease us with your stuff and only show us what you can do with a little more training, confidence, and style.  Show us, right now, who you are.  Who you are at your core.  Your soul.  Your beliefs, your passions, your fears, your joys.  Right now.  And if you hold back, if you are too scared to show us your fears, if you are tentative or uncertain in any way, if you can’t transport us out of our stupid little banal lives for a few minutes, then we want you OFF the show. Right now. Go away.  We can’t be bothered with just the shadow of you. We want you, vibrant, alive, and better at this than any of us normal people could dream of.”

Watch this show. There are acting lessons within the critiques made by the fabulous and brutally honest judges to the young and gorgeous dancers every moment. And the choreography is artistic and transportive. And I never knew there were so many talented boys going into dance.  All walks of life, all races, gay and straight.  It’s very inspiring for the present and future state of the Performing Arts.  Because, frankly, without vital Performing Arts, my life would be unbearable.

On the other side of this ‘chat’ about What is Good Acting? is the hard, cold fact that there are many actors out there who have never been trained, never learned technique, never practiced there craft who are doing very, very well.  I love the boy on “Two and A Half Men,” Angus T. Jones, who now makes $1.2 million dollars a season (!!) and that doesn’t include his syndication money.  But damn if he never took an acting class and couldn’t even keep a straight face on the set when the show first started (!).  Deplorable, really, but that’s the facts and I need to take it like a  . . .Man? Woman?  Lover of Talent?  I’m not sure, but I do need to take it or I will go insane with the reality of this.  For every young boy who has never taken an acting class and makes it “big”, there is (hopefully) a Lea Michelle, who is a Broadway Baby, and yes, can Dance, Sing, and Act.  I wonder if the ratio IS one-to-one?? A woman can dream, can’t she?

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“Two Nobodies In New York”

Posted on September 1, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from October 21, 2009)

In my continuing discussion about where an actor needs to live in order to pursue this profession, I return to the musical [title of show].  The reality is that if you want to make enough money acting, it’s better to be a nobody in New York than a somebody in Minneapolis or Dallas or even Chicago.  New York and LA are where the TV shows are shot and TV shows are the bread-and-butter of a working actor’s paycheck.  You might want to be in movies, but unless you’re big star, you will have to do TV shows to pay your bills.  New York and LA, but mainly New York are also where most of the Regional Theatres cast from.  When producers and directors want great actors, they go to New York and LA to find them and only go to the other cities if they can’t find what they are looking for in NY or LA first.  It’s just the facts.

Also, there is this misconception floating around that if you go out to LA for “pilot season” (3 months of the year starting in January) you will book a series and then you can go back to Denver, for instance, and have a “normal life” with your family and friends, because God knows one absolutely cannot  have a normal life with family and friends in LA.  The truth is, you cannot just come out to LA for 3 months and try to get work.  This is a waste of everyone’s time, energy and money.  I don’t know who started this myth, but get it out of your head.  If you are an actor who has a family and you are really serious about pursuing this, you must either leave your family or you must bring them with you.  Either way, it’s a huge commitment and incredibly costly, both financially and emotionally.  But this is the reality.  And you must do it if you want to work as an actor.

Another reality is that if you are a Somebody in your city other than New York or LA, once you get to New York or LA you will be a Nobody until you become a Somebody again.  You will be taking many steps back and starting from scratch, but THIS YOU MUST DO if you want to pursue this “dream” of yours.  Because until you are a Somebody in New York or LA, nobody cares – except of course your family and friends and fans in whatever city you live in.  But nobody in The Biz will care about you until you make that leap.

If you are a Nobody in whatever city you happen to live in and you want to come to LA or New York to become a Somebody, stay home. If you’re not getting cast even in the smaller markets, you probably just don’t have “what it takes.”

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“How Can I Call This Home?”

Posted on August 31, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from October 7, 2009)

Title of a song from Parade, a show I’ve admired since I first heard the score about 8 years ago. Now, a great production at the Mark Taper Forum in LA starring TR Knight.  I have just moved back to Los Angeles after a 5 year absence and I can and do call this place home and I do it happily and with pride.  LA is a cool city with so much culture, color, and variety of people and experiences.  But I’ve been thinking about all those actors, young and old, who are moving here for the first time and I appreciate even more the sacrifices they have to make to relocate for their career. And relocate they must.  I’ve been telling actors for years – if you want to be a professional actor, you must live in either LA or New York. These are where the jobs are. Not the smaller markets, but here on either coast.  And I tell them if they’re going to do it, then just do it, and don’t let the fear keep you from going.  But damn, moving to LA or New York for the first time, especially if one is a young adult with limited finances and not much life experience, is very intimidating.  It is for the strong of mind, body, and spirit.  The money issues are tremendous, first of all, and how does one keep from feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of having to find a day-job while you pursue your acting career, which might take years to accomplish, let alone finding your way around a new neighborhood?

My heart goes out to all of you.  But what are your choices if you are a talented young actor/performer?  You must come out here.  You must find the strength of spirit and abundance of resources, at all costs.

I’d love to hear some of your stories of how you did it.  Email me and I’d love to post them.

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“I’m the Greatest Star”

Posted on August 31, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from September 22, 2009)

“I’m the greatest star, I am by far, but no one knows it.”  Lyrics from “Funny Girl,” a film musical that I adored as a teen.   Did I want to be a STAR at the time? Probably.  Is it a good thing to go into this business desperately wanting to be a STAR? Absolutely not.  Yes, you must have confidence and feel you are talented and want to share your talent with others, but if your goal is to be a STAR. To be RICH AND FAMOUS all in caps, get out now.  Your desperate need to be noticed and loved will overwhelm what casting directors look for in an actor – your genuine lovely self.  Acting is an art form, not a way to make money or be a celebrity, adored by all.  You can make money, yes, and some actors make lots and lots of money and walk down the red carpet and have people fawn all over them, but this can never be the reason to go into it. Agents, casting directors, producers and the like gravitate toward the pure-of-heart every time when it comes to acting.

If you want to be an actor to feel loved and “whole” as a person, go to therapy and stay out of the casting room.  You will only be disappointed and become bitter and a bitter actor In The Room is an ugly sight.

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“I Am Playing Me”

Posted on August 30, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from September 12, 2009)

“Stuck in a show where I am playing me.”  from [title of show].  Everyone needs to be familiar with this show.  Because of my daughter Kate, I had the great fortune to see this lovely musical written by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen on it’s closing night on Broadway.  That night and performance is one of the highlights of my theatre-going life (which has been long and varied as you can imagine).

Anyway, this song is a lament sung by Heidi on how great an actress she is but she’s stuck in this particular show being asked to play herself.  And she finds it degrading and a bit awkward.

What is good acting?  Is it about being someone you are not?  Is it about putting on layers of pretense?  Absolutely not.  Good acting is about stripping down. It’s about revealing yourself, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  So many people go into acting because they want to make a living  pretending they are someone else.  They are not happy with who they are so the hide behind roles.  If you can’t look in the mirror without cringing, or can’t stand bear being by yourself for even a whole day, don’t go into acting. Acting is facing who you are all the time.

A good actor has self-knowledge. A good actor knows who they are, the dark side as well as the light, and is comfortable in their own skin.  You can’t be someone you are not, even if plastic surgery is your thing.  A good actor is genuine, believable, and passionate, revealing who they are with no self-consciousness.

Good acting is from your gut and your heart, not from your head or driven by a desperate need to be loved.  Good acting is your ability to reveal many emotions simultaneously in a made-up situation. Emotions that you already possess.

What do YOU think good acting is?? And why did you get into acting in the first place?? I’d love to hear from people.

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“Purpose”

Posted on August 30, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from June 17, 2009)

“Purpose”.  A song in the musical Avenue Q.  I will quote titles from musicals a lot. I adore theatre, both straight plays and musicals.  But somehow I ended up working in TV and film (primarily) in the last 15 or so years.  I am grateful, however, for having found my “purpose” in life, which is to work with actors.  A great performance by an actor, whether it be on a stage, in a film or on TV, is a very meaningful gift to me, and so I help actors get work in trade for this gift.

A book I wrote is about to be published – HOW TO BOOK ACTING JOBS IN TV AND FILM: Conversations with a Veteran Casting Director on Mastering the Audition Room and Much More – and it feels like I’ve been working on this book my whole life.  Not that it’s taken me so long to literally write the thing, which it sometimes feels it has, but more along the lines that I’ve been working on it my whole life because the ideas included in it are ideas that I’ve harbored since I saw my first film, “West Side Story,” at age 4.  What is good acting? Why am I so emotionally moved by it?  Why does it make me feel less alone?

I was fortunate enough to wind up being a Casting Director, and I’ve experienced a lot, from pre-reads to Network Tests.  I pre-read a very young  Jessica Alba for the show “Nothing Sacred” in a xerox room and I was a network casting executive at NBC when we tested the actors for “The Office” and “Medium.” I’ve seen it ALL, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I’m here now to share the truth about Mastering the Audition Room with anyone who wants to know.

Actors do stupid things in The Room without fully realizing it.  And, as an actor, especially one just making the ‘rounds, you can’t afford any missteps.

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I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt Too Sexy for My Shirt

Posted on August 27, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from September 15, 2009)

Okay, this is not exactly a title of a song from a musical or theatre piece.  It’s from an overplayed tune from the ‘90s.  But it’s a good intro into one of my favorite topics as it relates to actors – SEX. Specifically, WHAT IS SEX APPEAL??

What IS Sex Appeal??  How would you answer the question?

The French call it having “le chien,” which literally translates to “the dog.” Sex appeal is something visceral and earthy. It is not really about physical beauty. Look at Philip Seymour Hoffman. He’s not the most handsome man in The Room, but on film and on stage, we can’t keep our eyes off of him. What about Judi Dench, Jeanne Moreau, Angelica Houston, Gene Hackman, Paul Giamatti, Frances McDormand, to name only a few? These actors possess a life force. George Bernard Shaw’s heroines possess a life force, which he described as “energy and success, the ideal of the human species.” Actors who have sex appeal are the ideals in our society. We idolize them. We pay money to watch them and to read about them!

Actors we idolize embody all that life has to offer – joy, sadness, fear, disappointment, strength, vulnerability – and sometimes they can show this is one look! Russell Crowe comes on screen and we see a whole life in his eyes – which makes him sexy as hell. Kate Winslet does this also. She’s gorgeous, yes, but her eyes convey the full gamut of human emotion. She has depth, and nothing could be sexier on screen.

Sexiness is being self-aware not self-conscious. Sexiness is being comfortable in your own skin. Sexiness is being open and honest about your dark side as well as your lighter one.

Without charisma, without sex appeal, without attraction, without the force and chemistry between people, our lives would be dull, lifeless, and void of hope.  Without charisma and sex appeal, your audition will put the casting director to sleep.

To clarify this point, I am not suggesting that you come on to the casting director. I’m not promoting that you dress in a trashy fashion (unless it’s called for in the scene, of course), say anything in a provocative manner, or enter expecting to experience the “casting couch” in order to get the role. I am not talking about sexiness in a disrespectful or uncomfortable way. I am talking about one’s own innate sexiness that is reflected in the eyes and in attitude and confidence level. In essence, I’m talking here about what is at the very core of one’s charisma. Are you open as a person? Are you accessible? Do you have a natural sex appeal? The more you feel good about yourself, the more your natural sexiness will be revealed to us. That is what we want to see.

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Another Hundred People

Posted on August 23, 2010 by cathy

(reposted from September 1, 2009)

Another Hundred People Just Got Off Of The Bus

Every actor’s nightmare and the thing that haunts you the most. You’re talented. You work hard. You have charisma. Everyone likes you and is drawn to you.  But every day hundreds of actors arrive in LA and New York wanting to do exactly what you want to do. Work as an actor.  How can you possibly compete with so many other folks???  How can you possibly stand out from the crowd???

You must forget about the crowd.  You must eliminate all negative or defeatist ideas that creep into your already insecure head. Worrying about your competition will get you nowhere and it will do you harm because it will clutter your head.  In order to “stand out from the crowd” your mind must be free of crap.  Your mind must be open and relaxed. You will stand out from the crowd when you are just being yourself in a relaxed state. That’s all a casting director wants. You in a relaxed state not worrying about anything.  You connecting with us, human being to human being.  It’s your job to connect with us, no matter the circumstances.  No matter if you are nervous as hell and your entire life and career is riding on this one audition.  It’s your job to make us relaxed in the audition room, not the other way around.

Forget about all the other hundreds if not thousands of other actors who are no doubt more attractive than you, smarter than you, have more support, and are much more talented.  They are not.  They ALL, each and every one of them, feel as insecure as you. Believe me, I’ve met them all.  You are just as likely to “succeed” at being a professional actor as the next person or the hundreds of people getting off that bus today.  All you have to do is forget about the competition and be yourself on a good day. Easy, huh?

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