backstage.com: Here’s a secret: Casting directors like you. They want you to succeed. When you walk into an audition room, the CD looks at you and sees a potential answer to all of his or her problems.
“I think people tend to forget we are on the actors’ side,” says casting director J.C. Cantu. “I want them to do really well. I want them to get the part. Then I can go home early and have a glass of champagne and celebrate.”
3 comments:
This isn't so much eye-opening as it is a great reminder of the function of a casting director, and their relation to actors. It's easy to imagine that because they pick and evaluate performers, casting directors are the bad guys of the industry, determined to crush the hopes and dreams of all auditioning. I agree with the article that actors should be reminded that CD's are there to work with them, not against them; after all, they want to find people to cast in their films/shows just as much as performers want the parts. This is yet another example that theater and the arts are above all about collaboration among all disciplines and departments.
I have actually not thought much about this before, as I have never had to audition or deal with a casting director before. This is comforting news though, and it makes a lot of sense. Their job becomes easier once they successfully find a good individual for the role they are seeking. I had originally pictured casting directors as people who had to deal with sorting through a bunch of mediocre talent, waiting for those one or two people to finally come along.
I think one of the major things this article is pulling out is that the casting directors of the future are based more in acting technique than in directing (or just being a movie fan). They will likely be more able to give useful casting advice and notes, and can overall evaluate an actor's ability to take direction and the range of their capability when they have a basis in the same vocabulary as the actors. I also found it interesting to see the "phenomenon" of casting directors having college degrees. If this article is to represent the situation accurately, it is implying that the large amount of CDs are not college educated, or educated in something outside the entertainment business. As these CDs take over the industry, how quickly will the caliber of performances change in film, TV and live theatre? I suppose we'll see.
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