Perhaps the most import decision you’ll make in the life of your movie is your choice of actors. The purpose of this article is to give you a road map, or a method for finding the best actors for your film. While I will take a moment to analyze the “Hollywood” approach to casting, their method is not the approach I’ll advocate...

In Hollywood, the casting process goes something like this: the producer and director select a casting director, who is then given a copy of the script. Every character is “broken down.” This breakdown of characters is given to a company called Breakdown Services, which disseminates descriptions of the roles being cast to all the subscribing agents and managers of Hollywood talent. The agents and managers then send their clients’ headshots to the casting director’s office for consideration. The casting director sifts through the hundreds, if not thousands, of photos and culls from this monumental pile of paper anywhere from six to 30 actors for each role. These actors are contacted for an audition, which usually consists of reading two to six pages from the script in front of the casting director, and possibly a video camera. From the six to 30 actors who read for a role, the casting directors/producers select those they like best for a “callback.” This culling process will eventually result in a selection.

This mining and sifting process is fundamentally unfair, and is unlikely to reveal actors’ gold. The reasons for this are many: the actors rarely have the audition material for more than 24 to 48 hours; their familiarity with the material is often remote; few actors will endeavor to come in ahead of time and actually read the entire script to gain insight into their character and context for the scene. Actors are essentially shooting in the dark when they come in to hawk their talents. The process is also time-consuming and wasteful and, some believe, destructive to the creative process of making your movie and telling your story. The following alternative approach will provide you with a much better rapport with your actors as well as a way to discover nuggets of gold that other prospectors will have missed.

Since you as a director are the person whose vision will ultimately be reflected in the storytelling, you should be intimately involved in the casting process from the start. If you are not doing the casting by yourself, you should not allow the casting director to screen out potential actors who may have the very qualities which your particular story and vision require.

As tempting as it might be, I strongly recommend against resorting to breakdowns and advertising for mail-in submissions. This will only result in your receiving lots of headshots from actors whose work you do not know, and whose pictures will in many cases not look like the actors themselves. You will ultimately spend a great deal of time and effort going through useless material. The result will be very few, if any, acceptable candidates for your movie.

If at all possible, it’s important for you to know actor’s work before you bring them in for the audition. If you reside in a city like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, you should be actively attending indie screenings, actor’s workshops, theater, and acting classes. When you’re in these venues, notice which actor keeps your attention. Which actor do you keep turning to to see what will happen next? Who is real? Who isn’t? When you see actors whose work impresses you, make a note of who they are and how you might get in touch with them. Consider what roles they might be appropriate for. If you reside in an area less populated by actors, get in touch with local colleges, schools and drama clubs. Another way to locate actors is to get in touch with local film schools and talk to the faculty members and directing students to find out who they might recommend. This is how you will form the talent pool from which you can mine gold for your film.

From this pool you should choose actors whose work is consistently appropriate. Once you’ve done this, you can start the auditioning process in earnest. Having actors perform scenes from your film, I submit, is a very destructive and frustrating process; you’ll see many bad actors who will not do justice to your material. If you use your favorite scene as an auditioning piece, you may ultimately wind up despising the scene because you have seen it performed badly so many times. Instead, invite the actors to perform a one-minute monologue of their choice. This gives both you and the actors an advantage since they should be familiar with the material and have explored the nuances and emotional levels of the piece.

Have the actors come in and present the monologue. What you need to find out is if the actor is merely reciting memorized lines, or has he made an emotional investment in the subtext, i.e., the emotional action behind the lines. Is the actor reacting to something specific or just spouting to hear his or her own sound and fury?

WWhen you’ve found actors whose monologues have affected you, you then want to test their range and ability, and your ability to communicate with them. The way to do this is to give the actor adjustments to the performance. Not just simple adjustments, but adjustments to extremes. For example, if the actor has given you a credible performance of an old woman on her death bed asking her son to honor her dying wish, the adjustment in the extreme would be to play against the dramatic context of the scene. Instead of playing it as if it were a death scene, have her play the scene as if she were telling a dirty joke. Another adjustment might be to have her perform the scene as if she were accusing someone of murder or theft or betrayal, or as if explaining it to a two-year-old child. Observe how the actor responds to the adjustment. Was the performance different and consistent with the dramatic context of that adjustment?

WWhat does all this tell you? First, it tells you whether the actor can take your direction, and you definitely want actors who can take direction. Remember—it’s your vision. If an actor is not on the same page as you, then whose vision is it? You need actors who can adapt their performance to your vision of the story. Second, it will give you some idea as to whether you and the actor are capable of communicating effectively. Finally, it will tell you whether the actor has the flexibility and range to deal with all the emotional levels that will be required in the telling of your story. Since not every actor will measure up or have the requisite range, or will simply not communicate well with you, this process will effectively eliminate unsuitable candidates.

When you have found an actor whose work impresses you, has the appropriate range, and with whom you can communicate, the next step is to give the actor your script and ask him to read it. When you do this, don’t tell the actor which role you are considering him for. Why? This is the first chance you will have to give the actor direction as to his view of his character and his performance in your film. If you tell him which role you want him to play, many actors will simply skim through the script, find the lines involving their character, and read those sections alone. That method will not help you sell the actor on your vision of your story, which can only come from reading the entire script. In fairness, though, you should advise the actor at the beginning if certain roles have already been cast or are not open.

Let the actors make the discovery of which character speaks to them. In using this approach, you have already encouraged the actor to make an emotional commitment to your film and to that discovery process. That is a critical advantage because, as you know, production of any motion picture is fraught with all kinds of booby traps, pitfalls, and unexpected situations that will constantly test you and your cast’s patience. An actor who is not excited and invested in what he’s doing will obviously be less likely to endure the slings and arrows launched in his direction during production. That means he may walk when the going gets tough, leaving you and your picture over a barrel. An actor who is emotionally invested in your vision will be more apt to follow you to hell, so to speak. You cannot imagine the difference it will make to have actors who are excited about your film as opposed to actors who are phoning it in.

You should ask the actor to call you after reading your script to talk further about the film. You will never again hear from some actors. This is a good thing, because it tells you that that actor is either too lazy to read your script, unmotivated, uninterested, or all of the above. It is better for you to learn this before the actor is an hour late for his call at a location you could only get for an hour and a half! You don’t want people who aren’t excited about working on your film.

At the next meeting, you should inquire of the actor which role he wants to play. Why? If the actor identifies with the same character which you had in mind, that’s an indication that you and the actor are on the same page; that he is in touch with the realities of his instrument and how it is viewed. If the actor identifies with a character which is totally inappropriate, it will tell you that the actor is not necessarily realistic about his attributes and talents. Being “on the same page” obviously leads to a more harmonious working relationship.

An actor’s interest in a role you had not thought was appropriate may spark new insight into the role and engender further exploration of that character and your vision. This is a good thing and should be encouraged. However, the ultimate decision as to the choice of who is the best actor to fulfill your vision and tell your story rests with you and your own gut instincts. You should never be swayed to cast someone in your movie because so-and-so is your best friend, your lover, cousin, sister, invested money or whatever. Nothing will brand you and your film as amateurish, nor bring critical disdain upon you faster, than having miscast actors! If an actor is not right for the part, he is not right for the part!

One factor to consider is the actor’s life experience. You need to know this to give you an idea of what your actor has to draw from in telling your story. Is there something about his experience that is similar to the character he is going to play? What part of her soul is she going to reveal to us, the audience? This is something to explore when discussing your script with actors.

Another temptation is to choose actors whose essence is the essence of the character, i.e., choosing a cop to play a cop, or a trouble-maker to play a delinquent. There is some merit to this, but you need to be careful. Most actors have difficulty just being themselves. That is to say, once you call “action,” they cannot not act, and the result is that it tends to ring false. If you are considering such an actor, be sure to test for range and ability to take direction with added scrutiny. You want to find actors who can “be” the character, not “act” the character.

Since film is a technical process, you should also examine the actor’s film and TV credits. Having actors who are familiar with the way movies are shot, i.e., master, medium shot, reverse angle, dolly/crane shot, close-ups, inserts, wild-lines, etc., is an advantage because you don’t have to teach filmmaking 101 to your cast while you’re trying to make your movie.

Actors with mostly theatre credits present another challenge. These actors are naturally larger in their performance because they are constantly badgered to project to the back row of the theatre. In addition, they also have a tendency to act with their hands and arms. In a close-up this approach will not play. Thus, you must see how small and restrained you can get theatre actors to make their performance. When they are at the point where they don’t feel like they are doing anything at all, they are probably ready to play before a camera.

All that said, choose the actors who are right for your vision.

Your goal in using this process is to find three exceptional actors for each of the principle roles in your film. Why do you need to have three choices? Because the likelihood is that you may not get your first choice. You may not even get your second choice. Actors are often called away to more important (at least in their minds) or more pressing projects. At least once on every film, it seems, some actor will decide not to do the film even after being offered a role and accepting it. Accordingly, you will want to have some discretion in the casting process. I would advise against telling actors that you have already cast a part because invariably they will go off and change their hair or dye it some odd color, or take another project the day before you discover that your first choice has flaked on you. Another caveat is never tell an actor that he was not your first choice. The last thing you want is for the actor to feel that he wasn’t good enough to be your first choice, or that you are settling for something less by taking him.

In summary, you can see that leaving the casting to the last minute is a bad idea. It’s too important a function to be hurried. This approach should result in allowing you to see what good actors do best, i.e., invest their soul in a character to create, live and breathe. In following this roadmap you will be using your time efficiently and will probably find the casting process less frustrating and more fulfilling. This is the quality versus quantity approach to the search for acting gold. MM