Ask a Casting Director: ‘Mr. Robot,’ and Finding Actors Who Don’t Look Like Actors
The casting directors of 'Mr. Robot' tell us the challenges of finding actors who don't "look like actors."
Ask a Casting Director
Ask a Casting Director: Jeff Greenberg of ‘Modern Family’ on Making Ensemble Comedy
Welcome back to tvDownload’s “Ask a Casting Director:” a series in which we talk to the men and women responsible for populating the worlds of our favorite shows. We interviewed Jeff Greenberg, the casting director of ABC's Modern Family. My. Greenberg is currently nominated for an Emmy for his work on the show.
Observer: You've been doing this for a while, so can you give me a little bit about your history?
A Day in the Life of a Casting Director: Telsey + Company Take on New York’s TV Scene
This article is part of our continuing series "Ask a Casting Director."
It’s a cold, overcast and horrifically early February morning when I arrive at Telsey + Company, a New York casting office: not the kind of weather that usually portends positive vibes and good luck mojo for the dozen or so actors already milling about the waiting room at 8:15 a.m. Inside its sterile Midtown office the barometer is even more erratic. Telsey + Company founder Bernie Telsey has just returned from Los Angeles, where the company opened a West Coast branch, and before the first actor can be seen, there is about two hours of box-checking that needs to happen, with approximately 20 casting associates reaching for their coffee and granola, ready to throw out some ideas. I sit next to a young woman holding what looks like 20 sheets of an itemized spreadsheet, which she dutifully checks off, one by one.
“The touring cast of Annie needs a swing,” she might say, and then everyone jumps in, naming actors that might fit the bill.
“We need a newscaster to play themselves in the movie,” Mr. Telsey chimes in, adding the name of a popular cable news host-type. “But not actually him, because he turned us down.” More pitches.
