A Working Actor's Lament (Chapter 46)
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
I was lucky enough to look over some photos and resumes this morning of actors who were called in to audition for a non-union commercial. I thought it would be interesting to see what people who call themselves casting directors write on the resumes while the actor is pouring their heart out to be cast. I obviously knew there were going to be some that mentioned looks - "beautiful", "nice smile", "great teeth" - however, I noticed that none of the hand-written comments on any of the resumes I saw had anything to do with the actor's actual talent. Not once did I read "very talented" or "great delivery" or "good comic timing". Nope, everything had to do with looks, and talent was not even considered.
The more comments I read, the more disgusted I became:
"Big Forehead"
"Vulcan Ears"
"Huge Pores"
"Gummy Teeth"
"Would look better with a facelift"
"’J. Lo looks’ with third-degree burns"
Okay, so those last two I didn't read, but that is not saying they weren't in that stack of photos and I just hadn't got to them yet. Now, in all fairness, this was a company and the ‘casting director’ is actually the assistant to the CEO. But, I am not sure that comments like this are out of the norm. A fly on the wall of any casting session could hear the same comments being said. Here is where I have a problem with this industry...if you don't care how talented your 'actors' are in your commercials, then why do you waste our time by calling us in? Why not just cast it from the photos you receive?
Yes, sex sells and everyone enjoys looking at a pretty face, but I hate the fact that this criteria supersedes all others for casting commercials, as well as most TV. I understand the need to want attractive people on the screen (who would want to buy contacts from Marty Feldman or toothpaste from Steve Buscemi?), and by all means, I am not saying don’t call these 'beautiful people' in, but once the actor walks in the door the level of talent and professionalism should be the foremost criteria. And, based on what was handwritten by the 'casting director' on the resumes, I don't know how any client can think the final product is going to be any good...but hey, at least the actors 'looked' good, right?
I was lucky enough to look over some photos and resumes this morning of actors who were called in to audition for a non-union commercial. I thought it would be interesting to see what people who call themselves casting directors write on the resumes while the actor is pouring their heart out to be cast. I obviously knew there were going to be some that mentioned looks - "beautiful", "nice smile", "great teeth" - however, I noticed that none of the hand-written comments on any of the resumes I saw had anything to do with the actor's actual talent. Not once did I read "very talented" or "great delivery" or "good comic timing". Nope, everything had to do with looks, and talent was not even considered.The more comments I read, the more disgusted I became:
"Big Forehead"
"Vulcan Ears"
"Huge Pores"
"Gummy Teeth"
"Would look better with a facelift"
"’J. Lo looks’ with third-degree burns"
Okay, so those last two I didn't read, but that is not saying they weren't in that stack of photos and I just hadn't got to them yet. Now, in all fairness, this was a company and the ‘casting director’ is actually the assistant to the CEO. But, I am not sure that comments like this are out of the norm. A fly on the wall of any casting session could hear the same comments being said. Here is where I have a problem with this industry...if you don't care how talented your 'actors' are in your commercials, then why do you waste our time by calling us in? Why not just cast it from the photos you receive?
Yes, sex sells and everyone enjoys looking at a pretty face, but I hate the fact that this criteria supersedes all others for casting commercials, as well as most TV. I understand the need to want attractive people on the screen (who would want to buy contacts from Marty Feldman or toothpaste from Steve Buscemi?), and by all means, I am not saying don’t call these 'beautiful people' in, but once the actor walks in the door the level of talent and professionalism should be the foremost criteria. And, based on what was handwritten by the 'casting director' on the resumes, I don't know how any client can think the final product is going to be any good...but hey, at least the actors 'looked' good, right?
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