1. What is Character A’s obstacle?
2. What is Character B’s obstacle?
As in the exercise on intention, the obstacles of the two characters should be opposing or different. In the first season of Glee, all of the characters in the vocal group had the intention of being successful. But each character’s obstacle to that goal was very different. Rachel didn’t think she was good enough, Finn feared his football team would disapprove, and Kurt knew that being really good would also mean being truly authentic, which was difficult for a gay person in the process of coming out.
The more you direct, the easier it will be to find your own way of quickly rating the conflict and identifying the obstacle. It is vital that you do this task so that you know the level of importance that each scene has in the overall story, which in turn will affect how much time you dedicate to shooting the scene.
A scene might be short but critical in either plot or character development, so you might spend more time shooting it than a longer scene that accomplishes little. It’s the director’s job to prioritize the scenes in order to most effectively tell the story.
A scene might be short but critical in either plot or character development, so you might spend more time shooting it than a longer scene that accomplishes little. It’s the director’s job to prioritize the scenes in order to most effectively tell the story. This preliminary work of breaking down the scene for character will be the foundation of your shooting decisions.
Insider Info
How Do I Interact with a Director?
As an actor, I am always hopeful and eager to work with a good director. When you have a creative partner to collaborate with and give you feedback, it not only enhances the work, but it can also save time and money! I am looking for someone to bounce ideas off of, help me get to the best choices, shape the scenes and the other actors work in a cohesive manner, offer suggestions, and push me to do better work! I try to figure out quickly what each director’s strengths are and then look for ways to work to highlight those strengths. Each director has a particular style and unique vision and you want to take advantage of that. I love it when a director comes in with a plan but is also willing to improvise and explore and discover on the spot. It feels spontaneous and creative and keeps everyone on his or her toes!
What Do You Wish Directors Knew About Acting or Your Process?
I wish more directors weren’t afraid to bring the actors into their process. We can do more than recite lines and hit marks! If a director can be open to suggestions and/or quick conversations about the goals of a scene or a character’s intentions, that’s a plus! I want you to make your day and get your shots, and if you take a moment to bring me into the loop about what you’re hoping for, we can work through the day together. It helps me when a director can be clear and specific with notes, and when there’s time, it’s always nice for the actors to get a free take, such as, “We’ve got the scene, try one however you want.” If you are coming onto a long-running show, be advised that the actors can be possessive of “their” characters. No one has spent more time thinking about their characters than us. Tread lightly in terms of radical suggestions. You are trying to catch up to a speeding train and jump onto it while it’s still going!
What Advice Would You Give a Director Who is Just Starting Out?
Being a guest director in hour television is a difficult and often thankless job! You want to show up and impress the producers, the cast, and the crew with your talent, creativity, and insight, but I strongly suggest that you check your ego at the door. Try to observe before you direct on a show. Get the vibe of the set. Have a plan, but be flexible. You’re not going to get every shot or set up you want. Keep your eyes and ears open—you can learn from every person on the set, but not if your head is buried in your iPhone or laptop! The director of photography (DP) is your best friend or your worst enemy!
Scott Bakula
Actor
Men of a Certain Age, Star Trek: Enterprise, Quantum Leap,
The Informant, American Beauty
Vocabulary
exposition
iconic image
imagery
intention
label
obstacle
pipe (laying the pipe)
stage directions
title card
vision board
1. Johnson, Reed, “The Unconquered Lions of ‘Invictus,’” Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2009, sec. D.
2. Gleiberman, Owen, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” Entertainment Weekly, September 16, 2010.
Chapter 3
Casting
Any director will tell you that casting is a huge part of the job. John Frankenheimer, director of The Manchurian Candidate and Birdman of Alcatraz, went so far as to put a number on it. He said, “Casting is 65 percent of directing.”1 Why would he say that casting is more than half the job? It goes back to what we already talked about in the first two chapters: breaking down the script for story and character. You can’t cast unless you know what you need. Once you do, you need the additional skill of being able to recognize talent and suitability.
If you can do all these things, you will have the right faces on the screen to help you tell the story in the best way possible. To continue our metaphor of the story being the journey and the characters’ needs being the fuel for the trip, the cast members are the people who take the journey, and they have to serve your needs in two ways: as hired employees who can do the job and as artists who can bring their characters to life. Why mention both parts of the actor’s job? It’s the practical part of this book. For the same reason that we said a director has to be a leader with creative vision who understands and can execute the craft and who can physically and mentally handle the demands of the job, an actor must also be gifted in his craft and physically and mentally be able to handle the demands of the job.
You can’t cast unless you know what you need. Once you do, you need the additional skill of being able to recognize talent and suitability.
We’ve all heard stories about “difficult” actors. Mary Lou has a scale that she uses to decide whether she wants to work with an actor. The two things weighed are talent and degree of difficulty. The thing about her scale is that the degree-of-difficulty side must never outweigh the talent side. That being said, the degree of difficulty can be pretty darn high if the level of talent is too. Weighing the importance of getting our job done on time and on budget, it’s important to take into consideration when casting how well you’ll work with an actor. As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
Don’t get the wrong idea, Bethany and Mary Lou love actors. Mary Lou is married to one, has two children who act, and used to be an actress herself. Both Bethany and Mary Lou have the reputation of being an actor’s director—a director who doesn’t merely move the camera but also fine-tunes the performances because she understands the actor’s process. In fact, for both directors, working with actors is the favorite part of their job.
As a television director, you will cast the series regulars (the actors that appear in each episode) only if you direct the pilot, or first episode, of a series. The exception to this is if a new character is added once the series has begun. A good example of this is Erica Durance, who plays Lois Lane on the CW series Smallville, a series that began in 2001. She didn’t join the cast until 2004. This series, which has enjoyed success for over a decade, began with iconic Clark Kent in high school. The show didn’t add the Daily Planet characters until he got older. Greg L. Beeman, who directed the first episode (and was also a producer on the show) in which Lois appeared, was part of the casting process. Because Durance was going to be a new series regular, the network undoubtedly took a special interest in casting this role too.
CASTING ROLES OTHER THAN THE SERIES REGULARS
You may get to cast a character that will recur—appear in multiple episodes—usually for a specific story arc. Mary Lou did this many
times over the course of the seven years she directed the show Girlfriends. More often than not, it was a new love interest: British actor Adrian Lester (Primary Colors, Hustle) recurred eight times over two seasons. Other actors stayed longer when their characters evolved from love interest to spouse: Jason Pace (My Trip to the Dark Side) played Dr. Todd Garrett for 30 episodes and married the Toni character played by Jill Marie Jones; Keesha Sharp (Everybody Hates Chris, Are We There Yet?) played Monica for 40 episodes and wed the William Dent character played by Reginald C. Hayes.
The most common kind of role that you’ll be casting as an episodic director is a guest star or costar. A guest star part is larger, works more days, and earns more money. The biggest guest stars are sometimes referred to as top of show because that is where their screen credit appears when the show airs, as opposed to the smaller roles that are listed in the end credits. Top of show also refers to the basic salary cap, as negotiated by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Salaries of well-known actors can break that top of show ceiling if the production company or network is willing to pay for it. The size of the role and how much the actor is paid for it often have to do with an actor’s fame or TVQ, that is, T.V. quotient, or how well known they are. What an actor was paid for his last appearance is known as his quote. Obviously, an actor would prefer to meet or improve his quote, rather than negotiate something lower. In addition to negotiating salary, there is also the negotiable issue of billing, or credit. The top of show guest usually gets a single card credit, which is his name on the screen alone, again depending on the guest’s TVQ. Other guest stars and costars get a shared card, that is, their name on the screen with others. Why do you need to know this?
All these things matter to an actor who is plotting the strategy by which he will advance his career. An established actor may love the role in a show, but if the part isn’t big enough, or if he will not get the billing wanted, the actor may not take the part or even audition for it. Another option is for the actor to take the part, but remain uncredited.
Negotiations are the responsibility of the casting director, under the supervision of the producers. The casting director is the department head who uses her creative judgment in seeking out the pool of actors who will audition for the parts indicated in the script. You will have a casting concept meeting at the beginning of prep, along with the writer and/or the showrunner, to communicate initial thoughts about the characters: what type of physicality you might be looking for, including age range and ethnicity, and what type of “feel” is needed. The writer may indicate who she had in mind while writing the part, and at this point, it matters not if that actor is available—he or she will serve as an archetype, creating a focus for discussion between you and the casting director. It’s sort of like doing the casting version of the vision board that we discussed in the last chapter.
There are also other types of casting called stunt casting, which has nothing to do with stunts, and crossover casting, which has nothing to do with casting. The website Celebuzz defines stunt casting as, “Hiring a huge celebrity for a small part on your TV series in hopes that the guest appearance will jump start both your fortunes.”2 This definition is a rather jaded way of looking at it, even though commerce is always a consideration: the network is always looking for a guest star that is promotable. More often than not, though, the celeb is doing a favor for the lead on the series or the network and is happy to appear because they like the show or want a chance to work with the series lead. This was often the case when Tony Shalhoub would ask such fine actors as David Strathairn, Stanley Tucci, Tim Curry, and Gena Rowlands to appear on Monk. Because Tony is such a splendidly fine actor himself, he attracted other distinguished talent.
An established actor may love the role in a show, but if the part isn’t big enough, or if he will not get the billing wanted, the actor may not take the part or even audition for it.
Crossover casting doesn’t require any casting because it is a part given to an actor who is doing another show for that same network. Often the actor is playing the same character, but on the other show. Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice do this often: a doctor from the Seattle show will come down to L.A. in the story line or vice versa. It cross-promotes both shows and makes both episodes “event” television, which will hopefully draw a bigger audience.
Here is the reality of television: You are not the only person who is making this casting decision, because the ultimate bosses (those who provide the money) get the final vote. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) negotiates creative rights to guarantee that you are part of the casting process, so you should participate to the furthest extent possible, which helps preserve the right for every future director while claiming it for yourself.
As a freelance director, you will be blending with the production team, which probably already has a way of working. Don’t wait for the casting director to call your AD to tell you when the first casting session is scheduled. Call the casting director and introduce yourself. You can chat about previous guest stars cast on the show. The casting director will be flattered that you bothered to notice and will know you value the casting director’s work. Because the casting department gets the script sooner than other departments (sometimes even before the director), you can tell them how you see a part and, conversely, pick their brains to find out if the writer or producers have suggested to them any information about how they see the roles to be cast.
The Director’s Guild of America (DGA) negotiates creative rights to guarantee that you are part of the casting process, so you should participate to the furthest extent possible, which helps preserve the right for every future director while claiming it for yourself.
THE PROCESS OF CASTING AND MAKING THE ACTORS’ DEALS
Your job of casting will start on paper, especially with the top of the show guest stars or stunt casting. The casting director will do a substantial amount of work to generate lists of actors whom you might want to consider for the role. These lists often include the name of the actor’s talent agent, availability, and whether the actor is willing to audition or will consider an offer only. Generating such a list is a huge amount of work. Always be appreciative and acknowledge the work and creativity that went into generating the casting availability lists.
If you want the casting department to bring in specific actors you know, give them a list with adequate time to set up an audition. If the casting department is not familiar with an actor’s work, they might set up a preread, or preliminary audition, at which only the casting director, not the director or the producers, are present.
Casting is the first time you come into contact with the actor. The casting session you attend, scheduled by the casting director or one of her assistants, may be the first, second, or third time that the actor has come to audition for this role. More established actors come straight to the producer session, the audition that you first attend, so called because in addition to you, there will also be a producer present—often the writer of the episode—or a writing producer who oversees casting. The executive producer or showrunner, often the show’s creator, might also be present at casting. The star of the show—especially if he is an executive producer—may also come to casting and choose to read with the actors if the shooting schedule permits.
Actors are scheduled in timed intervals. They come into the room and are introduced by the casting director. As you greet them, you are handed their picture and resume. There may be time for small talk, but more often than not, it is straight to the job of auditioning. Sometimes the audition will be taped, but not always. The audition is almost always one actor reading the role for which they are auditioning and the casting director reading all the other characters in the scene.
Always be appreciative and acknowledge the work and creativity that went into generating the casting availability lists.
After the actor finishes reading, he thanks you and leaves, unless you want to
see him read the scene(s) again with an acting adjustment that you give. You should do this only when you are seriously interested in an actor. There simply isn’t enough time to do it for every actor. For example, you may think the actor looks perfect for the part, but did not agree with his performance choices. Tell him what you want instead, and see if he can deliver that. The best way to communicate this change (adjustment) to the actor is to refer to either their intention or their obstacle: “I’d like to see you play the obstacle [like being afraid to speak up to an authority figure, let’s say] more strongly.” You don’t have to get into a big discussion or give the whole backstory. Give the actor something specific to do, and then ask if you’ve made yourself clear. If not, the actor will ask a question, and you can clarify your request. And then the actor takes a deep breath, makes the internal calibration, and reads the scene again. Thank him, compliment him if you can do it honestly, (“Good adjustment!”) and smile at him with the empathy you hold for his courage in putting himself before you for judgment.
After the actor has left the room, you will either discuss the audition or wait until you’ve seen every actor that has come in for that role being auditioned that day. Mary Lou has found that more often than not, there is a consensus among those attending the session about who should get the part. When there isn’t, it’s either an embarrassment of riches and there are too many actors who will do the part ably. Or, more problematic, you haven’t seen anyone who is right for the part and the casting director has to schedule another session. If another session is necessary, specifically talk about why the people you saw were not right. It may be that there is a specific moment that none of the actors filled or fleshed out. It may be something as simple as that you conceived the role as younger or older than the actors you’ve already seen. The casting director can also serve as a coach to the next batch of actors who come in to audition and guide them to the performance you want. At the very least, the casting director can give feedback to the actor’s agent about his client’s audition.
Directors Tell the Story Page 4