- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
Casting Directors Quotes
On auditions, typecasting, and the search for the right role.
These casting directors quotes reflect on getting a Chance at a role, and how identity and background can shape which opportunities actually open up.
- Last Updated on Aug 03, 2026
- Effort
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- Nov 07, 2020
How will I become Meryl Streep if I can't even get in the door with Jennifer Lawrence for the same role? I think that it starts with casting directors and executives and studio heads opening up their minds, and really putting an effort into being trans inclusive in their projects, whether they're trans-specific or not.
- People
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- Nov 07, 2020
You have to remind casting directors out here that you don't just do one thing. There's a lot of people who do just one thing.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
People who work with me think I should cut my hair. They say casting directors are less likely to hire me with long hair - that they don't have imaginations and can't picture me looking normal. People literally have conference calls about my head when I'm not around. I mean, obviously I would cut my hair for an amazing part.
- Good
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- Nov 07, 2020
I had been doing summer stock every summer while I was in college. We did a showcase, like most good conservatories do - monologues and things that agents and casting directors come to see. From that I got an agent.
- Love
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- Nov 07, 2020
I love America. I eagerly became a citizen. I have no bitterness toward those casting directors who dismissed me because of my accent, nor toward the producers and directors who wanted to cast me but thought the audience wouldn't accept my accent. I think they're selling their audience short.
- I Am
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- Nov 07, 2020
I am half Puerto Rican, a quarter German and a quarter black. That was always a big issue for me - being mixed race - because casting directors tended to be very like, 'OK, are you Hispanic for this role?' 'Or is she going to be African American?'
- Face
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- Nov 07, 2020
An accent like mine and a face like mine, I think a lot of the time it's easy for casting directors to just stick me in as a bad boy, but 'Being Human' took a risk on me - bless 'em - and I'm not that bad boy no more.
- Doctor
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- Nov 07, 2020
A lot of times in Hollywood, when casting directors find out you're of Middle Eastern descent, they go, 'Oh, you're Iranian? Great. Can you say, 'I will kill you in the name of Allah?'' I could say that, but what if I were to say, 'Hello, I'm your doctor.'
- Business
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- Nov 07, 2020
L.A. can be pretty insane because there's so much show business here, but I also know a lot of kids who grew up in Manhattan who are some of the most normal, nicest people I know. Casting directors always say Chicago people are just nicer.
- Better Things
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- Nov 07, 2020
I think the more open-minded people we have - like casting directors and producers - the better things are going to be.
- Go
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- Nov 07, 2020
Even when they have a star that they're going after, casting directors love, if anything, just the excuse to see people. They like to have a dugout full of actors that they can go to.
- Long Time
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- Nov 07, 2020
I've been at this a long time, but commercials are what hit for me. Casting directors watch those commercials.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
In my last year of drama school, I was Abigail in 'The Crucible' and Nina in 'The Seagull,' and I did some Shakespeare with the RSC. That's what casting directors saw me in, and I got put up for a lot of period drama auditions. I always get told I suit the costumes. I don't think I have a very modern-looking face.
- Never
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- Nov 07, 2020
When a show becomes successful, people want to hire the people on the show for other things, and we would all try to do other things, but we could never end up doing them, so casting directors were just like, 'Enough of them! Don't touch the 'Glee' kids, because you can't use them!'
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
The casting directors that were aware of 'The Real World' looked at me as a joke. It was so hard to get away from that.
- Here
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- Nov 07, 2020
When I came out here, my manager thought that casting directors might think I'm a girl, and when I did Threat Matrix, they thought Jamie was a little light.
- Looking
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- Nov 07, 2020
Personally, I've always had to face casting directors or producers saying, 'You're right for the part, but nahh, you're not quite what we're looking for.'
- Boss
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- Nov 07, 2020