Casting Director facts

While investigating facts about Casting Directors Guild and Casting Director Salary, I found out little known, but curios details like:

About Sarah Halley Finn, the casting director for every single MCU movie to date (except The Incredible Hulk). She has chosen over 1000 actors for the MCU.

how casting directors?

Kit Harrington showed up to his "Game of Thrones" audition with a black eye after getting into a fight at McDonald's the night before. His performance was so good the casting director didn't even notice.

What casting directors do?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what casting director means. Here are 50 of the best facts about Casting Director Gets Life Term and Casting Director Jobs I managed to collect.

what casting directors look for?

When casting the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film 'Iron Man', Marvel did not want Robert Downey Jr cast as the title character. The film's director 'would not take no for an answer' as he knew the character lined up perfectly with RDJ's life.
Phyllis Smith who portrayed Phyllis on 'The Office' did not audition for the part. She was a member of the casting crew... the director liked her demeanor so much that he offered her a role in the show.
Alec Guiness was one of the few cast members who believed that Star Wars would be a box office hit; he negotiated a deal for 2.25% of the gross royalties paid to the director, George Lucas, who received one fifth of the box office takings. This made him very wealthy in his later life
The Shawshank Redemption's director and writer, Frank Darabont, was offered $2.5 million from Rob Reiner to let him write and direct it instead, and cast Tom Cruise as Andy and Harrison Ford as Red. Darabont refused, saying that this was his "chance to do something really great."
Paul Verhoeven was naked when he directed the co-ed shower scene in his movie "Starship Troopers" because the cast of the movie only agreed to film the nude scenes if the director was nude too.
The cast of Starship Troopers agreed to do the co-ed shower scene only if director Paul Verhoeven agreed to direct the scene naked, which he did.
The role of April Ludgate was specifically created for Aubrey Plaza, after the casting director met her and felt she was, "weirdest girl I’ve ever met in my life."
Ellen DeGeneres was cast as Dory in Finding Nemo when the director, Andrew Stanton, watched her 'change the subject 5 times before finishing the sentence' in conversation with his wife.
Tom Hanks intentionally gained 50 pounds to film the first half of Cast Away. He then took a year off to lose the weight and grow out his hair prior to filming the second half. During the break, the director and most of the crew went off to film What Lies Beneath.
In the movie Cast Away, when asked what was in the FedEx package Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) left unopened, director Robert Zemeckis replied that it was a waterproof, solar-powered satellite phone.

casting director facts — What casting directors?

Why are casting directors female?

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You were supposed to be 18 to audition for That 70s Show. Mila Kunis was only 14, so she told casting directors that was "going to be 18," without saying when. It was technically true and she got the part.

When That 70s Show started, the directors required all actors to be 18 or older. Mila Kunis, 14 at the time, told the casting directors she would be 18 but did not say when. Ashton Kutcher, Kunis' boyfriend in the show, was 20 years old at that time. - source

Alec Guiness was one of the few cast members who believed that Star Wars would be a box office hit; he negotiated a deal for 2.25% of the gross royalties paid to the director, George Lucas, who received one fifth of the box office takings. This made him very wealthy in his later life - source

Vincent Price was originally cast as Santa Clause in "The Nightmare Before Christmas," but before he recorded his lines his wife had passed away, and the director felt that Price's sadness could be heard in the lines and deemed them unusable

Tim Burton was reportedly uncomfortable with casting Christopher Walken as Max Shreck in Batman Returns. When the casting director asked him why he said, "Because that man scares the hell out of me." - source

When do casting directors call you back?

The cast of the 1910 version of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' remains unknown because the credits to the film are lost and the identity of the director and actors are disputed.

How to become a casting director?

The new Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot, did all of her own stunts in the Fast and Furious movies, and was casted at least in part because she served as a combat instructor throughout her two-year service in the Israeli Defense Forces, and director Justin Lin wanted to use her knowledge of weapons.

In the book "Shawshank Redemption," Red, the character later played by Morgan Freeman, was a red-haired Irishman. In the film, Director Darabont alluded to the casting choice by having Red reply to Andy’s inquiry about his name, "Maybe it’s 'cause I’m Irish."

Games of Thrones’ original pilot was a flop and never aired (probably never will). There was major reshoots, Director replacement and cast changes including Emilia Clarke replacing Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys Targaryen.

During the filming of Titanic, an unknown person spiked the lobster chowder with PCP. Cast and crew, including director James Cameron, suffered hallucinations. The culprit was never identified.

David Ayer, the director of the film 'Fury', pushed the cast to physically spar each other, causing many black eyes and bloody noses. Also, the actors were forced to live in the tank together for a long time where they ate, slept and defecated.

What do directors look for when casting?

91 of the 220 cast and crew of the movie The Conqueror, including John Wayne and Susan Hayward, died of cancer suspected to be caused by radioactivity in St. George, Utah, downwind of 1950s atomic bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site. The director shipped 60 tons of dirt back to Hollywood,too

John Wayne and 90 other cast members are believed to have gotten cancer while filming The Conqueror due to Atom Bomb tests occurring 137 miles away. The films director died 7 years later from kidney cancer.

Casting Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in the Home Alone films taught director Chris Columbus an important lesson - when you agree to work with a kid actor, you’re also agreeing to work with his or her family.

Ryan Gosling was cast in The Notebook because the director wanted someone who was "unattractive"

How do casting directors choose actors?

Scarlett Johansson was cast in the 2013 movie "Her" during post-production, due to creative differences between the director & the original actress.

There she met the director Louis B. Mayer, who changed her name to Hedy Lamarr and cast her in many films as the exotic seductress.

While casting The Terminator, O.J. Simpson was considered for the role of The Terminator, but the director felt that he "would not be believable as a killer". Schwarzenegger was later given the role.

The primary antagonist of Twin Peaks was created on the spot while filming the pilot, after a set dresser trapped himself in a room. The director was inspired by this and cast him for the rest of the series.

Starship Troopers cast agreed to do the naked shower scene only if the director agreed to direct the scene naked. Verhoeven directed the scene with no clothes on.

There is a 'Lost Episode' of Seinfeld ('The Bet', 1990) which the cast and director refused to film (even after the sets and guest actors were hired) because there was a gun joke with Elaine mimicking JFK's assassination

Michael Caine claims that his Cockney accent would have prevented a British director from casting him as an officer in the 1964 film "Zulu." The film was directed by an American.

Matthew McConaughey was not originally considered for the 1993 film Dazed and Confused, but he approached the casting director at a bar, and later got the part.

The lead for Disney's MOANA was the last girl to apply for the role and was the very last girl whom the casting director (Rachel Sutton) saw on the last day of auditions

The Directors of Twin Peaks originally shot 3 different scenes with 3 different killers - Leyland Palmer, Dr Jackoby and Ben Horne. This was because David Lynch and Mark Frost didn't want even the cast to know who really killed Laura Palmer.

The casting director for the film "There Will Be Blood" was pulled over for speeding while searching for children to potentially cast as H.W. Plainview. The cop that pulled her over was the mother of the boy eventually cast in the role.

As a director, Mel Gibson would sometimes relieve pressure on the set by mooning the cast and crew.

Because of the dark and intense nature of the film Suicide Squad, director David Ayer hired an on-set therapist for the cast.

After shooting in toxic locations during the production of the Russian movie Stalker (1979), a lot of the cast including the director died early as a result.

One woman, Allison Jones, was the casting director for Arrested Development, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn 99, Fresh Prince, Freaks and Geeks and more shows and movies

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