🎬 What REALLY happens behind the scenes in casting? And why do talented actors sometimes NOT get the role?
On this episode of The Demia Avery Show – The Industry, I'm sitting down with casting director, director, and writer CHAD DARNELL of Chad Darnell Casting!
With experience on major productions including Spider-Man, Scary Movie 2, Selma, and Magic Mike XXL, Chad has seen the entertainment industry from just about every angle!
And here's the funny part… his casting career started with a WRONG PHONE CALL! 😂
We're pulling back the curtain on Hollywood and talking about:
🎭 Why a great audition doesn't always mean you'll book the role.
🎬 What really happens between callbacks and final casting decisions.
⭐ How casting directors recognize talent in unexpected places.
🎥 The difference between working as an actor, director, and casting director.
😂 Funny behind-the-scenes moments from major film productions.
🔥 PLUS, we're putting Chad on the spot with our favorite game, YES, NO, OR IT DEPENDS!
Whether you're a working actor, just getting started, or simply love a good Hollywood story, this conversation is for YOU!
💬 ACTORS, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Have you ever nailed an audition but didn't book the role? Tell me about it in the comments!
👍 LIKE this video
🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Demia Avery Show
📢 SHARE with an actor who needs to hear this!
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedemiaaveryshow
🌐 Chad Darnell Casting: https://www.chaddarnell.net/castingdirector/
Because in this industry, knowledge is just as important as talent!
#TheDemiaAveryShow #ChadDarnell #CastingDirector #ActingTips #TheIndustry
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 If you got a dream, come closer. [music]
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 If you want to shine, come over. We
00:00:07 --> 00:00:11 breaking all the rules tonight.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:12 Yeah, we stepping [music]
00:00:12 --> 00:00:16 in the spotlight. This the industry
00:00:16 --> 00:00:17 where [music]
00:00:17 --> 00:00:21 everybody trying to be
00:00:21 --> 00:00:27 [music] nice.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 >> [music]
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 >> Hello everyone. This is Deia Avery with
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 the Deia Avery Show. Let me ask you,
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 what happens when a wrong phone call
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 turns into a career in the industry?
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 Well, apparently you end up working on
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 some pretty big movies. So, my guest
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 today has worked behind the scenes on
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 productions like Spider-Man, Scary Movie
00:00:49 --> 00:00:53 2, Selma, Magic Mike. Uh, we got to talk
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 about that. But here's what makes his
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 story so interesting. He's not just a
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 casting director. He's also an actor,
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 writer, director, which means he knows
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 what it's like to be on both sides of
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 the audition table. So, get comfortable
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 because this is going to be a good one.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Please welcome casting director, actor,
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 writer, director Chad Darnell. Welcome.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:14 >> Thank you for that intro. Like, I
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 actually think you actually got me. So
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 many people just [laughter] like casting
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 like you do a little more than that.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 I do just a little bit more than that,
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 but I love it. I love it. So, okay. So,
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Chad, your your casting career started
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 because somebody accidentally called you
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 in to work. So, I need you to explain
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 more about that. And have you ever
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 thought about where you'd be if that
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 person actually hadn't, you know, had
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 dialed the wrong number?
00:01:43 --> 00:01:44 >> It's and it's it's it becomes a full
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 circle moment 30 plus years later
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 because I was uh I went I grew up in
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 Atlanta. I went to Georgia State and so
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 while I was going to Georgia State in
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 the early 90s, I was working on a TV
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 show called I'll Fly Away. Okay.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 >> Cynthia Stoell was the extra's casting
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 director. She would become my casting.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 Well, as the story would happen,
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 >> she had cast me as an I was like a
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 featured extra. Like I was around Jeremy
00:02:06 --> 00:02:07 London. I just never I was like one of
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 his mute friends who never spoke.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 >> And then one day the uh one of the
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 camera operators said, "Oh, let's use
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 Chad as a as a standin."
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 >> So they started incorporating me more as
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 a standin. And then one day I was
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 supposed to like I became a regular
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 standin when I wasn't, you know, in
00:02:22 --> 00:02:23 school. I still don't know how I got
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 through four years of Georgia State, but
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 I did um while working at the same time.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 And um there was one day where we got
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 the prelim sheet at a call she had at
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 lunch and I went over to Jonathan and I
00:02:36 --> 00:02:37 said, "Oh, Jeremy's not working
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 tomorrow." And he said, "Oh, right. I'll
00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 change that." And one of the other
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 standins kind of like slapped me was
00:02:42 --> 00:02:43 like, "No, you don't tell them that."
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 Because they call you in on a day you're
00:02:46 --> 00:02:47 not working, then they have to pay you.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 I was like, "Oh, okay."
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 >> And so I sure enough, call sheet comes
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 out. I'm still on there. So Jeremy's
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 not. And uh so I show up the next day
00:02:57 --> 00:02:58 and I walk up to Jonathan. He's like,
00:02:58 --> 00:02:59 "What are you doing here?" I said, "I'm
00:02:59 --> 00:03:00 still on the call sheet. That means you
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 have to pay me." And he goes, "Oh man."
00:03:03 --> 00:03:04 Right? He's, "Well, I tell you what, go
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 to the extras casting office and help
00:03:06 --> 00:03:07 them make phone calls because they need
00:03:07 --> 00:03:08 a lot of help right now. This is before
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 the internet, you know, you had to
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 staple a photo and send it in and mail
00:03:13 --> 00:03:14 it. And
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 >> so I was and I was curious about
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 casting. I'd always loved casting, like
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 the idea of coming up with names for for
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 characters. I I remember working at Eard
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 Drugs back in the day after the first
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 Batman movie came. Remember Eard?
00:03:27 --> 00:03:28 >> Yes. [laughter]
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 >> Yeah. I worked as a clerk and you this
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 was like in high school, early college.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 I think I was still working at, you
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 know, I was Yeah. But it was whenever
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 they were the first well first Batman
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 came out in 1989. So like it was 8990.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:42 >> Okay.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 >> And Jack Nicholson being the Joker. I
00:03:44 --> 00:03:45 was like, "Oh my gosh, you know who
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 would be make a great Catwoman would be
00:03:47 --> 00:03:48 Michelle Feifer and Danny Devito as the
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 Penguin."
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 >> I'm not saying that Warner Brothers
00:03:51 --> 00:03:52 listened to me. I'm just saying those
00:03:52 --> 00:03:53 were my choices, right?
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 >> I also was like Sher would be make a
00:03:55 --> 00:03:56 great Catwoman. That would have been a
00:03:56 --> 00:03:57 really fun Catwoman.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:58 >> That would have been interesting.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 >> Yeah. Like an older version of Catwoman.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:02 But um so like I'd always been
00:04:02 --> 00:04:07 interested in casting and so um so I
00:04:07 --> 00:04:08 went up to the casting office and I
00:04:08 --> 00:04:09 started making phone calls with Cynthia.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 This again we had fax machines. Like we
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 had to call every single extra and be
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 like can you work on Wednesday? Great.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 Get a pen. Do you have a pencil? Then
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 you'd wait for 20, you know, two minutes
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 for them to find a a pen. Take I20 East
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 to get to Panola Road. Like I that
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 that's still in my head [laughter]
00:04:26 --> 00:04:27 years later.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 Um, so that's how I got started. And
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 Cynthia became this massive
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 uh gift in my life where she started
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 using me to uh every day that I wasn't
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 in in class or every day after class,
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 she moved into an office off Claremont
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Road. And so I would hop on Martya and
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 then after school, I'd go straight to
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 the office and and work all day long.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 >> So I I started off in casting, you know,
00:04:53 --> 00:04:54 while in college. And then when I
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 graduated, I went to work for Turner.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 And then so so full circle moment. Yeah.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 That second AD who screwed up, his name
00:05:01 --> 00:05:02 was Jonathan Watson.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:03 >> Okay.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 >> And my first recurring role
00:05:06 --> 00:05:10 >> was playing this um one of the the the
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 um what were we called? Top Christian
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 Men. It was the final season of the
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 show. Okay.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 >> Myself, Adam Divine, Steven Dwarf. We're
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 like a small group of people trying
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 competing for the top Christian man of
00:05:20 --> 00:05:20 the year.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:21 >> Okay.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 >> And [laughter] I uh God bless the Finn
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 Canons. I got this, you know, I booked
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 it and I walked and met Danny McBride
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 and he was very sweet and kind and uh I
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 met the the first the director of the
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 first episode and then this man, this
00:05:35 --> 00:05:36 gray-haired man comes around the corner
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 and he goes, "Hi, I just wanted to say
00:05:38 --> 00:05:39 you're really really funny. I was just
00:05:40 --> 00:05:41 watching the monitor. I'm Jonathan
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 Watson." I was like,
00:05:43 --> 00:05:43 >> "Right,
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 >> Jonathan, it's me, Chad." And he looked
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 at me for a [laughter] minute and you've
00:05:47 --> 00:05:51 gotten so old. I have
00:05:51 --> 00:05:52 [laughter]
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 >> I mean it was like nothing had changed.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 like we were like right back in the
00:05:55 --> 00:05:56 moment like 30 minutes later like he
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 remembered you know and again he wasn't
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 just my second idea on
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 >> I'll fly away he was like fluke and like
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 all of the movies in the 90s that I
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 worked on like he was our second he was
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 the core second here in Atlanta so it
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 was great to to have that full circle
00:06:09 --> 00:06:10 moment with him
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 >> amazing amazing so okay I have to ask uh
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 ask your expertise on something so let's
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 say two actors audition for the same
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 role one gives an absolutely incredible
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 performance but the other just feels
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 more believable in the world of film.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 Who has the advantage and what factors
00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 would you say make that?
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 >> Oh, oh, oh, oh, this literally just
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 happened last week. [laughter] So, yeah.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 Now, this exact this thing, same thing
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 happened. And when it comes to a
00:06:40 --> 00:06:41 situation like that, I work a little
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 differently that I guess than most
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 casting directors. Like I always want
00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 the director and the producers to be
00:06:46 --> 00:06:47 happy with their choice.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 >> Okay.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 >> I never try to insert my opinion. like
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 I'm obviously I've I've whittleled down
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 the length to my core group of people
00:06:55 --> 00:06:56 that I want you to consider.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:57 >> Mhm.
00:06:57 --> 00:06:58 >> But when we get into a callback
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 situation or whatever, like I'm going I
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 want you to have the openness of
00:07:03 --> 00:07:04 choosing your own cast, right?
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 >> I know I've been in situations before
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 where the casting director is trying to
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 slam somebody down a director's throat
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 and they're like, you know, I feel like
00:07:12 --> 00:07:13 let me make my own choice here. Let me
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 experiment. Let me play.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 >> And there was a choice that was made
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 that I did not agree with. Okay.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 >> But I could tell that like of the seven
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 people that were making a decision, five
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 of them were very clear on what they
00:07:27 --> 00:07:28 wanted.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:29 >> Okay.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 >> And including the director.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 >> And so I said, you know, and I just sat
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 there quiet. If I get quiet, you know
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 that there's something wrong. [laughter]
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 And so what we're on a Zoom and Right.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:40 >> I said, "We want your opinion, Chad."
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 And I said, "I don't think you do.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 >> I don't think you want my opinion."
00:07:44 --> 00:07:45 >> I said like, "What? What are you
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 saying?" I said, "I just want you to be
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 happy with your choice." And I said,
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 "But that's" And then they finally broke
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 it down. And I just like, "Okay, here it
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 goes." And I just let him have it about
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 what I thought. And
00:07:58 --> 00:07:59 >> even after they broke it down, even
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 after they broke it down, he was like,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 "It's still,
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 >> you know, walk with it, but you know,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:06 >> no." I said, you know, look, here's the
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 bottom line. You are happy with your
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 choice. You have a director who will get
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 a performance out of this person.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 >> Peace be with you. like it's, you know,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 if you really want my opinion, I'll give
00:08:18 --> 00:08:22 it to you. But, um, also the thing, this
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 is where I was thinking about this last
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 night. You're getting when you're asking
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 for my opinion, you're not just getting
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 a casting director, you're getting an
00:08:30 --> 00:08:31 actor,
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 >> you're getting writer, you're getting a
00:08:33 --> 00:08:34 director, you're getting a producer. So,
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 that a lot of times people don't think
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 about, especially in casting, they don't
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 think about like, is this actor going to
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 be a pain in the ass on set,
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 >> right? because I have worked with LA
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 based casting directors where these
00:08:46 --> 00:08:47 eccentric
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 weird like just bad energy people come
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 into the room in a callback situation
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 and they're like jumping stuff all over
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 the place and it's this sort of chaotic
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 nature and and like this one cast she's
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 just so interesting like no she's not
00:09:01 --> 00:09:05 she's a mess and like that's not that's
00:09:05 --> 00:09:06 why you're interested in her
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 >> right
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 >> I would then later that particular movie
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 I was not on the ation casting director,
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 but I was also the extra casting
00:09:14 --> 00:09:14 director.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 >> So, I was on set the entire time of the
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 shoot and they wrote this girl out of
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 the movie cuz she was such a pain. And
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 >> um pay it right off though.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 >> I exact like again like certain people
00:09:27 --> 00:09:28 they see that chaos, oh, they're so
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 interesting. It's like it's like that's
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 why we see so many times jerks continue
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 to work in Hollywood
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 >> and uh and or you know, you may know
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 people in the market that are like
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 they're just like how do they work? like
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 they're not that good of an actor, but
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 they're quirky or they're like, you
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 know, that that that sort of
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 intensity. I I I don't know. I can't
00:09:49 --> 00:09:50 describe it, but it's like I've seen it.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 I mean, I've seen it on sets before. Um,
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 and
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 uh, so again, it's like with me coming
00:09:58 --> 00:09:59 in as a casting director, I'm looking
00:09:59 --> 00:10:03 and also like a lot of times with with I
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 watch actors audition like at a callback
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 situation.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:06 >> Mhm.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 >> With the director and everybody, I want
00:10:08 --> 00:10:09 to reach through my computer screen and
00:10:10 --> 00:10:11 slap them because I'm like, why are you
00:10:11 --> 00:10:12 changing the script?
00:10:12 --> 00:10:13 >> Yeah.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 >> Why are you going completely off script?
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 Because the writer is on this Zoom and
00:10:17 --> 00:10:18 the writer wants to hear their words.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 They don't want to hear your words. And
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 if it's a television show, which I did a
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 couple of TV series in Savannah,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 >> that writer is also one of the
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 showrunners, an executive producer, you
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 know, like they want to hear their
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 words. They don't want to hear your
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 words.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:32 >> Yeah.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 >> I didn't say just have fun with it,
00:10:34 --> 00:10:38 which is the key to like go off,
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 >> right? But I It's funny that you say
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 that because I'm listening to because of
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 the fact that you've you are
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 well-rounded in the industry. You you've
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 you've played all these different roles.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 Does it ever I know it it advances you
00:10:52 --> 00:10:53 and makes you choose the right thing and
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 makes you do but does it ever
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 become where you become a perfectionist
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 because like we said you know it might
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 be an actor that you get you get what
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 I'm saying like
00:11:06 --> 00:11:08 >> yeah no I do and I think because I've
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 like in my old age I've started to like
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 no you don't want my opinion I want you
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 to be happy like I think
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 >> I do think though like 10 years ago I
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 absolutely absolutely would have been
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 like, "No, this is the person you need."
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 That and two and there have absolutely
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 been times when I have said this is a
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 terrible choice. But like there was
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 another there were two features that I
00:11:29 --> 00:11:33 cast in Savannah over the summer. And
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 interestingly enough, all of my choices
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 of of the actors, like I sent them to,
00:11:38 --> 00:11:39 you know, and this was this was one of
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 the lead characters that they were going
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 to cast out of, it was a a young
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 >> late teens, early 20s character.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:50 >> And um I I sent them all my choices. And
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 the funny thing was of the three people
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 they brought to callbacks, two of them
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 were two of my favorite actors. One
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 played my son in a vertical and one was
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 this kid that I found in Savannah. Okay.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:06 >> And his mother is best friends with a
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 head cheerleader from when I went to
00:12:07 --> 00:12:08 high school.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:08 >> Wow.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 >> And so I just finished Bridehard and
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 Jennifer called me. She's like, "Hey, he
00:12:12 --> 00:12:13 wants to take an acting class." K's
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 like, "Oh, yeah, sure. Come on down."
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 >> And then he he he I had a group of 30
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 people. We were reading scenes and he
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 got up and I just turned around and
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 went, "Okay, where have you been
00:12:23 --> 00:12:24 studying?" And he's like, "I'm I never
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 studied before." I do not believe that.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 And he's one of those that he's a
00:12:29 --> 00:12:30 natural natural.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 >> And I was like, you need an agent right
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 away. And so he got an agent and he
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 booked a Lifetime movie the next week.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 >> Love it.
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 >> And and he's just and he he's one of
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 those like the second that he he
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 somebody gave him the second that I was
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 like, you need to get an agent. He took
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 everything so seriously. He just moved
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 to LA and he's taking, you know, classes
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 classes. He's taking classes here in
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 Atlanta. Like he did everything right.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:52 >> Wow.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 >> So these three options. uh that they
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 came to and the third option, holy
00:12:57 --> 00:12:58 terror.
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 >> Wow.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 >> To the point that two of the lead actors
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 after he was officially wrapped pulled
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 him aside and said, "You'll never work
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 in this industry again."
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 >> Oh my. Oh my.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 >> If you continue being like this on set,
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 you'll never work again. And they were
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 like,
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 >> "Yeah, I mean it was bad." And like the
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 director was like, "Yeah, we made the
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 wrong choice there."
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 Um
00:13:19 --> 00:13:23 um just be nice, be good, be be the
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 person that you want. You know, again,
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 having worked in extra casting, I'm on
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 set, you know, an hour before crew call
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 and working well after rap because
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 they've changed the call time. It added
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 60 Mongolians. So, yeah,
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 >> you know, that's always my favorite
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 alias story. They added all these
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 Mongolians like after rap. Like, where
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 am I supposed to find Mongolians at this
00:13:40 --> 00:13:46 time of the night? And um uh we uh
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 you know I'm around that set and so when
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 you're the actor that's pissing off
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 wardrobe
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 >> we are all going to hear about it right
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 >> and we don't want to work with that
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 person. You make the other actors
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 uncomfortable. You make the
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 >> crew uncomfortable. So it's just just be
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 nice. Be somebody that you want to work
00:14:03 --> 00:14:03 with.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 >> I had a question about when you do the
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 background uh casting. So, you worked on
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 productions like Spider-Man, Scary Movie
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 2. Now, be honest. Have you ever caught
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 a background actor doing a little too
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 much trying to get noticed?
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's like I It's
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 not even that I notice it like everybody
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 who's watching the
00:14:24 --> 00:14:25 >> the monitor can see it.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 >> Uhhuh. And you know, I will occasionally
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 like I mean inevitably you're going to
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 cast somebody that's like all right.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 Yeah, this one he's he's too much or
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 like he's trying to get there was one uh
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 a Daniel Radcliffe movie that I cast in
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 Richmond where this one guy like he
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 wanted in Richmond you can get you know
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 you can join the union by getting your
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 three SAG vouchers because it's where
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 SAG dips in from New York.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 >> Okay.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 >> Um we have union background though
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 Virginia is a right to work state. You
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 don't have to join the union.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 >> If you have your three vouchers, you
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 can. We had this one guy that absolutely
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 wanted to join the like he wanted to
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 join the union.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:02 >> Yeah.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:07 >> And um he came up from Georgia and he
00:15:07 --> 00:15:08 just kept trying to insert himself into
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 like, "Hey, I think you should tell me,
00:15:10 --> 00:15:11 you know, ask me for the beer." And like
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 doing all the wrong things.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 >> And then Daniel Radcliffe, God bless
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 him, he didn't understand what was
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 happening. And he's like, "Okay." And
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 then and so then the next morning I got
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 a phone call from SAG like you know
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 trying to do a grievance on him that he
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 had a line of dialogue and like but
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 nobody told him to say that which is a
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 you have to be instructed by the
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 director
00:15:32 --> 00:15:32 >> right
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 >> also you weren't miked and also it was a
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 big punk scene like nobody could hear
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 anything that was happening in the room
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 anyway.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 >> Well you do you think they're when they
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 do that they're trying to maybe they'll
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 get discovered that way like you know
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 they're trying to get a speaking role or
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 something like that. Is that the reason
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 why they
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 >> And I will say this one particular actor
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 has gone on to he's a working actor now
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 >> but he pissed me off so bad like I like
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 you don't send me the Facebook request
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 like you we're not friends. [laughter]
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 >> Not when I have to have a conversation
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 with Melissa
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 in the morning. No.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 >> Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, an actor gets a
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 call back for a role and they get a
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 great performance but they never hear a
00:16:13 --> 00:16:17 word back. What's some things that that
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 can happen between a successful call
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 back and the final casting decision?
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 >> That's what sucks about this this and
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 I'm trying to like reach out to
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 everybody right like with all the agents
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 that I was dealing with and I did have a
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 couple of people that came through
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 Actors Access so I haven't been able to
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 message them. Uh, but like
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 the agents that that I was dealing with,
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 I was like I was t I was giving them a
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 playby-play of like what was happening
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 because it was, you know, when you were
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 when you're doing something that's a
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 lowbudget project and and you've got
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 these actors that are auditioning a lot
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 like you you want to keep them engaged,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 you don't want them going off and doing
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 another project. I was trying to give
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 them all the feedback that I could as
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 like, you know, they're great, you know,
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 or it's not going to go their way. So,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 right. Um, but at the same time, it's
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 like, and it's so true, and no actor
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 wants to hear it. If you're continuing
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 to get auditions from a casting
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 director, that's the win. Also,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 conversely,
00:17:13 --> 00:17:14 if you're getting a bunch of auditions
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 from a cast, if you're starting out
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 starting off as as an actor and you're
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 getting a whole bunch of auditions from
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 a casting director, uh, like example, in
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 Savannah, I had to grow that market by
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 my hand.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 >> Yeah. because we didn't have an agent in
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 Savannah. So 10 years ago when the
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 Savannah film office asked me to move to
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 Savannah and help grow the market, this
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 was after Magic Mike because I couldn't
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 cast a single person.
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 >> Nobody was really trained. And then also
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 there was this so nervous about my
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 audition today on Twitter. And it's
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 like, baby, if you're nervous in front
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 of me, you you're never going to toe
00:17:48 --> 00:17:48 with Shannon Tatum,
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 >> right?
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 >> And so I just I had a market and it was
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 again, it was a very young market. All
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 of Georgia was a young market at that
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 point because we had just gotten the tax
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 incentives. Um the I don't know if
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 you've had this conversation with
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 anybody yet. The conversation you need
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 to have if you haven't had it with
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 Brenda Paulie, Rebecca Shreger, Joy
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 Pervvis. I'm dying to I want to do one
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 myself. I want to know
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 how they've seen the market grow from
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 80s and 90s to where like every actor
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 was with signed with every single agent
00:18:17 --> 00:18:18 in town.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 >> Yeah.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 >> Until, you know, now we are an exclusive
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 market. But back in that day, the number
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 of talent that we had is now a tenth of
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 what we had.
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 >> We had it. Yeah.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 >> And so like everybody, you know, once
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 everything started blowing up, it was
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 like, well, I want to be an actor. I
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 want to talk on film. And uh so people
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 did start taking classes and you know,
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 agents started signing people. So there
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 was those first couple of years, you're
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 going through tapes, you're like, "God,
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 these people are terrible." Because they
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 hadn't trained.
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 >> And uh and in Savannah, that was
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 happening. So like I you know they and I
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 I tell this to their faces you know like
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 I like you were terrible.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 >> Mhm.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 >> But it took me four years of sending you
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 auditions and that's why you're booking
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 a lot now.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 >> Right. Right. Good point. Yeah.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 >> We had to do classes. We had to like
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 have you looking at your self tape. We
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 had to like show you how this self tape
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 is not working. You're not connecting to
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 your reader. You're not invested. What
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 do you want in this scene? And so
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 it should not, you know, it's not fair
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 that you have to grow a market that, you
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 know, in or but but as a member of the
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 Savannah Film Alliance, I'm I'm very
00:19:25 --> 00:19:28 invested in Savannah. We need to have
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 the work going there. And when the work
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32 goes there, they need to be able to cast
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 locals.
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 >> Otherwise, they're adding housing
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 mileage and pdeium to bring an actor in
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 from Atlanta,
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 >> right?
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 >> And we have tax incentives for hiring
00:19:40 --> 00:19:44 local cast. And so now
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 >> with the past few films that I did down
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 in Savannah this year, we're casting
00:19:48 --> 00:19:51 predominantly all Savannah actors
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 >> or or you know, we all know the game
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 like can work local in Savannah,
00:19:54 --> 00:19:54 >> right?
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 >> Um and which is a whole other
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 conversation, but like the Casey Affleck
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 movie that I cast, company, everybody
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 was from Savannah
00:20:02 --> 00:20:06 >> and um Brian a lot all of the all of the
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 everybody that I cast was from Savannah.
00:20:08 --> 00:20:12 >> Yeah. And so, um, it was it's
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 interesting to watch the market grow
00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 since Magic Mike to now,
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 >> uh, with these actors. But again, back
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 to the auditions, it's like if you're
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 getting the auditions, that's the win.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 >> And yet, I see so many actors like this
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 is the 12th time that I've auditioned
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 for the Finn Canons and I haven't booked
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 him. Like, baby, do you know how many
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 actors there are that are reading for
00:20:34 --> 00:20:34 this role? And
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 >> they didn't have to call you at all.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 Right.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 >> Exactly. [laughter]
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 Do you know what the odds are of you
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 booking a one of the 12? I mean, it's
00:20:44 --> 00:20:44 like
00:20:44 --> 00:20:47 >> Yeah, they may be just waiting for you
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 to get that that particular role that
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 you're right for that particular role.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:53 So, just just keep going with it. If if
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 they call me 12 times, keep it, you
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 know, keep it going, keep it coming, you
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 know.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 >> And it's I always love the auditions and
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 I've I've noticed this thing as I get
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 older, there are fewer of me, which is
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 great.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 >> Yeah. there there's few you know as you
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 get older there are fewer actors also as
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 you get older the roles become more
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 interesting so um for me as an actor
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 it's been a lot of fun like I'll get
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 these auditions I'm like they are never
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 going to cast me as this
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 >> and so I'm like but you know you have
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 that the the you're allowed 10 seconds
00:21:27 --> 00:21:29 to be like come on
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 >> and then you're like great let's do it
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 let's play
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 >> and you make your biggest swing and I
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 found now that the roles that I think
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 I'm never going to book are the ones I
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 end up booking
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 >> like I
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 >> I'm sorry I didn't mean the interc Go
00:21:40 --> 00:21:40 ahead.
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 >> No, there's there's a a Lifetime movie.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 It's the first Lifetime where I had a
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 lead. It's called Secrets of a Small
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 Georgia Town that comes out in two weeks
00:21:47 --> 00:21:50 and um it was a role of a sheriff and
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 I'm like they are never going to hire me
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 as a do I look like a sheriff and uh in
00:21:54 --> 00:21:58 a small town and so um I was like this
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 is a terrible terrible casting choice.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 And I was on set when my agent Jason
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 Lockheart uh who had a really good I I
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 loved his podcast with you.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 >> Hey Jason.
00:22:08 --> 00:22:12 >> So good. So good. Um
00:22:12 --> 00:22:14 uh he Oh, and there was a there was
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 something he talked about about
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 Momentum. We've got to circle back to
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 that later. I love what he said about
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 Momentum.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 >> Um
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 uh I was on set and he's like, "You
00:22:23 --> 00:22:25 booked Secrets of a Small Town." I was
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 like, "Oh, the husband." And he's like,
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 "No, the sheriff." And I was like And
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 I'm just about to go on. I was on the
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 comeback king in Savannah. Okay.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 >> Like they're ready for you. I'm like
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 >> that can't be right. Call call him back.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:37 And that can't be right. I'll I'll call
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 you back. So I go back in do the same.
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 Come back. Like no it was a sheriff. I'm
00:22:39 --> 00:22:42 like what are they doing at Lifetime? It
00:22:42 --> 00:22:44 was the most fun I've ever had because
00:22:44 --> 00:22:47 it was like they let me go completely
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 into a I mean we built that character
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 from the ground up.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 >> But Ken Sanders and Christine Conrad
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 who's the director they like no we've
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 been watching you for years. And I have
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 like I've been auditioning for years. We
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 knew that we were going to find the
00:22:59 --> 00:23:01 right role and it was just in the
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 audition of of doing the role
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 >> that making him cold and calculated and
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 and they actually ended up changing the
00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 race of other characters in the in the
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 movie. And so
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 >> it's it's really it was it was the most
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 fun I've ever
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 >> and we it never felt like we were
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 shooting a Lifetime movie. Yeah.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 >> It felt like we were shooting this
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 really cool southern gothic indie. And
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 so I can't wait to see it when it comes
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 out because it's everybody's awful in
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 the movie. It's it's so good. [laughter]
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 Such a fun script. It's such
00:23:28 --> 00:23:31 >> I thought I was going to flip it because
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 you were talking about how you you
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 auditioned for this part and then you
00:23:34 --> 00:23:37 got, you know, you got another part. So,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 if you're the casting director,
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 >> have you ever had an actor come in for
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 one character and realized they were
00:23:42 --> 00:23:44 completely wrong for that, you know,
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 wrong for that part, but absolutely
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 perfect for another? So,
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 >> Oh, yeah.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 happened. I mean, I would say that
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 happens every every uh every time a
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 script goes out, sides go out and um I
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 and what's crazy is like you you
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 audition the actor for a very small role
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 and you're like, "Oh, no, read this." On
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 Road Trip, you know, DJ Kalls came in.
00:24:07 --> 00:24:10 He read it for like a band geek. It was
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 like one line.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:11 >> Okay.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 >> And in the room, uh they gave him the
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 sides for the character that he played
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 and that was it blew him up. He was one
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 of the four kids.
00:24:18 --> 00:24:22 >> Wow. And um uh then that was the first
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 time I ever saw it like in the room. And
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 um but yeah, no, it's it happens all the
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 time. And also like not for nothing uh
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 on this uh this vertical that I just
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 finished casting, we have this actor
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 who's he's now number two on the call
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 sheet, but uh one of the role and he I
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 think he had read for several different
00:24:41 --> 00:24:43 roles, but I he said, "Oh, I can play
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 the guitar, too. Can do you think Chad
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 would let me audition for that?" And and
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 Kelly emailed me. I'm like, "Yeah, sure.
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 send him the sides and he was absolutely
00:24:49 --> 00:24:53 my my first choice for that and then in
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 call back he became you know number two.
00:24:55 --> 00:24:55 So it's
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 >> nice
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 >> uh it was fun like yeah like if if
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 especially a spe a specific skill like
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 that if you don't call in but you see
00:25:03 --> 00:25:05 the breakdown absolutely alert your
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 agent because apparently nobody can play
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 guitar in Georgia.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 >> Um
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 four pe I sent I sent the audition to 30
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 people.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:16 >> Three people sent the audition back.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:18 >> Wow. Wow.
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 And one of them didn't even do the
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 guitar playing and the other. So then
00:25:21 --> 00:25:24 one booked number two and the other one
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 is the guy who plays the guitar and
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 they're both like really good actors.
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 It's not like well that was all we could
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 do. I mean they're both really really
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 good. But it was just crazy. That's how
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 the numbers fell.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 >> That's how it work. Wow. Okay. So here's
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 something actors don't always think
00:25:36 --> 00:25:38 about. Let's say an actor books a role
00:25:38 --> 00:25:40 but discovers the script has changed
00:25:40 --> 00:25:42 significantly and and now they're
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 uncomfortable with something they're
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 being asked to do. How should they
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 handle that conversation without
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 damaging their, you know, professional
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 relationship?
00:25:51 --> 00:25:54 >> Well, first off, that's bad. I mean, I
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 they don't have to worry because if it's
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 something like nudity, sex, vi, you
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 know, like something that's massively
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 different from the script,
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 >> uh, absolutely have the conversation
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 with your agent. Have your agent call
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 the casting director. Full stop. And I'm
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 aware that like
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 when everybody submitted this kiss
00:26:11 --> 00:26:14 wasn't in the script and now it is that
00:26:14 --> 00:26:16 people are gonna you know and again you
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 just you you go to your producers and
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 like okay this person's no longer a
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 viable option for us because they're
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 uncomfortable doing this. I've had an
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 you know once a year I get the person
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 it's like I'm not kissing another person
00:26:28 --> 00:26:32 because of my partner. Um and you know
00:26:32 --> 00:26:36 that happens all the time. um
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 or or there's like an intimate scene
00:26:38 --> 00:26:41 that's suddenly what looks like on paper
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43 is a little more different than what
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 they want to do, right?
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 >> So, it's just having that that
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 conversation. But I always whenever I
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 get a situation like that where I see
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 that it's been changed, I immediately
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 jump on it with the
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 >> agents and be like, "Heads up. This is
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 what's happening now." And I understand
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 that they want to withdraw, but this is
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 what's happening now.
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 >> Yeah. Yeah. Now, you talked about um
00:27:01 --> 00:27:03 finding fulfillment in acting and your
00:27:03 --> 00:27:05 writing and directing, but also helping
00:27:05 --> 00:27:08 actors get through the door. So, can you
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 remember an actor whose career you
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 helped move forward who made you feel
00:27:12 --> 00:27:15 like you just won an Oscar?
00:27:15 --> 00:27:18 Well, the the one story Joy Pervvis back
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 in the day, she represented Dakota
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 Fanning and I was like one of Dakota's
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 very first not that I held the door open
00:27:24 --> 00:27:28 for Dakota Fanning. Uh not but I was I
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 loved the story that she came in Shay I
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 was working with Shay Griffin at the
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 time and she came in and this was like a
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 three-year-old going on 30. I mean she
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37 Steve Barnes who you know was with 99X
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 and this incredible theater actress
00:27:38 --> 00:27:41 Jennifer Crumbley. This was this was 30
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 plus years ago and I can remember it
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 like it was yesterday. uh just watch
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 like I remember calling Joy afterwards
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 and I'm like this kid's going to be a
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 superstar and like a year later she was.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:50 >> Yeah.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:54 >> And um I apparently I was one of the
00:27:54 --> 00:27:56 first people to hire Kristen Wig as an
00:27:56 --> 00:27:59 extra on Judging Amy and Kelly Clarkson.
00:27:59 --> 00:27:59 Um
00:27:59 --> 00:28:01 >> love her.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:05 >> Yeah. Who did I
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 No, you know, I think just in general,
00:28:07 --> 00:28:09 like whenever you get to cast an actor
00:28:09 --> 00:28:11 in like one of their first roles, like I
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 remember casting Jessica Meisel, who's a
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 very dear friend of mine, in one of her
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 first roles and then she went on to do
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 The Purge and then she did, you know,
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 she was recurring on The Resident all
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 all seasons.
00:28:22 --> 00:28:25 um you know when you get to find that
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 like oh you're a really good actor and
00:28:26 --> 00:28:28 you get to put them in their first thing
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 and then they kind of blow up or you
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 know their career you know they just
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33 start booking more and they're they're
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 able to make a living doing what they
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 love. That's what I love.
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 >> Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Now we get to do
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 something fun. We get to play a game
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 called yes, no, or it depends.
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 >> Okay.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 >> I ask you a question. You can't think
00:28:47 --> 00:28:49 about it too hard because I want an
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 honest answer. So, you have to answer
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 yes, no, or it depends. And you can
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 explain why if you'd like to.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 >> Great. Okay.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57 >> Okay. First question. An actor turns
00:28:58 --> 00:29:00 down a small role on a major television
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 show because they're holding out for
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 something bigger. Smart career move.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 >> No,
00:29:06 --> 00:29:10 not at all. I mean, it's and Jason kind
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 of spoke to this as well and and like
00:29:12 --> 00:29:16 gone are the days of and I have friends
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 that are like this that it's like, "Oh,
00:29:18 --> 00:29:21 I'm not doing any more co-star roles."
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 Baby, did you know that co-star is now
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 recurring
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 >> and um you know, it's or like your one
00:29:27 --> 00:29:30 line in this episode begets, you know, a
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 whole other thing in the next thing. I
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34 I'm recurring on Tulsa King this season
00:29:34 --> 00:29:36 and it was a nice scene. like it was a
00:29:36 --> 00:29:39 three-page scene initially, but we were
00:29:39 --> 00:29:41 still, you know, booked as co-stars
00:29:41 --> 00:29:44 in in in this market. Um, and I grateful
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 for it. I mean, grateful, so grateful to
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 have it. And then it was like, oh, and
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49 it's recurring. You're coming back. And
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 then when I got to set that first day,
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 they were like, have you seen the next
00:29:51 --> 00:29:54 script? And I was like, no. And all day
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 long, every have you not seen the next
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 script? I was like, why does everybody
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 keep saying that? At one point, Martin
00:29:58 --> 00:30:00 Star said, oh, it's big. It's a lot. And
00:30:00 --> 00:30:03 I was like, what do they mean? It was 10
00:30:03 --> 00:30:06 pages of dialogue. Wow. And it was with
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 me and the entire cast except for
00:30:07 --> 00:30:10 Stallone. And so like again, that was a
00:30:10 --> 00:30:13 co-star role that a lot of time actors
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 don't look at,
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 >> you know, they're like, "Oh, I I don't
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 do co-stars anymore." They'll they'll
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 have these conversations with their
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 agents and if the agency's co-star,
00:30:20 --> 00:30:22 they're not going to submit them. And
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 you know, I'm only guest star. I'm only
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 this. And we all know, we've all I mean,
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 we've all had this conversation about
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 the the Academy Award winners and now
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 the recurrings and the blah blah blah.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 You know, it all filters down. And I
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 just think it's a terrible career move
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 to turn anything down. I mean,
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 obviously, if you don't want to do
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40 non-union verticals, don't do that. But
00:30:40 --> 00:30:43 if you're in the television and film
00:30:43 --> 00:30:46 world here in Atlanta and you get an
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 audition for a feature film and it's
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 only a couple of lines,
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 that's residuals for the rest of your
00:30:52 --> 00:30:54 life. Like there's all the things that
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56 you and and you're working. And I do
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 believe that work begets work. And back
00:30:58 --> 00:31:00 to that momentum thing. Yeah, you may
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 not use the momentum of your two lines
00:31:02 --> 00:31:06 in animals, but um it keeps you fresh
00:31:06 --> 00:31:08 and casting remembers you because they
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 just booked you
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 >> and then you know you can't say, "Oh,
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 they just booked a role in animals." And
00:31:12 --> 00:31:15 so like it does create
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 >> a momentum.
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 >> That's right. That's right. All right.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:20 So an actor recognizes you in the
00:31:20 --> 00:31:22 grocery store and they start performing
00:31:22 --> 00:31:25 a monologue in a produce aisle.
00:31:25 --> 00:31:27 >> Would you watch it?
00:31:27 --> 00:31:30 >> No. No. You you had me at an actor sees
00:31:30 --> 00:31:34 you in in the grocery aisle. No. Uh
00:31:34 --> 00:31:36 because here's the here's the problem. I
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 have a problem. Okay.
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39 >> My vision is terrible.
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 >> I'm I'm reach I've reached that age
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 where I can only like if I'm out in
00:31:42 --> 00:31:44 public, I only have one contact lens. So
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 if I'm in a grocery store and you're
00:31:45 --> 00:31:47 looking at me and I'm just staring
00:31:47 --> 00:31:49 straight ahead, you may think I'm
00:31:49 --> 00:31:51 dissing you. I can't see past the order.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:53 And so like it's
00:31:53 --> 00:31:55 >> number one, I can't see anything. Number
00:31:55 --> 00:31:58 two, actors always think that we
00:31:58 --> 00:32:01 remember them and we see hundreds of
00:32:01 --> 00:32:03 people per project and that's just the
00:32:04 --> 00:32:06 one project and it is a lot of mind dump
00:32:06 --> 00:32:08 except you know obviously the good
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 actors you remember their auditions or
00:32:10 --> 00:32:12 or like when you see the tape when you
00:32:12 --> 00:32:14 see them in the screen like oh yeah I
00:32:14 --> 00:32:16 remember I remember them when they did
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 this I can remember everything about
00:32:17 --> 00:32:19 that but when we're out in the wild we
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 don't know if we went to school with you
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 or if you auditioned for the last movie
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 that I was working on or a movie 10
00:32:24 --> 00:32:26 years ago
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28 >> and never start off a conversation like
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 you don't remember me, do you? It's like
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 I can promise you I don't.
00:32:32 --> 00:32:35 >> He's so funny.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:39 No, I I really don't. [laughter]
00:32:39 --> 00:32:42 >> Okay. Okay. Okay. An actor has no agent,
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 but their audition is stronger than
00:32:43 --> 00:32:46 everyone represented by a major agency.
00:32:46 --> 00:32:48 Can they still win the role?
00:32:48 --> 00:32:51 >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:53 Absolutely. Absolutely. And and in fact,
00:32:53 --> 00:32:55 I really push for those kind of actors
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 because I know that that's going to be
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 the thing that could get them this role.
00:32:57 --> 00:32:59 This thing that I'm casting right now.
00:32:59 --> 00:33:01 Three of our guys are not represented.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 They all submitted through Actors Access
00:33:03 --> 00:33:05 and uh and they, you know, they don't
00:33:05 --> 00:33:07 have an agent and I'm hoping that this
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 is one of the because they work a lot.
00:33:09 --> 00:33:11 I'm hoping that this booking helps them
00:33:11 --> 00:33:14 get an agent because they are good. You
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 know, obviously you're good enough to go
00:33:15 --> 00:33:17 into a callback situation. You have
00:33:17 --> 00:33:19 seven people fighting over you. you
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 know, yeah, you should be able to have
00:33:20 --> 00:33:22 your two lines or, you know, whatever it
00:33:22 --> 00:33:24 is. But they're booking like major roles
00:33:24 --> 00:33:26 in these verticals.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:28 >> And again, verticals are such a great
00:33:28 --> 00:33:30 training. Verticals. I did verticals for
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 about
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 >> pretty intensively for seven months. And
00:33:33 --> 00:33:36 it train it made me such a better actor
00:33:36 --> 00:33:37 just in those seven months than any
00:33:37 --> 00:33:39 class I could have taken. Yeah.
00:33:39 --> 00:33:41 >> Because when you're having to do 15 20
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 pages of dialogue a day and hit it and
00:33:42 --> 00:33:44 have like one or two takes at max.
00:33:44 --> 00:33:46 >> Oh yeah.
00:33:46 --> 00:33:49 I mean, it reshapes your brain because
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 so many times we're used to doing
00:33:50 --> 00:33:53 auditions where it's like you got your,
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 you know, your your three lines of
00:33:54 --> 00:33:56 dialogue and you're going to go in,
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 you're going to knock it out and walk
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00 away from it and then on the day you get
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 to set and you meet everybody and then
00:34:01 --> 00:34:03 you do your three lines and that's it.
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 But when you're doing a vertical or
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06 you're doing a Lifetime movie, oh Lif
00:34:06 --> 00:34:07 Lifetime, don't play.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10 >> Wow. I mean, the first one that I did
00:34:10 --> 00:34:11 with playing the sheriff,
00:34:11 --> 00:34:14 >> Kenja and I, we had heavy heavy we shot
00:34:14 --> 00:34:16 the entire thing, I think, in nine nine
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 or 10 days
00:34:17 --> 00:34:19 >> and we were shooting a feature film,
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22 >> like aund 100 plus page script a day.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:22 Yeah.
00:34:22 --> 00:34:25 >> And and it's very dialogue intensive
00:34:25 --> 00:34:27 heavy and and you're having to hit all
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 of these emotional because it's not an
00:34:28 --> 00:34:30 easy movie, you know? like
00:34:30 --> 00:34:32 >> all of the arcs that everybody's going
00:34:32 --> 00:34:34 on, like you have to plot those things
00:34:34 --> 00:34:36 and and we had like really all of the
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 cast, we had like really great
00:34:37 --> 00:34:40 conversations about where we were, where
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42 our characters were in the story because
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44 it again, it really did feel like a
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 southern gothic indie.
00:34:45 --> 00:34:49 >> Um, and
00:34:49 --> 00:34:52 never, you know, it's those those kind
00:34:52 --> 00:34:54 of training grounds are so invaluable.
00:34:54 --> 00:34:57 It's like getting paid to go to class.
00:34:57 --> 00:34:59 >> Love that. Love that. And and and I
00:34:59 --> 00:35:01 think it I think it was Jason that was
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 talk that talked about that as well,
00:35:03 --> 00:35:05 right? That about the whole vertical
00:35:05 --> 00:35:07 thing because I well it it would have
00:35:07 --> 00:35:10 had to been Jason, but yeah. And um I
00:35:10 --> 00:35:15 was saying how you get to play roles
00:35:15 --> 00:35:18 that you probably wouldn't have played
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 before.
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 >> Absolutely.
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 >> So at least it gives you that
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 experience, you know.
00:35:22 --> 00:35:26 >> Abs uh I played a Russian father,
00:35:26 --> 00:35:28 Russian mob boss. I mean, come on. It's
00:35:28 --> 00:35:31 Did I win an Oscar? I did not. However,
00:35:31 --> 00:35:34 that having that experience and I have I
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 have an accent coach that I work with
00:35:35 --> 00:35:37 whenever I do accents. But having had
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 that, I booked another job where I had
00:35:40 --> 00:35:42 to have an accent and that was a big
00:35:42 --> 00:35:44 feature film. So, it's like again, it's
00:35:44 --> 00:35:46 the training. This this this one job
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 will be the next one.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:50 >> That's right. That's right. Okay. So, an
00:35:50 --> 00:35:52 actor who played a dead body in season
00:35:52 --> 00:35:55 one of a TV series auditions for a
00:35:55 --> 00:35:59 speaking role in season three. H. Well,
00:35:59 --> 00:36:01 well, you know that I did this.
00:36:01 --> 00:36:03 [laughter]
00:36:03 --> 00:36:05 >> I was the extras casting director on
00:36:05 --> 00:36:07 Crossing Jordan for all six seasons.
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 >> Oh, wow.
00:36:07 --> 00:36:10 >> So, I cast all the dead bodies.
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 [laughter]
00:36:11 --> 00:36:13 >> I have photos somewhere of like all the
00:36:13 --> 00:36:15 Oh my god. I had a phone that had it was
00:36:16 --> 00:36:18 just a phone that I had pictures of all
00:36:18 --> 00:36:20 the dead bodies.
00:36:20 --> 00:36:21 >> Wow.
00:36:21 --> 00:36:23 >> And it got stolen in Italy when I did
00:36:23 --> 00:36:25 the Florence Marathon. So, somebody had
00:36:25 --> 00:36:27 got my camera and popped it open and
00:36:27 --> 00:36:30 just sees like dozens and dozens of
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 >> dead bodies.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:33 >> Dead bodies and me smiling with dead
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 bodies.
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34 >> Right. Right.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:36 >> I love that. I love that for them.
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 >> Oh my god.
00:36:37 --> 00:36:39 >> Um Well, so here's the situation.
00:36:39 --> 00:36:39 >> Yeah.
00:36:39 --> 00:36:41 >> It specifically to a show like Crossing
00:36:41 --> 00:36:44 Jordan, if you are playing a dead body,
00:36:44 --> 00:36:46 you're not coming back on that show.
00:36:46 --> 00:36:49 >> Um because there's just no way. However,
00:36:50 --> 00:36:53 and I I promise you that I will say this
00:36:53 --> 00:36:56 and there for every for me that five
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 people will come out against me and be
00:36:57 --> 00:36:59 like, "He doesn't know what he's talking
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 about." Even though I've been doing it
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 longer than they've been alive.
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 >> If you're playing a if you're an extra
00:37:03 --> 00:37:06 playing a nurse on the resident or
00:37:06 --> 00:37:09 you're playing a doctor uh or a lawyer
00:37:09 --> 00:37:12 in the back room on Reasonable Doubt,
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 why wouldn't they bring you in to play
00:37:13 --> 00:37:15 to read a lawyer? Why wouldn't they
00:37:15 --> 00:37:16 bring you in to read a nurse?
00:37:16 --> 00:37:19 >> Yeah. April Webster on Alias. Uh she was
00:37:19 --> 00:37:21 the lead, you know, legendary April
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 Webster. She was the lead casting
00:37:22 --> 00:37:26 director on Alias. Um and then we
00:37:26 --> 00:37:28 my their names escape me. They they were
00:37:28 --> 00:37:31 legendary NBC casting directors uh that
00:37:31 --> 00:37:33 did Crossing Jordan. They all of our
00:37:33 --> 00:37:36 producers were o and directors were open
00:37:36 --> 00:37:39 to reading our background for like the
00:37:39 --> 00:37:41 day player like clerk, you know, that
00:37:41 --> 00:37:45 somebody come in like present a a thing.
00:37:45 --> 00:37:47 but also because it was our core group
00:37:47 --> 00:37:49 of background. They're all union.
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 They're all working actors. They're all
00:37:50 --> 00:37:52 card carrying SAG membersh.
00:37:52 --> 00:37:54 >> Um they all would set themselves. They
00:37:54 --> 00:37:55 all grab their own props when they would
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57 go in. It was the easiest set to ever
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 work on. They've been on the show for
00:37:58 --> 00:38:01 six years. They got, you know, some of
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 the writers would get friendly with the
00:38:02 --> 00:38:04 the background and be like, I want I
00:38:04 --> 00:38:06 want to write this role for Vicki. It's
00:38:06 --> 00:38:07 like, I'm going to give Vicki some
00:38:07 --> 00:38:08 lines.
00:38:08 --> 00:38:11 >> Yeah. So, I I I can't tell you how many
00:38:11 --> 00:38:14 times Mercy Street, every everything
00:38:14 --> 00:38:15 that I've worked on, there's been a
00:38:15 --> 00:38:16 moment where it's like, "We're going to
00:38:16 --> 00:38:18 upgrade this person to a principal
00:38:18 --> 00:38:19 role."
00:38:19 --> 00:38:19 >> Mhm.
00:38:19 --> 00:38:22 >> And like on Mercy Street was a military
00:38:22 --> 00:38:23 Civil War hospital. Okay.
00:38:23 --> 00:38:25 >> I know we must have upgraded 10
00:38:25 --> 00:38:28 different people season one just from
00:38:28 --> 00:38:29 the hospital.
00:38:29 --> 00:38:31 >> Yeah. And what they would do is they'd
00:38:31 --> 00:38:33 have me come in and I would work with
00:38:34 --> 00:38:35 the, you know, I'd give them I give the
00:38:35 --> 00:38:37 actor the the lines of dialogue and then
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 I'd be, "What do you think the character
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 wants in this scene? What do you think
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42 he wants?" And then come to find out
00:38:42 --> 00:38:44 that Josh Rner and Mary Elizabeth
00:38:44 --> 00:38:45 Winstead, they called it background
00:38:46 --> 00:38:47 theater. I had no idea this was
00:38:47 --> 00:38:49 happening until season two. Josh
00:38:49 --> 00:38:51 recommended me for the film Permanent
00:38:51 --> 00:38:53 because he said, "I always loved
00:38:53 --> 00:38:54 watching you work with actors." I'm
00:38:54 --> 00:38:55 like, I had
00:38:55 --> 00:38:57 >> I had no idea you were even watching me.
00:38:57 --> 00:38:58 He's like, "Oh, no." would tell the ads
00:38:58 --> 00:39:00 if they were ever going to upgrade like
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 grab us so we could watch from the
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02 corner.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:02 >> Yeah.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 >> And
00:39:03 --> 00:39:05 >> so um
00:39:05 --> 00:39:07 >> there's so many opportunities in
00:39:07 --> 00:39:09 background if if you again don't be
00:39:09 --> 00:39:12 crazy. Just get to know the the PAs and
00:39:12 --> 00:39:15 the ads and do your job.
00:39:15 --> 00:39:16 >> Be present.
00:39:16 --> 00:39:17 >> Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 >> And Yeah.
00:39:18 --> 00:39:21 >> Awesome. Now just two more. An actor
00:39:21 --> 00:39:23 books a role but their scene get cut it
00:39:23 --> 00:39:26 gets cut from the film. Should they
00:39:26 --> 00:39:28 still list the credits on their resume?
00:39:28 --> 00:39:30 >> I think they should. I think they should
00:39:30 --> 00:39:33 because they still shot that scene.
00:39:33 --> 00:39:35 >> I'm sure their agents and SAG might say
00:39:35 --> 00:39:39 differently, [laughter] but uh
00:39:39 --> 00:39:42 but I think they should
00:39:42 --> 00:39:43 and I think I've seen it before was like
00:39:44 --> 00:39:46 seen cut um as well.
00:39:46 --> 00:39:48 >> Yeah. But never I mean obviously you
00:39:48 --> 00:39:51 know the big thing there is don't put
00:39:51 --> 00:39:53 stuff on your resume that makes it sound
00:39:53 --> 00:39:55 like it's a principal part when you know
00:39:55 --> 00:39:59 man on bike was a background role
00:39:59 --> 00:40:01 >> you know obviously call that background
00:40:01 --> 00:40:01 right
00:40:01 --> 00:40:02 >> you know
00:40:02 --> 00:40:04 >> and and again like I always have people
00:40:04 --> 00:40:07 come out against me like no you should
00:40:07 --> 00:40:08 never put background on your resume well
00:40:08 --> 00:40:10 if you have nothing on your resume then
00:40:10 --> 00:40:13 absolutely put background on your resume
00:40:13 --> 00:40:14 it tells me that you've been on set
00:40:14 --> 00:40:15 before it tells me you've taken
00:40:15 --> 00:40:16 direction before.
00:40:16 --> 00:40:17 >> Yeah.
00:40:17 --> 00:40:18 >> And again, these smaller markets like
00:40:18 --> 00:40:20 Richmond, Birmingham, like just knowing
00:40:20 --> 00:40:22 that you have like four little roles of
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 background and then I see that you're
00:40:23 --> 00:40:26 also training like I'm going to take you
00:40:26 --> 00:40:27 more seriously when you send your
00:40:27 --> 00:40:29 headshot resume to me
00:40:29 --> 00:40:31 >> than someone who doesn't.
00:40:31 --> 00:40:34 >> Right. Right. Got it. Now, last one. An
00:40:34 --> 00:40:37 actor gets rejected years ago but
00:40:37 --> 00:40:40 becomes a huge star
00:40:40 --> 00:40:43 that you rejected. Would you ever admit
00:40:43 --> 00:40:44 you got that one wrong?
00:40:44 --> 00:40:46 >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, abs. And I have
00:40:46 --> 00:40:49 [laughter] Yeah.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:52 But the funny thing, um, there was an
00:40:52 --> 00:40:54 actor on Spider-Man that, uh, he was
00:40:54 --> 00:40:55 just a background person, but, he was
00:40:55 --> 00:40:58 like one of Flash Thompson's,
00:40:58 --> 00:41:01 uh, best friends. So, like he's he's
00:41:01 --> 00:41:04 around him a lot in the movie. This this
00:41:04 --> 00:41:06 guy, he he was trying to like hold us
00:41:06 --> 00:41:07 hostage like towards the end of the
00:41:07 --> 00:41:08 shoot that he wanted dialogue. He was
00:41:08 --> 00:41:10 like, I'm a and he had his agent
00:41:10 --> 00:41:12 managers like, you can't finish the film
00:41:12 --> 00:41:13 without him. Like, who do you think
00:41:13 --> 00:41:16 you're talking to? like we can
00:41:16 --> 00:41:19 absolutely cut him from the film.
00:41:19 --> 00:41:19 >> Right. Right.
00:41:20 --> 00:41:26 >> He's he's background and um uh and
00:41:26 --> 00:41:27 that was not the answer to your
00:41:27 --> 00:41:29 question, but yeah, as far as like I've
00:41:29 --> 00:41:32 I always admit when I'm wrong about
00:41:32 --> 00:41:35 actors. Um
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38 and I've and it's but I will say like I
00:41:38 --> 00:41:43 don't feel like I've ever had an actor
00:41:43 --> 00:41:44 No, you here. Well, no. Here's what I
00:41:44 --> 00:41:46 would say because I've absolutely seen
00:41:46 --> 00:41:47 this before.
00:41:47 --> 00:41:47 >> Okay,
00:41:47 --> 00:41:50 >> you're terrible in 2010 and then
00:41:50 --> 00:41:52 suddenly you're Merryill Streep in 2026,
00:41:52 --> 00:41:53 [laughter]
00:41:54 --> 00:41:55 >> right?
00:41:55 --> 00:41:56 >> No one
00:41:56 --> 00:41:57 >> no one will sing your praises higher
00:41:57 --> 00:41:59 than me.
00:41:59 --> 00:42:01 >> I to the embarrassment of of the talent,
00:42:01 --> 00:42:02 too, because they're like, could you
00:42:02 --> 00:42:04 stop talking about that because it's
00:42:04 --> 00:42:06 you're making me feel bad. Um, my old
00:42:06 --> 00:42:08 roommate in LA,
00:42:08 --> 00:42:09 >> I tell the story all the time, his name
00:42:09 --> 00:42:11 is Linkhand. Link and I were roommates
00:42:11 --> 00:42:15 for 16 years in LA. Um, and when I met
00:42:15 --> 00:42:17 him at a film festival in Alabama, his
00:42:17 --> 00:42:20 mother is a actress and she said, "You
00:42:20 --> 00:42:22 know, Link's moving to LA. He's looking
00:42:22 --> 00:42:23 for a roommate." And I was looking for a
00:42:23 --> 00:42:25 roommate and but I only needed the
00:42:26 --> 00:42:28 roommate for like 6 months and then I
00:42:28 --> 00:42:29 would be able to afford the place by
00:42:29 --> 00:42:29 myself.
00:42:30 --> 00:42:30 >> Okay.
00:42:30 --> 00:42:31 >> And he's like, I said to you, "What are
00:42:31 --> 00:42:32 you going to do in LA?" He's like, "I'm
00:42:32 --> 00:42:33 going to be an actor. I was a football
00:42:34 --> 00:42:35 player, but I had an injury." I'm like,
00:42:35 --> 00:42:36 "Oh, you're one of those."
00:42:36 --> 00:42:38 >> I'm like, "Yeah, absolutely."
00:42:38 --> 00:42:40 Super nice. Never had a fight 16 years
00:42:40 --> 00:42:42 that we lived together. Mhm.
00:42:42 --> 00:42:44 >> Um very first like he started taking
00:42:44 --> 00:42:47 classes with Howard Fine and uh and
00:42:47 --> 00:42:49 Larry Moss and uh he was taking
00:42:49 --> 00:42:51 everything seriously, but like very
00:42:51 --> 00:42:52 early on he came in. He's like, "Hey,
00:42:52 --> 00:42:54 can I borrow a VHS tape?" And I was
00:42:54 --> 00:42:57 like, "Sure." And uh he goes and takes
00:42:57 --> 00:42:58 the tape and and he's walking back
00:42:58 --> 00:43:00 towards his bedroom. I was like,
00:43:00 --> 00:43:03 >> "What are you doing?" And uh he just
00:43:03 --> 00:43:04 something like like something's not
00:43:04 --> 00:43:06 right here. Yeah. Yeah. And he said,
00:43:06 --> 00:43:08 "Well, I got to do a monologue tomorrow
00:43:08 --> 00:43:09 in class, and I was just going to tape
00:43:10 --> 00:43:11 something off TV so I could recite it
00:43:11 --> 00:43:15 back." And I sat there. I said,
00:43:15 --> 00:43:17 "Or you could go to this place called a
00:43:17 --> 00:43:19 bookstore and buy and they're all
00:43:19 --> 00:43:21 written for you." [laughter]
00:43:21 --> 00:43:22 They do that. And I tell the story all
00:43:22 --> 00:43:24 the time. And now he's like recurring on
00:43:24 --> 00:43:27 NC, you know, NCIS. Like he's he's he
00:43:27 --> 00:43:30 was Fitz Ostri in 42. Like I mean, he's
00:43:30 --> 00:43:33 done he's got a massive resume. He's a
00:43:33 --> 00:43:36 super talented actor. He put all the
00:43:36 --> 00:43:37 work in.
00:43:37 --> 00:43:38 >> Yeah.
00:43:38 --> 00:43:39 >> But I love making fun of him for that.
00:43:40 --> 00:43:41 I'm about do
00:43:41 --> 00:43:44 >> hilarious. [laughter]
00:43:44 --> 00:43:46 >> Now everybody's going to run to the TV
00:43:46 --> 00:43:49 run to and get scripts off the TV set.
00:43:49 --> 00:43:49 [laughter]
00:43:49 --> 00:43:52 >> Yeah. Recite it back. Uh but again, like
00:43:52 --> 00:43:54 he's an actor that like I thought this I
00:43:54 --> 00:43:55 thought he was going to be back in
00:43:55 --> 00:43:56 Alabama 6 months later.
00:43:56 --> 00:43:57 >> Uhhuh.
00:43:57 --> 00:43:59 >> I moved out first, you know. It was like
00:43:59 --> 00:44:02 he uh he's fantastic. I'm so I'm so
00:44:02 --> 00:44:04 happy for him. He's he's constantly
00:44:04 --> 00:44:06 working, constantly booking and but
00:44:06 --> 00:44:08 again, he's an example of an actor that
00:44:08 --> 00:44:13 took it seriously, dug his heels in and
00:44:13 --> 00:44:15 um and did all the work and and
00:44:15 --> 00:44:17 continues to keep his day job.
00:44:17 --> 00:44:17 >> Yeah.
00:44:17 --> 00:44:20 >> Um as as needed. So,
00:44:20 --> 00:44:22 >> love it. Love it. Now, if you can give
00:44:22 --> 00:44:25 any advice to beginner actors out there
00:44:25 --> 00:44:28 or actors that's been grinding forever,
00:44:28 --> 00:44:30 what advice would you give?
00:44:30 --> 00:44:33 >> Can't get two. So, one, it's the So,
00:44:33 --> 00:44:35 when I did Selma and I got to work with
00:44:35 --> 00:44:37 Ava, she said this thing at one point
00:44:37 --> 00:44:38 that just kind of like ripped my soul
00:44:38 --> 00:44:40 out because she had, you know, she had
00:44:40 --> 00:44:42 self-produced and self-distributed her
00:44:42 --> 00:44:43 first film. Okay.
00:44:43 --> 00:44:44 >> And I was going through distribution
00:44:44 --> 00:44:46 with my film, Birthday Cake at that
00:44:46 --> 00:44:46 point.
00:44:46 --> 00:44:47 >> And I just remember her kind of
00:44:47 --> 00:44:49 flippantly kind of saying, "No one's
00:44:49 --> 00:44:51 ever going to want this as bad as you
00:44:51 --> 00:44:52 do."
00:44:52 --> 00:44:54 >> And I was like, "Oh my god." Because
00:44:54 --> 00:44:55 it's like it was such a
00:44:55 --> 00:44:58 >> your actors, your agents make 10%.
00:44:58 --> 00:45:01 >> Yeah. and you still have to do 100% of
00:45:01 --> 00:45:02 the work.
00:45:02 --> 00:45:07 >> So, um, anything that you do, you've got
00:45:07 --> 00:45:10 to give it 110%. And and and believe
00:45:10 --> 00:45:12 that no one's coming to save you. If you
00:45:12 --> 00:45:13 want to do this, you have to do your own
00:45:13 --> 00:45:15 self tapes. You have to grind. You have
00:45:15 --> 00:45:17 to grind. You and you also have to keep
00:45:17 --> 00:45:21 yourself healthy. And you you have to be
00:45:21 --> 00:45:24 uh aware of what is working and what is
00:45:24 --> 00:45:25 not working.
00:45:25 --> 00:45:28 >> Okay. And and then the other thing I
00:45:28 --> 00:45:31 would say is if you're not having fun,
00:45:31 --> 00:45:33 get out
00:45:33 --> 00:45:35 >> because or take a break
00:45:35 --> 00:45:36 >> because it's not going to get any
00:45:36 --> 00:45:38 better. There's there's several actors
00:45:38 --> 00:45:39 right now that are on Instagram. It's
00:45:39 --> 00:45:40 kind of heartbreaking because they're
00:45:40 --> 00:45:41 like,
00:45:41 --> 00:45:42 >> I just don't I don't want to be in the
00:45:42 --> 00:45:44 industry anymore. And D and then, you
00:45:44 --> 00:45:45 know, SAG is contacting them directly
00:45:45 --> 00:45:46 and then they're doing all these
00:45:46 --> 00:45:48 Instagram stories with SAG and it's
00:45:48 --> 00:45:50 like,
00:45:50 --> 00:45:50 >> yeah,
00:45:50 --> 00:45:52 >> if you need to take a break, take a
00:45:52 --> 00:45:55 break. But this is supposed to be fun.
00:45:55 --> 00:45:55 Yeah,
00:45:55 --> 00:45:57 >> we're doing makebelieve. And if you're
00:45:58 --> 00:45:59 not having fun doing makebelieve, I
00:45:59 --> 00:46:01 would suggest finding another job.
00:46:01 --> 00:46:04 >> I used to uh I would always teach at the
00:46:04 --> 00:46:05 Georgia Thespian conference, which is
00:46:06 --> 00:46:07 all the high school high schools in
00:46:07 --> 00:46:09 Georgia would come together.
00:46:09 --> 00:46:09 >> Mh.
00:46:09 --> 00:46:11 >> Thousands of kids
00:46:11 --> 00:46:14 >> and uh because I was a cast, you know, I
00:46:14 --> 00:46:16 was casting at the time. I I was living
00:46:16 --> 00:46:17 in LA at that point. So I'd come home
00:46:17 --> 00:46:20 just to do those things. So like my room
00:46:20 --> 00:46:21 would fill up. You know there'd be a
00:46:22 --> 00:46:24 hundred people in a room for 30 people
00:46:24 --> 00:46:25 >> and you know obviously it was a fire
00:46:25 --> 00:46:27 hazard. And so I'd say first thing I
00:46:27 --> 00:46:29 would say is okay question. Who here can
00:46:30 --> 00:46:31 picture something else that they can do
00:46:31 --> 00:46:33 in their life after they graduate? Like
00:46:33 --> 00:46:34 half the room's hands would go up. It's
00:46:34 --> 00:46:35 like great. Leave now.
00:46:35 --> 00:46:36 >> Leave now.
00:46:36 --> 00:46:39 >> Go do that. This is not for you.
00:46:39 --> 00:46:39 >> That's right.
00:46:39 --> 00:46:41 >> And over the years I'll still get text
00:46:41 --> 00:46:43 messages or like me or like emails
00:46:43 --> 00:46:46 people like hey you really upset me that
00:46:46 --> 00:46:48 day but I'm a doctor now. And so, not
00:46:48 --> 00:46:50 that that was the but I think it it does
00:46:50 --> 00:46:51 kind of reset your head. I'm not saying
00:46:52 --> 00:46:53 that everybody has to be an actor and
00:46:53 --> 00:46:54 that's the only thing that you do
00:46:54 --> 00:46:56 because we all have survival jobs,
00:46:56 --> 00:46:56 >> right?
00:46:56 --> 00:47:00 >> But I I've seen it with I've seen it
00:47:00 --> 00:47:03 with so many of my friends and you can't
00:47:03 --> 00:47:05 save them. And you can try to give them
00:47:05 --> 00:47:08 advice, but when the ear is not hearing
00:47:08 --> 00:47:10 it and it's not hearing like you need
00:47:10 --> 00:47:12 to, you know, you can never tell an
00:47:12 --> 00:47:13 actor you need to stop. You take a
00:47:13 --> 00:47:15 break. You know, you can never tell them
00:47:15 --> 00:47:16 that because they're always because
00:47:16 --> 00:47:17 they're actors. So, they're gonna hold
00:47:17 --> 00:47:18 that against you.
00:47:18 --> 00:47:19 >> Right. Right. Right.
00:47:19 --> 00:47:22 >> You Chad's trying to sabotage me. And um
00:47:22 --> 00:47:25 but last year was the worst. Well, 2023
00:47:25 --> 00:47:27 was the worst year of my life. Last year
00:47:27 --> 00:47:29 was not great at all.
00:47:29 --> 00:47:29 >> Okay.
00:47:29 --> 00:47:32 >> Um but this time last year, things
00:47:32 --> 00:47:34 started to shift for me.
00:47:34 --> 00:47:34 >> Mhm.
00:47:34 --> 00:47:39 >> Um both mainly as an actor. um that I I
00:47:39 --> 00:47:41 started book and then it just it there
00:47:41 --> 00:47:43 was this momentum that was insane
00:47:43 --> 00:47:45 because I was doing
00:47:46 --> 00:47:47 I got to do Tulsa King. I I got to do
00:47:47 --> 00:47:50 Comeback King. I got to do um all of
00:47:50 --> 00:47:53 these different films and and and and
00:47:53 --> 00:47:54 getting to play Rosario Dawson's Best
00:47:54 --> 00:47:56 Friend in the movie. And so like there
00:47:56 --> 00:47:59 was this and I and I realized why it's
00:47:59 --> 00:48:01 all happening is because I'm having fun.
00:48:01 --> 00:48:03 I'm having fun in my auditions.
00:48:03 --> 00:48:05 >> Yeah. I'm
00:48:05 --> 00:48:08 uh I'm keeping a an attitude of
00:48:08 --> 00:48:10 gratefulness
00:48:10 --> 00:48:12 >> about what is and and again what is for
00:48:12 --> 00:48:15 you will not pass you by. Full stop.
00:48:15 --> 00:48:15 >> That's right.
00:48:15 --> 00:48:18 >> And uh I mean check back in a month and
00:48:18 --> 00:48:20 I may not be you know getting any
00:48:20 --> 00:48:23 auditions but it's right now we are
00:48:24 --> 00:48:27 about to see such a an explosion of film
00:48:27 --> 00:48:29 I believe in Georgia. And the reason is
00:48:30 --> 00:48:31 it's always it always gets busy towards
00:48:31 --> 00:48:32 the end of the year because people have
00:48:32 --> 00:48:35 got to spend their money. And um but
00:48:35 --> 00:48:37 with this federal tax incentive that's
00:48:37 --> 00:48:40 coming through with our 30% in Georgia,
00:48:40 --> 00:48:43 the 20% which would be the federal uh
00:48:43 --> 00:48:45 that's now 50%
00:48:45 --> 00:48:47 of tax and federal credits that can
00:48:47 --> 00:48:51 shoot in Georgia. You go to Savannah,
00:48:51 --> 00:48:53 that's an additional 10 in some cases.
00:48:53 --> 00:48:54 So that's 60%.
00:48:54 --> 00:48:57 >> Wow. And then there's also a 5%
00:48:57 --> 00:48:59 incentive in the federal if you're an
00:48:59 --> 00:49:00 independent filmmaker, an independent
00:49:00 --> 00:49:02 producer, which most of our small budget
00:49:02 --> 00:49:03 independents are. They're they're not
00:49:03 --> 00:49:05 universal. They're not paramount.
00:49:05 --> 00:49:07 They're not. So that's an additional 5%.
00:49:07 --> 00:49:09 >> And there's this case that I'm fighting
00:49:09 --> 00:49:14 for right now. Uh there's a rural if you
00:49:14 --> 00:49:16 shoot in a rural area and I've been I've
00:49:16 --> 00:49:17 since been told it's like no, it's
00:49:17 --> 00:49:19 supposed to be for regions that have
00:49:19 --> 00:49:20 been that are in desperate straits. And
00:49:20 --> 00:49:24 I'm like and Savannah's not. We have we
00:49:24 --> 00:49:26 didn't have a film for two years. I got
00:49:26 --> 00:49:28 a film crew that would argue that.
00:49:28 --> 00:49:32 >> Um but I think uh you know we're looking
00:49:32 --> 00:49:35 at a possible stack of 70%. You're not
00:49:35 --> 00:49:38 going to get all 70%. But I mean it's
00:49:38 --> 00:49:39 well over 50,
00:49:39 --> 00:49:40 >> right?
00:49:40 --> 00:49:42 >> And because of that, the projects that
00:49:42 --> 00:49:44 are starting to move again are going to
00:49:44 --> 00:49:46 move a lot faster. I mean my film
00:49:46 --> 00:49:49 Darlene, uh Jamie King and Natasha Leon
00:49:49 --> 00:49:50 are producing it. Mary Lambert's
00:49:50 --> 00:49:52 directing it. We're
00:49:52 --> 00:49:54 everything got a slightly bigger because
00:49:54 --> 00:49:57 of the federal tax incentive now. So, um
00:49:57 --> 00:49:59 we've got a major agency involved now
00:49:59 --> 00:50:03 that's packaging it and uh major casting
00:50:03 --> 00:50:04 director that's involved. And then my
00:50:04 --> 00:50:06 other film, The Intelligent, that got
00:50:06 --> 00:50:10 fasttracked as well. So, people are
00:50:10 --> 00:50:12 they're looking for projects that they
00:50:12 --> 00:50:13 can do and they're looking for good
00:50:14 --> 00:50:17 people that they can work with. And I I
00:50:17 --> 00:50:20 do think because of these incentives and
00:50:20 --> 00:50:21 also seeing where things are happening
00:50:21 --> 00:50:23 like in North Carolina or where things
00:50:23 --> 00:50:24 are not happening in North Carolina, you
00:50:24 --> 00:50:26 know, we got Hunting Wives that's moving
00:50:26 --> 00:50:28 to Georgia now. Um
00:50:28 --> 00:50:29 >> well, you know, that's where I am. I'm
00:50:29 --> 00:50:31 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
00:50:31 --> 00:50:35 >> So, what have you um you know, the news?
00:50:35 --> 00:50:37 Did it happen already? There was some
00:50:37 --> 00:50:38 something's happening in Wilmington
00:50:38 --> 00:50:39 today, I think.
00:50:40 --> 00:50:42 >> Is it today where they you sold it
00:50:42 --> 00:50:46 yesterday? where they sold the um
00:50:46 --> 00:50:47 what's the studio
00:50:47 --> 00:50:49 >> the studio? No, I think that's
00:50:49 --> 00:50:51 happening, but I think also I don't know
00:50:51 --> 00:50:53 this for sure, but I think
00:50:53 --> 00:50:57 >> somebody found some money in Wilmington.
00:50:57 --> 00:50:58 >> So, I think I think you're about to get
00:50:58 --> 00:50:59 some incentives back.
00:51:00 --> 00:51:00 >> Oh,
00:51:00 --> 00:51:02 >> I don't I think because whatever the
00:51:02 --> 00:51:04 news was last night that I saw, they
00:51:04 --> 00:51:05 were very excited about it.
00:51:05 --> 00:51:08 >> Okay. And I had I had talked to somebody
00:51:08 --> 00:51:09 uh part of the Spanish film alliance
00:51:09 --> 00:51:11 like, "Oh, I heard that, you know, they
00:51:11 --> 00:51:13 they found some extra money." I mean,
00:51:13 --> 00:51:14 we're not talking the caps that a lot of
00:51:14 --> 00:51:16 the other places do, but it probably
00:51:16 --> 00:51:18 could be enough to keep some shows in
00:51:18 --> 00:51:19 Wilmington.
00:51:19 --> 00:51:20 >> Oh, nice. Okay.
00:51:20 --> 00:51:22 >> And I think I think Hunting Wife sadly
00:51:22 --> 00:51:23 has already moved, but um
00:51:23 --> 00:51:26 >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, cool. But look,
00:51:26 --> 00:51:28 >> and I think also because of the federal
00:51:28 --> 00:51:29 that could help Wilmington as well.
00:51:29 --> 00:51:32 >> Absolutely. Absolutely. But look guys,
00:51:32 --> 00:51:34 you you heard it here. He He's telling
00:51:34 --> 00:51:37 you now to be prepared. Don't slack up.
00:51:37 --> 00:51:39 Don't slack up. Chad, this has been so
00:51:39 --> 00:51:41 much fun. Thank you so much for hanging
00:51:41 --> 00:51:43 out with me today, sharing all of your
00:51:43 --> 00:51:46 experiences and giving actors a behind
00:51:46 --> 00:51:48 the scenes, a little peak of what goes
00:51:48 --> 00:51:50 on behind the scenes. And if you want,
00:51:50 --> 00:51:52 did you want to say hello to anyone or
00:51:52 --> 00:51:55 say give a little kudos to somebody out
00:51:55 --> 00:51:57 there before we go?
00:51:57 --> 00:51:59 >> No. Well, I just I I'm so grateful to
00:51:59 --> 00:52:03 like all the actors that I have I We
00:52:03 --> 00:52:04 couldn't do our job in casting without
00:52:04 --> 00:52:06 really good actors. Yeah.
00:52:06 --> 00:52:07 >> And especially the actors that are
00:52:07 --> 00:52:09 training and that are keeping positive
00:52:09 --> 00:52:11 attitudes. And then also
00:52:11 --> 00:52:13 >> I I know how frustrating is an actor to
00:52:13 --> 00:52:15 get close like you get pinned and then
00:52:15 --> 00:52:16 it's like oh they went a different
00:52:16 --> 00:52:17 direction.
00:52:17 --> 00:52:19 >> Knowing that you you've got an actor I
00:52:19 --> 00:52:21 feel very protective of all my actors.
00:52:21 --> 00:52:22 >> Yeah.
00:52:22 --> 00:52:23 >> So like in a situation where like I'm
00:52:23 --> 00:52:25 fighting for an actor but then they go a
00:52:25 --> 00:52:26 different way.
00:52:26 --> 00:52:30 >> I I feel like I'm letting them down. And
00:52:30 --> 00:52:33 so I'm just very grateful to actors that
00:52:33 --> 00:52:35 are willing to come and play and be open
00:52:35 --> 00:52:38 and trust the process and and you know
00:52:38 --> 00:52:39 know that whatever's for you is for you
00:52:39 --> 00:52:43 and what it's not it's not. But it's uh
00:52:43 --> 00:52:46 now is the time now is the time to make
00:52:46 --> 00:52:47 sure that you're ready. You know be
00:52:47 --> 00:52:50 taking those classes and stay warm and
00:52:50 --> 00:52:51 read books on acting. Whatever it needs
00:52:51 --> 00:52:53 you need to do to to get back into the
00:52:54 --> 00:52:55 game if if you're not getting the
00:52:55 --> 00:52:57 auditions.
00:52:57 --> 00:53:00 >> Figure it out. figure it out. All right,
00:53:00 --> 00:53:01 guys. With that being said, thank you,
00:53:02 --> 00:53:03 Chad Darnell, for joining us today.
00:53:04 --> 00:53:06 Hopefully, you'll come back again, and I
00:53:06 --> 00:53:07 want you to come back and and talk about
00:53:07 --> 00:53:09 some of the different things that you've
00:53:09 --> 00:53:11 been working on later in later in the um
00:53:11 --> 00:53:12 maybe later the year, the beginning of
00:53:12 --> 00:53:14 the next year. Would that be okay?
00:53:14 --> 00:53:15 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:15 --> 00:53:17 >> All right, guys. Make sure you like,
00:53:17 --> 00:53:20 subscribe, and share this video. And we
00:53:20 --> 00:53:21 will talk to you later. This is Deia
00:53:21 --> 00:53:23 Avery with the Demia Avery Show. Bye
00:53:23 --> 00:53:26 bye.