The Casting Process

When the auditions are over, the director has the daunting task of casting the show. Sometimes the actors fall neatly into the cast list, everyone perfectly suited to a role. In other cases, the decisions can be difficult. There may be five or six actors, all very talented and capable, but only one part, and making the choice is impacted by many factors. If auditions are the interviews, the casting process is where the hiring decisions are made.

Terminology

• Callbacks: An audition in which an actor is “called back” for another audition so that the casting team can see more of their skills and abilities for a particular role.
• Casting Director: A person or group of people who help a creative team cast professional productions.
• Cold Reading: An audition that gives actors only minutes to prepare a presentation from a script or side provided by the casting team
• Colorblind casting: The practice of casting without regard to an actor's race or ethnicity
• Cross-gender Casting: When men play women’s roles & women play men’s roles.
• Identity-conscious casting: A term that incorporates different methods of casting while considering an actor’s age, race, ethnicity, gender, or other demographic qualities.
• Monologue: A speech given by a character.
• Sides: An excerpt of a script to perform at auditions.