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Casting Calls
My Dad wanted me to be a constitutional lawyer, my Mother a specialist in international law. My Dad was a lawyer himself, in general practice, and my Mother read a lot of books about south Sea Island adventures. I must explain that we lived in a small town in the Midwest.
When I went off to college, I got interested in Drama, and when I graduated, I got work as a casting agent. This requires me to know a lot about available roles, so I make the rounds of the producers and ask them who they're looking for.
I often get requests for Cary Grant, because he's good at parties, he's the trophy escort, and the perfect romantic stranger. Few actors can do having no background, and sometimes the absence of an accent is itself the right exotic touch. He goes over big with women producers, who can depend upon him to never make a pass, while continually giving the impression that he might if he really took a good look at the female lead.
I also get calls for Albert Schwietzer, but rarely meaty parts, usually just august appreciation of noble sentiments of leading ladies, particularly when they're doing something questionable. Ocassionally I get calls for him to mop up after a villain.
The real luminaries today are gentle men who have been pushed too far. Male producers use them for revenge roles in action movies, women producers for friendly rapes. I don't seem to find many actors who do these roles well, it's hard to maintain precisely three day's growth of beard.
I get a lot of calls for actors who can be sexy playing irresponsible, socializing types who get dumped by female leads for not taking relationships seriously; they have to be able to play cocky and crushed with equal conviction. There's a lot of competition for these roles, since a lot of actors do these well.
I also get a lot of calls anymore for aging male romantic leads to play against Angel of Mercy female leads, usually up-and-coming young actresses. The aging male leads have to smoke and cough a lot. They also often have to be some sort of social rebel, misunderstood, outcast, reclusive, and maybe heavy drinkers. These are perfect for actors who like to do a lot of business. As I get older, I'm glad I'm not doing these myself, I never could handle alcohol.
I get calls for actors who can play civilized types victimized by their own sexual/romantic obsession for the female lead; I usually point out that the female lead must be either skinny or repressed for this to be believable. If the female lead's either stacked or popular, she'd just dial 911 immediately.
I get, surprisingly, calls for actors who can play indiscriminate serial killers, if they'll hang around after the show for the cast party; my only hot leads for these roles unfortunately only call me from pay phones, and I never seem to be able to get hold of them when they're needed.
The new call seems to be for romantic male leads who can show a little initiative in adulterous situations. These actors have to be capable of playing strikingly sexy and invisible, compellingly expressive and close-mouthed, all at the same time. They must be able to play having a deep need for the female lead while being completely self-possessed. They must be able to play being so obsessed by the female lead that they're willing to risk being killed while totally in the wrong. They must also be able to completely disappear at the end of the show. It seems to be hard to find scripts for this kind of thing, but there are plenty of good sets, and a lot of actresses have expressed interest. There should be some good use found for all this potential.
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