Backstage Magazine Digital Issue: April 1, 2021 by Backstage

04.01.21

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All Hail Angela Bassett How the performer keeps her passion— and her artistic integrity—intact

Who’s in the Running: Animation l “Wolfwalkers” filmmakers

reveal how to get started in voiceover

l Tips for getting cast

by Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and more!

l Filmmaker Glen Keane

on the all-new challenges behind “Over the Moon”

5+ Pages OF CASTING NOTICES

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TM & © 2021 Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A Warner Media Company. All Rights Reserved. SAG-AFTRA and Screen Actors Guild Awards are registered trademarks and the Actor statuette and SAG-AFTRA logo are TM and © SAG-AFTRA. © 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Contents

vol. 62, no. 11 | 04.01.21

Cover Story

The Green Room 4 The 2021 Annie Awards 5 This week’s roundup of who’s casting what starring whom

6 Tomm Moore and Ross

Stewart on “Wolfwalkers”

Advice 9 NOTE FROM THE CD

Struggling to connect

10 #IGOTCAST

Valentina Rivoli

10 SECRET AGENT MAN

The Dunning-Kruger effect

Features 3 BACKSTAGE 5 WITH... Laura Dern

8 MEET THE MAKER

Glen Keane, “Over the Moon” animator and director

9 THE ESSENTIALISTS

Aaron Augenblick, animator

11 IN THE ROOM WITH

5 animated feature film CDs

17 DRAWING US IN

The 2021 animated feature film Oscar nominees

24 ASK AN EXPERT

Elise Arsenault on committing to a character

Casting 18 New York Tristate 20 California 21 National/Regional Angela Bassett photographed by Gari Askew II on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles. Hair by Randy Stodghill. Makeup by D’Andre Michael. Styling by Jennifer Austin. On cover: Suit by Alberta Ferretti. Shoes by Casadei. Earrings by Melinda Maria. Black diamond ring by Dru Jewelry. Diamond pavé ring by Nancy Newburg. This page: Jumpsuit by Azzi & Osta. Shoes by Sarah Flint. Earrings by Jennifer Zeuner. Black diamond ring by Dru Jewelry. Gold rings by Katkim. Cover designed by Ian Robinson.

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Laura Dern By Casey Mink

By now, we all know that Laura Dern is a true renaissance woman. These days, the Emmy- and Oscar-winning actor is as busy behind the camera as she is in front of it, flexing her producorial muscles at every opportunity. Her latest effort is a personal one: helping to bring “If Anything Happens I Love You” to Netflix. The film, which is Oscar-nominated for best animated short, depicts parents mourning a child killed in a school shooting.

ILLUSTRATION: NATHAN ARIZONA/PHOTO: FEATUREFLASH PHOTO AGENCY/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Why did you want to produce “If Anything Happens I Love You”? Why is this an important story to tell? I was not only moved by the consideration of the messaging around gun violence, but by the fact that the film addresses grief and how one lives in memory of another. When we think of stories about gun violence, we rarely think of animation. Why was that the right format for this story? [Filmmakers] Will McCormack and Michael Govier speak beautifully to how they came to the idea of telling this story through animation. For me as a viewer, there is something, oddly, more intimate and more personal [that comes from] not identifying the individual with live action, [but] rather by allowing us to personalize the story through animated characters.

moments of excitement in my childhood. I remember being more giddy [when I joined SAG] than when I got my driver’s license. I ran and showed my card to my neighbors! What screen acting performance should every actor see and why? Only one? This has melted my brain.

You’ve done voiceover work yourself; what, to you, makes for a powerful, dynamic voice performance? Authenticity, humanity, empathy, presence—keys to great acting in any forum.

What is the wildest thing you ever did to land a job? I’m thinking of three instances where I did the craziest things to prove that I could play the role. From crashing offices to extreme effort toward transforming into the character to learning to speak another language—and I didn’t land any of those roles.

For a quick walk down memory lane, how did you get your SAG membership, and what do you remember most about that project? I received my SAG card doing my first speaking role in the film “Foxes.” I was 11. It was one of the most memorable

What advice would you offer your younger self, and how did you come to figure it out? I always say that the best advice I was given was from my fourth grade teacher when she said, “Keep your eyes on your own paper.”

“The best advice I was given was from my fourth grade teacher when she said, ‘Keep your eyes on your own paper.’ ”

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HAVE YOU BEEN CAST IN A PROJECT THROUGH A BACKSTAGE CASTING NOTICE? Share your story with us and you might be featured in an upcoming issue! Just tweet @Backstage using the hashtag #IGotCast and we’ll be in touch to hear your success story! FACEBOOK.COM/BACKSTAGE

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“The Willoughbys” Awards

Netflix Sweeps Annie Nominations Recognizing the best in animation, the 48th ceremony will be held virtually By Emily Grossman

NETFLIX PROVED ONCE again that it’s a major player in the animation game, notching 40 nominations at the upcoming Annie Awards. Pixar and DreamWorks Animation also received their fair share of nominations for their work last year. Founded in 1972, the Annie Awards recognize the best in animation across 31 categories, honoring both individuals and companies in the film industry.

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Both Pixar and DreamWorks received two nods each in the best feature category. Pixar and Disney’s “Onward” earned seven nominations, while recent Golden Globe animated feature winner “Soul” was recognized in 10 categories. Meanwhile, DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” and “Trolls World Tour” netted six and four nominations, respectively. Rounding out the category is

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Netflix’s “The Willoughbys,” which earned six nods. In terms of the film and guilds award season, the most watched category is best animated feature at the Academy Awards—and the Annies are frequently a predictor of the winner. In the 20 years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences introduced the category, the Annies’ top feature winner went on to take home Oscar gold 13 times; it most recently did so in 2018 when Sony Pictures’ “SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse” swept both categories. Last year, however, the Annie Award feature winner, Netflix’s “Klaus,” lost the Oscar to Pixar’s “Toy Story 4.” Though it broke a four-year streak, the Academy Award winner has always at least

been nominated for the Annie. Netting a staggering 10 nominations was Cartoon Saloon’s “Wolfwalkers,” which is up for best indie feature. Premiering last September at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Irish film that’s deeply rooted in cultural history is directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, who were also nominated in the best direction category. “Wolfwalkers” is the third and final installment in a trilogy created by Moore, following 2009’s “The Secret of Kells” and 2014’s “Song of the Sea,” which were both nominated for Academy Awards. Also nominated in the indie feature category are the U.K.’s “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” France’s “Calamity Jane,” and Japan’s “On-Gaku: Our Sound” and “Ride Your Wave.” The Annies also present juried awards that honor achievements in the field. This year’s Winsor McCay Award recipients, selected by the ASIFAHollywood Board of Directors, will be Willie Ito, Bruce Smith, and the late Sue Nichols. The 2021 June Foray Award is going to Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, and the Special Achievement Award will be presented to “Howard,” a 2018 American documentary about songwriter Howard Ashman written and directed by Don Hahn. The Annie Awards will be presented via a virtual ceremony on April 16 at the University of California, Los Angeles. For more information, visit annieawards.org.

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MO is upended, though, when she ends up falling for one of her marks, and she has to figure out how to rewrite her “playbook” when the objective of the game has changed. The film, directed by Trish Sie and cast by Lindsey Weissmueller, has already started to assemble actors. Tom Ellis will play Mack’s love interest, while Damon Wayans Jr. will portray her best friend. Production is planned for an early July start in Vancouver and Chicago.

What’s Casting

Sharma, Pallavi Sharda, Arianna Afsar, and Rizwan Manji are all set to appear in the project, written by Shiwani Srivastava. Production is planned to kick off in mid-April in Toronto.

Get Dressed Up for ‘Wedding Season’

“Players” Elsewhere in the world of Netflix rom-coms, Gina Rodriguez will follow up her starring appearance in 2019’s “Someone Great” with “Players.” Rodriguez will portray Mack, a sports writer in Chicago who, along with a friend, has spent years devising “plays” in order to target hookups. Her normal

A new Netflix rom-com goes beyond “I do” By Rebecca Welch

STAY IN THE LOOP ON INDUStry and casting news with our write-up on who’s been slated for recent film and television roles!

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MARGAUX QUAYLE CANNON

Please note that shoot dates are subject to state and county restrictions and may change. Refer to Call Sheet for updates, and keep checking Backstage for the latest news on project development during this time.

Get cast!

For more upcoming productions and casting news, visit backstage.com/news/casting

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“Wedding Season” On Netflix, this spring marks the beginning of production on “Wedding Season,” just in time for the real thing. In order to survive a social calendar full of friends’ weddings, two Indian Americans pretend to couple up to assuage their families’ desire for them to find partners. But the line between reality and pretend starts to blur as the two find themselves falling for each other and coming to terms with the people their parents want them to be. The streaming rom-com has already started attaching actors to the film, with Chrystie Street’s Jessica Kelly on board as CD. Suraj

FILM

Emerald Fennell Joins the DC Cinematic Universe By Casey Mink

“Bros” Billy Eichner is stepping away from the streets to star in his own film, teaming up with producer Judd Apatow. The comedy, directed by Nicholas Stoller and co-written by Stoller and Eichner, follows the blossoming romance between two men as they attempt to start a relationship despite their commitment-phobic tendencies. Eichner is currently the only actor attached to the project. Gayle Keller is casting his onscreen love interest and the rest of the ensemble out of New York. Shooting delays have continually pushed production back on the movie. With a 2022 release date, filming is rumored to be taking place later this year in New York. For the latest news, check out backstage.com/resources to find thousands of production listings, casting directors, acting classes, agents, and more!

IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE EMERALD Fennell. Fresh off three Oscar nominations and a big win at the Writers Guild of America Awards, it’s been announced that the “Promising Young Woman” filmmaker will pen the upcoming DC feature “Zatanna.” J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is producing the Warner Bros. project, which is adapted from the comic of the same name, about a master of illusions who can manipulate reality. A director has not yet been named.

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“Wolfwalkers”

and you can do whatever you want. But that means there’s so many people applying [that] it’s very hard to have a portfolio that will be so impressive that you will just immediately be hired as a concept artist or a designer. What you find is you might get hired in background, and your personal work might be shown to somebody who’s developing a project who goes, ‘Oh, wow, that’s absolutely perfect for my project.’ And then you might get into concept design or visual development for that project [more easily] that way. So, really, how you apply to get into the studio is a thing worth considering.”

The Slate

out there, the more you will learn as an artist—and also, the more exposure you’ll get.”

Luck of the ‘Wolfwalkers’

Once your foot is in the door, be wise about which department you apply to. RS: “If you want to get into a studio that’s doing [feature films], getting your foot in the door, I think, is the hardest part. But then, once you’re inside the studio, it’s very easy to move from one department into another—or it’s easier, let me say. But I think finding what departments you want to apply for… You know, nearly everyone wants to be a concept artist or a visual development artist these days, because that’s kind of cool,

Filmmakers Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart on how to get started in animation By Jenna Fanelli

The following interview for Backstage’s on-camera series The Slate was compiled in part by Backstage readers just like you! Follow us on Twitter (@Backstage) and Instagram (@backstagecast) to stay in the loop on upcoming interviews and to submit your questions.

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Backstage for a virtual webinar to discuss the process of bringing “Wolfwalkers” to life, and to offer their best advice for aspiring voiceover artists and animators alike. Just keep creating. Ross Stewart: “It’s so easy to make short films now, to make little animated pieces now. You don’t need, like, a huge amount of equipment or hardware or anything like that. Teenagers can make animated movies now just on their mobile phones. So I think the more content that you make and get

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Christmas Comes Early By Casey Mink

Want to hear more from Moore and Stewart? Watch our full interview at backstage.com/magazine, and follow us on Instagram: @backstagecast.

THOUGH WE’RE FINALLY EMERGING from the harsh winter months, Netflix is already dreaming of a white Christmas. The streamer has announced a new gay holiday rom-com, “Single All the Way.” The feature, which is set to go into production later this month, will star Michael Urie, Luke Macfarlane, Kathy Najimy, and Jennifer Coolidge, among others. Tony-winning theater and film director Michael Mayer will helm the project, which will hit the platform this holiday season, of course.

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TOMM MOORE AND ROSS Stewart of Ireland’s five-time Academy Award–nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon have another hit on their hands. Following best animated feature nods for “The Secret of Kells” and “Song of the Sea” (as well as the studio’s “The Breadwinner”), this year’s Apple TV+ release, “Wolfwalkers,” notched another, wrapping the filmmakers’ Irish folklore–fantasy trilogy on a high note. Moore and Stewart, who have been creating together since they were teens drawing their own comics, sat with

There are various ways in which voice actors can get on Cartoon Saloon’s radar, even without agents. Tomm Moore: “I think if you can get on something like Voicebank [now renamed voices.com], where there [are] more character actors—I don’t know what the equivalent is internationally, but a lot of the actors on [there] are not, like, super well-known, and all you’re listening to is their reel, as it were. The actors that we picked that way—they weren’t massively established, but they were right, [and] we got to meet them, and we would have them in mind that way.”

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Meet the Maker

By Casey Mink

“Over the Moon”

GLEN KEANE WAS SEMINAL IN what’s known as the Disney Renaissance, animating such classic tales as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” and “Pocahontas,” to name a few. But with “Over the Moon,” which hit Netflix late last year and is now Oscar-nominated for best animated feature, he sat in the director’s chair for his first fulllength film.

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What was it like putting together this entirely Asian cast of voice actors? The most important voice that we had to know was Fei Fei’s. You are in her skin. If you’re going on a ride at Disneyland, she’s the cart that you hop in. You’re gonna go

through the ride from her point of view. [Producer] Gennie [Rim] had worked with Cathy Ang on a short film called “Age of Sail,” and they needed an English voice that could sing. It turned out that Cathy Ang did a great English accent, and she could sing. One night in New York, Gennie introduced me to her. I didn’t realize it, but Gennie’s thought was: This is going to be the voice of Fei Fei. But she didn’t say that to me. So I was talking to Cathy, and suddenly, it just dawned on me that I felt like I was talking to Fei Fei. It was in her eyes—this joy, this sparkle. It turned out her singing voice was phenomenal. And the fact that she was Chinese— every box was checked. The same thing happened with

Are you frequently inspired by voice actors? Do you find yourself animating in response to their performances? If you talk on the phone to somebody, and you’ve never seen them… I’ve never seen you, but I have a picture of a face in my mind right now, talking to you. It’s a vague form, but there are certain things that I hear in a voice that describe a certain attitude and facial structure. We just do that—even color of hair and all that. In picking the voice, you’re looking for that harmony of the character that you’ve been figuring out a design for but have not quite yet. And then you hear the voice, and they come together. It’s a weird thing. There’s the voice. You might have heard 100 different voices until that one speaks out. What about animation as a storytelling form continues to excite and inspire you? It always starts with the character, and what’s weird is I believe that the character exists before you design them, which is a really strange thing. There’s the design, they are suddenly staring back at you, and you recognize them. That’s my point of entry into directing. I was very familiar and confident with the approach to animating from the inside out. And that’s how we approached storyboarding as well—allowing a lot of freedom for characters to develop naturally. It may be written on the page one way, but storyboarding is always taking a script and storyboarding between the lines. It’s never the lines themselves; it’s something to discover underneath.

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This was your first time directing a feature. What was it like to have that kind of front-toback control of the project? I had been taught by what Walt Disney called his “Nine Old Men.” He really trusted his key creative people to take sections of the movie and, in

effect, direct them. They were called directing animators. Throughout my entire career there—nearly 40 years at Disney—that’s the way I would approach it: taking sequences and working the story and the animation, and so many of the different elements of recording. I was familiar with that, but I never had to really deal with constructing from beginning to end, with being responsible for building the whole team.

Phillipa Soo, and adding John Cho and Sandra Oh was an amazing connection.

ILLUSTRATION: MARGAUX QUAYLE CANNON; AUGENBLICK: FRANCIS HILLS

Glen Keane, “Over the Moon” animator + director

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THE ESSENTIALISTS

AARON AUGENBLICK animator

AARON AUGENBLICK literally can’t remember a time when he wasn’t animating—from drawing cartoons as a child to, eventually, founding Augenblick Studios, an indie animation company that has worked on shows for Adult Swim, Comedy Central, Netflix, and more. Instagram is an animator’s best friend. “Just make a lot of animation, make a lot of drawings, make a lot of looping GIFs—whatever. As long as it looks great, it’s going to get seen, and there’s no better platform than social media to just put things out there. I tend to [hire]

Note From the CD

Struggling to Connect

By Casey Mink

a lot more people from social media than from cold emails. There was a time when cold emails were the thing to do: ‘Hey, you should check out my portfolio.’ But I’m much more likely to look at someone’s Instagram page than I am to click on a link in an email.” He’s looking for the next Homer Simpson. “When someone can give a performance or [do] a voice that makes me say, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I’ve heard that before,’ that’s mind-blowing. I would encourage any actors to really dig deep and experiment and find new voices. We want to hear

new characters. The first time we heard Homer Simpson, we had never heard a voice like that. It was such a strange performance [Dan Castellaneta] was doing, and it obviously evolved over time, but it was a groundbreaking way to [do] voice animation. That’s what we want.”

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ILLUSTRATION: MARGAUX QUAYLE CANNON; AUGENBLICK: FRANCIS HILLS

By Marci Liroff

AT THIS POINT IN THE PANdemic, I have to assume you’ve spent a lot of time on all the various video platforms. Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype have become ubiquitous not only for meeting your personal needs, but for work, as well. The move to self-tapes has been growing for the last few years, but add COVID-19 to the mix, and virtual auditions are becoming the norm. So how can you foster a real connection through a screen? Well, you should still treat it like a face-to-face interaction. Unlike a self-tape, Skype and Zoom allow for a real connection between yourself and the casting team. If you’re given the opportunity to have a chat with the casting or creative team, you should research them before you get on that call, just like when you’re auditioning in real life. Look up the credits of all the filmmakers on the project; you

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can use this information to your advantage. Of course, you have to take the temperature of the room to see if there’s enough time to have them get to know you, and then you can treat this audition as a general meeting. A general meeting is where you meet the casting director and get to know each other. Unfortunately, this type of meeting has gone the way of the dodo for a couple of reasons. One is because we are so slammed for time. When we start a project, the studio or network already wants our lists of ideas and availability. We’ve barely closed our deal, and we have to jump onto a speeding train. Another reason is that many of the upcoming CDs haven’t been taught by their bosses or mentors that this is a great way to get to know talent. I like an actor to come to these meetings with knowledge about me and the filmmakers, ready to

let us know who they are. Have a couple of stories about yourself on hand. I like meeting actors whose work I’ve seen, and then learning something new about them. Maybe they’ve secretly been training to sing and dance for years, but they’ve never done it on film before; or they sculpt in their free time; or they have a degree in political science. All of that only adds to your rich life experience, which can be translated into your performance. I remember one casting session in which an actor told us she thought she had a flea. She went on to say that she had found a few bites on her stomach, and that she and her boyfriend had named said flea. She was witty and authentic. At the end of the audition, the producer said, “I liked flea girl.” She had left an impression on us. All of these stories can be

shifted to your video audition. Because you know the credits of the creators you’re auditioning for, you can ask them about their prior projects. Instead of blowing smoke up their asses about how much you loved their movie, you can go a step further by asking them how they found that great kid who starred in it. All in all, you should be using the same skills that you’ve used in the audition room and shift them over to your Zoom meeting. Once you get comfortable with the technology, you can treat it just as if the director were sitting across the table from you.

Want more?

Read our full Note From the CD Want more? at backstage.com/ Allarchives our Backstage Experts can be magazine found at backstage.com/magazine

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Secret Agent Man

The Dunning-Kruger Effect MOST ACTORS AREN’T AS good as they think. Now you’re upset, right? How can I make such a foolish claim? It’s heresy, and I should be burned at the stake. But you know what? It’s true. Most actors aren’t as good as they think. That’s why they go into shock when they don’t get a job. Here’s the response I usually get when I call a client with bad news about an audition: “Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? I crushed it!” Then, after a little bit of thinking, the actor will decide the casting director is a clueless boob with no taste or that the role went to the producer’s lover. The possibility that maybe, just maybe, their audition wasn’t that impressive never enters their mind. In 1999, two psychologists from Cornell University named David Dunning and Justin

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Kruger came up with a theory that explains this behavior. According to Psychology Today, “The Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. This tends to occur because a lack of self-awareness prevents them from accurately assessing their own skills.” These two wise guys aren’t just claiming that we sometimes believe we’re much better at something than we really are; they’re also saying that our incompetence prevents us from seeing our incompetence. So, riddle me this: How can we improve if we don’t know we need to improve? Actors who suffer from the Dunning-Kruger Effect tend to: 1. Overestimate their talent 2. Not see their own mistakes

Valentina Rivoli By Jalen Michael

When it comes to building a career in the performing arts, teen actor VALENTINA RIVOLI is figuring it out as she goes along. And that’s just fine!

Backstage has a little something for everyone. “I use Backstage pretty frequently. I’ve been a member for about six months; but even before, as a younger kid, I would scroll through Backstage to see if there was anything I liked. The only difference is now I can actually apply to those roles!”

Character comes first. “[For a recent project,] I played myself; however, since we had many takes per clip, I found that I actually was playing a character who happened to have all my qualities.”

4 5

Every project provides a peek behind the curtain. “I typically look for roles that fit my specific talents and have a storyline or purpose that I find interesting. While the work may not turn out to be an Oscar-winning film, it is still a good way to get a feel for the industry without making a commitment to an agency.”

TO SEE YOUR SUCCESS story in print, tweet @Backstage using the hashtag #IGotCast, or email us at igotcast@ backstage.com.

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#IGOTCAST.

ILLUSTRATION: SPENCER ALEXANDER; RIVOLI: DANI AND DOM RUSSO

3. Ignore the skills of others. It‘s crazy how much a limited perspective can blind actors from seeing themselves clearly. So how can you address this problem when it might not even be possible to trust your own self-assessment? Here are a few ideas from a guy who didn’t go to Cornell: Never, ever stop studying. Don’t assume you’re the master of your own domain. Assume there’s always more to learn. This way of thinking will force you to constantly grow while expanding your command of craft and technique. Get feedback from your teacher and the other actors in your class. Ask them to be honest. Sure, their responses might be hard to hear, but this is the best way to understand how they see your abilities. There could be a disconnect if you believe your diction is perfect, but no one else can understand a word you’re saying. Avoid confirmation bias. This is when you only pay attention to views that confirm your beliefs. This path leads to the death of growth, so listen to opposing perspectives, and allow yourself to be challenged. Don’t underestimate your competition. Why would you go into an audition assuming the other actors are terrible? Wouldn’t it make more sense to assume they’re as good as they come? Wouldn’t that force you to up your game? Try saying “DunningKruger Effect” 10 times really fast. Why? No reason. It just sounds like fun. In short, an acting career is hard enough without you getting in your own way. Give some thought to this subject, and see if the Dunning-Kruger Effect applies to you. And if you decide it doesn’t, there’s a good chance it does. (Isn’t science fun?)

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Spotlighting the people and projects you need to know

In the Room With

5 Animated Feature Film CDs

Interesting or unexpected voice work is no longer the only way to land a role in an animated feature By Elyse Roth

To play the character with any believability, your entire body language has to change, as well as your facial expressions.” —Terry Berland, live-action and animation CD Preparation is about more than just knowing your lines. “When auditioning for a Disney animated feature, an actor must come prepared to use their imagination and, in some instances, improvise. Our auditions are not as much about the words on the page as they are about finding the essence of a character in the actor’s interpreted performance, mixed with the sound of their voice.” —JSR

“Commit to a character, and run a marathon, not a sprint. You have to be able to sustain working four to six hours during a recording session. The contract you are under may allow the talent to be booked for three different voices in one session.” —TB

RAQUEL APARICIO

ILLUSTRATION: SPENCER ALEXANDER; RIVOLI: DANI AND DOM RUSSO

THERE’S NO SHORTAGE OF VOICE WORK FOR ACTORS WHO are interested in expanding the mediums in which they perform; but animated features are different from narration, commercials, and even animated television series. The casting directors who fill out the ensembles of these films look for potential in an actor’s normal speaking voice, and it takes more than just a robust voiceover résumé to catch their ear. Here, feature animation CDs from Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and beyond share their insights with Backstage so you know what to expect when going out for a coveted role in one of their projects. Voice actors are actors. “Actors that I have found to have the most skill in the recording booth are those who have theater, improv, and sketch comedy training and experience. We are looking for actors with real acting chops who are able to transmit emotion through voice only, think

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on their feet, and really come ready to dig in and collaborate.” —Jamie Sparer Roberts (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) “You’re never going to do cartoons if you don’t know how to act. You have to be a really good actor. If you want to pursue being an actor, you pursue it

on all levels. When you get in a booth by yourself to record a scene with somebody else who’s not there, it’s way more challenging than if you’re in front of a camera. You have to know what you’re doing, so studying acting and learning how to act is the best thing you can do for any form of entertainment.” —Mary Hidalgo, film and television animation CD “You need to create a physical type, and it takes acting ability to do so. Some examples of physical types you might need to portray in a character would be to sound heavy and short, tall and muscular, tall and thin, or old and hunched over.

Animation can provide more opportunities for actors. “I really like that nobody says, ‘Find somebody really famous.’ If you look at our casts, you can see that there are definitely people who wouldn’t necessarily be known.” —Natalie Lyon (“Soul,” “Onward”)

“Some people are amazing physical actors, but when you shut your eyes, you can’t see that. It’s the tone and the warmth. Is there a melody to their voice? If you shut your eyes and listen, you don’t have the visual nuance of them doing their ‘thing.’ It all has to come through your voice, and you really have to tell that story. It’s the tone and modulation that really brings the animation and the character to life.” —Christi Soper (“Trolls World Tour,” “The Croods: A New Age”)

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BACKSTAGE 04.02.20

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Angela Bassett’s Lessons to Live By First, her guiding mantra behind four decades in Hollywood: “I want to be a working actor, I want to be paid fairly, and I want to do work that inspires me” By Casey Mink - Photographed by Gari Askew II IT WAS SNOWING IN NEW HAVEN WHEN Angela Bassett decided she was going to be a professional actor—or try to be one, anyway. “It was the first snow, this beautiful snow. I’m a Florida girl, and I have made a decision that I am going to pursue this crazy idea,” she remembers. “Hell or high water, and we’ll see what happens.” The alternative path, which Bassett was weighing at that moment in her junior year at Yale as she watched the snowflakes float to the ground outside, was molecular biophysics and biochemistry. “What would be a more difficult route for me?” she asked herself. “Well, both are difficult—so pursue the one you’re passionate about, the one that you love.” Fortunately for us, that wasn’t the

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path of molecular biophysics. She applied and was admitted to the Yale School of Drama, into a class of 17 out of roughly 10 times as many applicants. To be an actor, she posits, “was such an almost impossibility for someone who looked like me, who was [from] where I was from, that I wanted to be as practical as possible by supporting it with technique and education and foundation.” From there, it was on to New York, where she hoofed it in (mostly) Off-Broadway shows and hustled on soap operas and in industrials. When she eventually decided to try her luck at a pilot season in Los Angeles, the assumption was that she’d be driven back east shortly thereafter. “I decided to go out for six months—it was either six weeks or six

months,” she says on a recent Saturday afternoon video call. “Well, anyway, it’s turned into many years now!” It’s also turned into an Oscar nomination, seven Emmy nominations, and decades of canonical roles in film and on TV, all of which have molded hers into one of the most roundly respected names in the business. “I’ve always said: I want to be a working actor, I want to be paid fairly, and I want to do work that inspires me,” Bassett says of her only overarching career strategy. Those three tentpoles are evident in most every project she’s done—and notably absent from those projects she’s declined. Long before Hollywood, New York, or Yale, an undying love for performance started for Bassett where it does for so many who choose to go down that haphazard path: at the theater. Specifically, on a trip to Washington, D.C., at age 15 to see James Earl Jones in the Kennedy Center’s production of “Of Mice and Men.” “[I remember] just being wrecked emotionally and being literally the last person to leave the auditorium, crying. I couldn’t believe that this make-believe could make me feel this deeply, this passionately, [and that it] could bring tears,” she remembers, adding with a devilish grin: “I thought, How great would it be if I could make someone else feel that awful?” She returned to her small St. Petersburg, Florida, community “infatuated” with the performing arts, but with very little opportunity to harness them herself. Occasionally, at her church (“if it were a fifth Sunday”), 04.01.21 BACKSTAGE

they’d let the younger folks put on the service, which she seized as a chance to write and act in short plays. “I’d put on one of my great-grandmother’s dresses, use a brown pencil and draw lines on my face, [and] put baby powder in my hair,” she says with a laugh. “You know, try and get people to give more, be more generous!” But because no one around her was as interested in the arts as she was, it became a more solitary pursuit—at least in the literal sense. “The easiest way was to use poetry. One of my favorite poets at that time was Langston Hughes,” Bassett says. “I would do recitations of his work, heighten it, make it sort of

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dramatic, and use costumes.” Her adoration of Hughes became seminal in her impetus to perform; but she never could have predicted the circuitous way that his work would eventually alter the course of her career. You see, it was over a shared love of the poet that she bonded with John Singleton, the then-19-year-old filmmaker of “Boyz n the Hood,” who saw Bassett outside the confines of the TV bit parts she’d been boxed into during the ’80s and early ’90s. “They wouldn’t see me for films. So you’re waiting for someone who doesn’t think like that, who has a vision,” she says. Singleton had the support of producers to see who he wanted

when it came to casting, and he wanted Bassett. That was, she remembers, when “things began to open up.” “Boyz n the Hood” made way for “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” in which Bassett portrayed Tina Turner, earning her an Oscar nod for best actress in a leading role. That was also when she ascended to a level that very few actors ever do, with the ability to actually be discerning about the jobs she did not—or would not—do. Most famously, she turned down Halle Berry’s Oscar-winning role in “Monster’s Ball.” “I remember having a manager once say, ‘She turns down more opportunity’—and, in his mind, more money—‘than you would think.’ But as a dear friend—call him my brother—always says, ‘All money ain’t good money,’ ” Bassett enthuses. “Coming up, you always hear about that possibility of becoming jaded. And I always thought [that you have to] maintain your first love, your integrity, why you did it in the first place. If you start accepting offers and jobs for money, then that’s the first question: ‘We’d like to know how much they pay.’ “Pretty soon,” she continues, “the muse or the love just leaves the room. Because that’s what you’re concentrating on: what’s being put in your hand, as opposed to what’s being put in your heart or what you can offer through your performance. I’ve always thought each job is because of a different reason. Sometimes it’s just an idea that I want to put out into space.” At the same time, the thinking that has motivated Bassett to turn down roles is also behind what makes her fight for one. She remembers auditioning for the matriarch in “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” the 1992 miniseries about the famous family. She’d gotten three callbacks when her management sat her down to discuss her options. “They were saying, ‘[Don’t go back,] because these things are in the trades about Michael,’ ” she recalls. “And I remember saying, ‘These kids adore, revere, [and] respect their mother in a world where, often, the Black woman is at the bottom of the totem pole.’ All the other stuff didn’t mean anything to me. That, for me, was the reason to do that project.” Katherine Jackson also became an early entrant in a long line of real-life figures that Bassett has portrayed, including Turner, Betty Shabazz (in both “Malcolm X” and “Panther”), Voletta Wallace (in “Notorious”), Coretta Scott King (in “Betty & Coretta”), and Rosa Parks (in “The Rosa Parks Story”). “I guess I had an ‘I am every woman’ type of vibe,” she says of that career stretch. But though the precise preparation required to play a real-life figure may vary from that of a fictional one, Bassett insists her approach to embodiment does not. “There’s all the information that’s right there, ready to serve you. All you have to do is find it—find videos of the person or interviews that they’ve done,” she says of playing real people. “At that time, I’d put the headset backstage.com

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04.01.21 BACKSTAGE

in and listen to their voice [and] intonations and try to capture some of that. And for fictional [characters], you do those things, but within the context of the script. You’re just going through the script trying to find things. How would they walk? Is there something that’s said in there about their gait? What do other people say about them? You look for gems in the script that can give you insight into who this character is.” She generally likes to have some backstory tucked into her pocket, though certainly not always. For instance, on Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” her character work was more straightforward: “I’ve got three boobs and a ding-a-ling,” she says, throwing her head back with a laugh. For each character, though, fictional or historical (or just plain freaky), it’s all about remaining open to possibilities. “The answer, or inspiration, comes from where you least expect it. From just passing someone on the street, and there’s something about their walk, their talk… It’s being observant of human nature,” she says. “And then, of course, your own experiences are very helpful, too—sense memory, the things you’ve encountered in your own life. Reading, seeing theater, being inspired by others and their work, so that you’re open and fearless—fearless about choices.” All of that goes into her current role on Fox’s “9-1-1,” on which she portrays a mother and

“I’ve always thought each job is because of a different reason. Sometimes it’s just an idea that I want to put out into space.” police officer. It’s also, now with the show in its fourth season, her longest-running role to date. “I’ve never been a cop, so I have to go out and get some knowledge of what that’s about—you know, spending time with a sister who’s on the LAPD,” she says. “It’s using what you have, questioning what you don’t, and getting experience where you can. Delving into [and] breaking apart the script, sort of like a private eye. And taking flight where you can.” Ultimately, Bassett looks to do work that will, if not teach her something new, allow her to continually improve. It’s why she had to say yes to a role in Disney and Pixar’s latest existential tear-jerker, “Soul” (now nominated for three Oscars, including best animated feature, and streaming on Disney+), in which she portrays Dorothea, BACKSTAGE 04.01.21

a jazz band leader. It’s an endeavor unlike anything she—or Disney and Pixar—had done before, taking on nothing less than the meaning of life by hypothesizing what might come after and before it. She also had to say yes because, well, they asked. “Once in a while, I audition for [animated projects]; I don’t get them! I haven’t gotten it down yet,” she says of the opportunity to lend her voice to the film, which also stars Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey, among many others. “But when I’m offered, I’m profoundly humbled and so thankful that I have an opportunity to work on it again.” Bassett adds that working in voiceover is extra special because an emotional response comes simply from listening: “From listening to you, they found something; your voice is the one they need for this project.

It’s almost like you’re behind the curtain at Oz, when you don’t have the visage—the face and body and all of that—to distract; you only have the voice.” As a final thought while looking back on her expansive career, from that snowy New Haven day to “Soul,” Bassett sums up, with the grace of a seasoned actor (and one with a vigor that promises much more to come): “Do what inspires you. Go where peace lies. And whether it works out or not, you had your reason,” she says. “You had your reason for saying yes.” On this page: Suit by Mantù–Castor. Bodysuit by Anna and Dianna. Shoes by Casadei. Earrings by Walters Faith. Black rings by Graziela. White ring by Bondeye Jewelry.

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Drawing Us In Your guide to the 2021 animated feature film Oscar nominees By Jack Smart IN A YEAR CHARACTERIZED BY DISRUPTIONS TO FILM PRODUCTION, one area of the industry has remained as productive as ever: animation. The contenders for best animated film at the upcoming 93rd annual Academy Awards prove that there is nowhere to go but up in a storytelling space that continues to advance both technologically and creatively. With stories that take us past the great beyond, through magical forests, and into the stars, these Oscarnominated animated hits can sweep audiences off their feet in ways that live-action cinema often can’t.

“Onward”

Here’s a prime example of the creativity afforded to animated films: One of the season’s most delightful onscreen characters is a pair of pants. When teenage elves Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, respectively) only partially complete a resurrection spell on their late father, the lower half of his body accompanies them on a magical quest beyond their New Mushroomton home. “Magical” is

the key word here, as “Onward” is both literally and figuratively enchanting; Disney and Pixar’s penchant for poignant, charming fun works wonders in such a conceptually ambitious fantasy realm. Even throwaway visual details in this story make for clever world-building.

“Over the Moon”

Adults may feel more in touch with their inner child after watching Netflix’s “Over the Moon,”

a tale that contemplates and celebrates childlike wonder to dazzling effect. Young Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) believes so wholeheartedly in mythical moon goddess Chang’e that she builds a lantern-turned-rocket to transport herself, her bunny Bungee, and her stepbrother, Chin (Robert G. Chiu), to the lunar surface. Buoyed by soaring original songs and a stellar cast of actor-singers (including Broadway stars Phillipa Soo, Conrad Ricamora, and Ruthie Ann Miles), “Over the Moon” will make you a believer.

“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” This Oscar season’s only stop-motion animation nominee is an uproariously silly follow-up to 2015’s “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” this time taking a lively

“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”

extraterrestrial turn. Finding humor in alien life, farm life, and the delightful ways they overlap, this StudioCanal UK and Aardman Animations production could be the year’s most adorable movie. It’s uncanny that Lu-La, a lost alien creature whose only lines are monosyllabic mimics of other sounds, is as immediately endearing as she is. Fans of Shaun and his fellow Mossy Bottom Farm residents are sure to love a sequel that recaptures and builds upon the spirit of the original film.

“Soul”

Introducing a main character only to have him die about 10 minutes into the story is one of this year’s most brilliant cinematic surprises, and the plot of Disney and Pixar’s “Soul” doesn’t stop there. As Joe, a middle school band teacher and struggling jazz musician (given a multilayered and touching voice performance by Jamie Foxx), discovers “the Great Before,” a jaded soul named 22 (a dryly funny Tiny Fey), and the simple joys of life on Earth, we’re with him every existential step of the way. The film’s most affecting element, of course, is its music; the trippy stylings of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, intercut seamlessly with Jon Batiste’s evocative jazz compositions, are what allow “Soul” to pull off such ambitiously incongruous tones.

“Wolfwalkers”

“A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON”: AARDMAN ANIMATIONS/NETFLIX

This enthralling tale inspired by Irish folklore is proof that 2D animation is alive, well, and as visually arresting as ever. With an aesthetic resembling woodblocks and medieval art, Apple’s “Wolfwalkers” follows a young apprentice wolf hunter (Honor Kneafsey) as she discovers a feisty wolfwalker (Eva Whittaker) and her magical pack of wolves outside a superstitious town in 17th-century Ireland. All of it is infused with symbolic meaning, giving what would otherwise be a straightforward folk tale fascinating undertones. Come for the gorgeously drawn characters, locales, and magic; stay for the implicit cautionary tale about colonialism and environmentalism.

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Plays Musicals Film TV & Video Commercial Modeling Variety Voiceover Gigs Events

Submit a Notice |

New York Tristate Musicals ‘The Phantom of the Opera,’ B’way • Seeking video submissions for future

replacements for the role of “Christine Daae” only in “The Phantom of the Opera.”

• Company: Phantom Company LP. Staff:

Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Company, prod.; Andrew Lloyd Webber, music; Charles Hart, lyrics; Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber, book; Harold Prince, dir.; Gillian Lynne, choreo.; Seth Sklar-Heyn, prod. supervisor; David Caddick & Kristen Blodgette, prod. musical supervisors; Denny Berry, assoc. choreo.; Foresight Theatrical, general mgr.; Xavier Rubiano, CSA and Peter Van Dam, CSA (Tara Rubin Casting; viewing auditions), casting. • Performs on Broadway in NYC. • Seeking—Christine Daae: 18-29, all

ethnicities, character can be Black, Latine, MENASA, API, Indigenous, or white; a beautiful lyric soprano voice that combines elements of classical and musical theatre singing. Sings G below middle C to high E.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, prepare a video of

you singing the song “Think of Me” from the musical. Sheet music and accompaniment tracks can be downloaded at the following link: https:// tinyurl.com/PhantomBwayChristine. Send via a downloadable link to PhantomBroadwayCasting@gmail. com with “AEA Submission - Your Last Name” in the subject line. In the body of the email, include your name, height, current location, & contact info. Also attach a copy of your picture & resume. Submissions deadline is Apr. 5.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities,

BACKSTAGE 04.01.21

SUBMIT YOUR CALLS FOR CAST AND CREW: Visit backstage.com/findtalent and click on “Post a Notice.” Include all relevant project requirements, including any pay, fees, dues, costs, required ticket sales or nudity. and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

Casting picks of the week

• Pays $2,244/wk. Equity Production

(League) Contract.

BY LISA HAMIL

Student Films

musical

‘A Homegoing’

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Broadway is on its way back in NYC

• Casting “A Homegoing.” Synopsis: On the

day of his grandmother’s funeral, a boy and a girl set out on a journey to find God. • Company: BY DAEDAE. Staff: DaeQuan

Collier, dr.-writer.

• Rehearses May; shoots June in NYC. • Seeking—Boy: male, 10-13, Black /

‘The Gilded Age’ Look to the past in this NYC HBO series from the creator of Downton Abbey

African Descent. Girl: female, 10-13, Black / African Descent. Lady: female, 50-80, Black / African Descent, a grouchy church lady. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Send submissions to DaeQuan@

film

Daequancollier.com.

Untitled LCDG Wrestle your way to stardom in this El Paso, TX and Mexico production

• No compensation, but copy for reel will

be provided.

‘Delta’

• Casting “The Mississippi Delta, 1951.”

Synopsis: Today, Phoebe Lee and her brother start attending a white school as the first Asian students from their Delta Chinese community — ever.

stage

‘Pericles’ Dictate the fate of family in this Bay Area production

• Company: NYU. Staff: Sandra Tan, prod. • Shoots Fall in location TBD. • Seeking—Phoebe: female, 13-23, Asian.

Raymond: male, 16-26, Asian.

film

• Seeking submissions nationwide. • Apply on Backstage.com • Include a video audition with the sides

‘The Desecrated Ones’ Terrify in this psychological thriller/horror feature in GA

provided. • No pay.

‘Immutable Uncertainties’

‘The Delivery’

• Casting “Immutable Uncertainties,” a

short film about love, loss, and the regenerative abilities of worms. Logline: Kirsten and Mark start making memories together as Kirsten’s mother loses hers to Alzheimer’s.

• Casting “The Delivery,” a crime/thriller

student film.

• Company: Brooklyn College. Staff:

Ryan Toney, student.

• Shoots in May in the Bronx and Queens,

NY.

• Staff: Lucy Blumenfield and Arielle

Friedman, dirs.; Camila Grimaldi, prod.

• Seeking—Chris: male, 22-29, Black /

African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Latino / Hispanic, 24. His current job is to deliver packages for Amazon. He’s a loner who dropped out of college. He browses the Internet and plays online games. Ellie: female, 22-30, Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Latino / Hispanic, Middle Eastern, 23. Lives a simple life because she has sugar daddies. Ben: male, 40-54, Black /

• Shoots May 7 in Long Island, NY. • Seeking—Young Kirsten: female, 5-10,

Latino / Hispanic, White / European Descent, the protagonist, Kirsten, when she was young. Young Kirsten tries to connect with her mom on Christmas morning and surprise her with a ballet performance. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com • Travel and meals provided.

African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Latino / Hispanic, Middle Eastern, White / European Descent, sugar daddy. Meg: female, 44-58, Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, nosy neighbor. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com • All auditions will be conducted via

Zoom.

• Travel reimbursement, meals, and foot-

age will be provided.

‘The Fastest Man’

• Casting “The Fastest Man.” Synopsis:

When 35-year-old Fabian, an overly ambitious jogger, gets overtaken by a younger runner in Central Park, he goes beyond his limits to win a race that is only happening in his mind. • Company: Columbia University. Staff:

Felix van Kann, writer-dir.; Cecilia Otero, prod. • Rehearsals and shoots TBD in Central

Park, NYC.

• Seeking—Fabian: male, 33-40, (lead,

male, average height, mid/late 30’s); sporty, but averagely fit; Fabian is an average, almost middle-aged guy on a run with the ambition to be the fastest man in Central Park; when he gets overtaken, all bets are off; must be athletic for the role as it requires running. Bandana Jogger: male, 18-25, (supporting, male, tall preferred, early 20’s); lean and decently fit, a former endurance athlete; Bandana Jogger is on a routine run before his college night class when he overtakes Fabian without much effort or interest; when he notices Fabian chasing him, his dormant competitiveness awakes; must be athletic for the role as it requires running. The Kid: 11-15, the kid (11-14 y/o) must be physically fit because the role requires running; a promising athlete training in the park. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com • Submit a video reacting to the increas-

ingly hostile “status updates” of the AI voice of your running tracker while in the middle of your run. All roles require running. • Pays $100/day to main character. Plus

travel and meals provided.

VISIT BACKSTAGE.COM/CASTING for full character breakdowns, script sides, and more casting notices

backstage.com

New York Tristate casting

‘The Funeral’

$209/8hrs. If you are nonunion, we would request a SAG waiver.

Demo & Instructional Videos

Bedair, dir.; Aliea Clark, prod.

Untitled Netflix Series

Head Device Promo Video

Manhattan

untitled Netflix series.

• Company: Roman Candle Casting.

assists people with dropped head syndrome. No lines.

• Shoots TBD dates (March/April) in the

Nick B., coord.

Okay with wearing corset and bustle. Fully avail Apr. 3(test) and Apr. 5 (work.) Open availability for fitting.

• Casting “The Funeral,” for NYU.

Synopsis: Daisy and Ivy steal and play with their grandfather’s army medal at his funeral in an effort to avoid dealing with his death.

• SAG-AFTRA photo double rate is

• Company: NYU Grad Film. Staff: Nada • Shoots Apr. 5-7 in East Village,

• Casting various background roles for

• Additional Note: One rehearsal day will

be held in advance of the shoot.

Staff: Todd Feldman, CD.

• Seeking—Ivy: female, 7-13, all ethnici-

ties, Daisy’s precocious cousin who helps steal a memento of their grandfathers’ which they (respectfully) play with - remembering him in their own way. Daisy: female, 7-13, all ethnicities, Ivy’s cousin who follows her cousins’ lead in steal a memento of their grandfathers’ which they (respectfully) play with - remembering him in their own way. Mother: female, 35-60, all ethnicities, ideally the mother of Ivy or Daisy, who notices that the girls stole the trophy and gently scolds them.

NYC area.

• Seeking—Eccentric Artist Types: all

genders, 18+, all ethnicities, with cool styles/cool hair (mohawks, colored hair, shaved sides, etc.); shoots in March/ April 2021.Upload recent selfie to profile so casting can see your current looks. New Born Babies: all genders, 0+, White / European Descent, approx. 0-3 months, 9-11 lbs.; shoots in NYC, BK Queens, Staten Island. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com. • For consideration, submit recent pho-

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, submit a headshot to

tos only. Selfies are great. Casting does not submit headshots to directors. For new born baby submissions, email recent photo, Baby Name, DOB, height and weight, parent name and number to rccopencall@gmail.com with “Baby Casting” in the subject line.

nadabedairproduction@gmail.com.

• Reimbursement for travel within reason

and meals during production.

Scripted TV & Video

• SAG project. Nonunion roles and SAG

waivers if eligible.

• Company: NB Productions LLC. Staff:

• B-roll shoots the first or second week

of April (one day) in Bergen County, NJ. Cast and crew will follow CDC guidelines. • Seeking—Patient & Partners: all gen-

ders, 45-85, all ethnicities, people having coffee, walking in the park, relaxing at home, eating dinner, etc. Head device for dropped head syndrome to be demonstrated on actor.

• Seeking submissions from NJ. • Send submissions to nick@nbpro.media. • Pay provided.

Online Commercials & Promos EyeBuyDirect Video Ad

• Casting an online ad for blue-light-

‘The Gilded Age’

Reality TV & Documentary

• Casting “The Gilded Age,” Season 1 of

the HBO series from the creator of Downton Abbey.

• Company: Grant Wilfley Casting. Staff:

Allure, ‘I Am Not Defined’ Editorial Piece

Belle GWC, casting dir.

• Photo double will be needed to work on

Apr. 5 in Manhattan, NYC with covid test Apr. 3. Note: There would be a covid test and fitting sometime between Mar. 29-Apr. 2.

• Casting a branded editorial featuring

women who can speak to how chronic acne has affected them and what makes them confident. The brand is a confidential prescription retinoid cream.

• Seeking—Caucasian Female With Grey

Hair 5’4”-5’6”: female, 40-69, White / European Descent, 34 bust with 25-26 waist to photo double; SAG-AFTRA/ non-union; works Apr. 5 filming in Manhattan; Covid testing Apr. 3; there would be a fitting prior to the work date; note the following:-current sizes: height, weight, dress, bust x waist x hip, shoes-if any tattoos-if okay wearing corset and bustle as needed.

blocking glasses.

Olsen, prod.

• Shoots Apr. 5 in NYC. • Seeking—Female Model: female, 18-35,

all ethnicities. Couple: all genders, 18-35, all ethnicities. Male Model: male, 18-35, all ethnicities. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Send submissions to colin@south-

james.com.

• Submit Instagram and pics in glasses if

available.

• Pays $600 plus reimbursement for

COVID test provided.

USA Today Branded Content • Seeking authentic parent/child duo

with an interesting student loan story for branded content video.

• Production states: “In partnership with

a national advertiser, we will be shooting a video that shares one parent/ child duo’s student loan journey. How did the parent help their child understand their budget for higher ed? How did this inform their decision of a school, major and career path? How did they help them take out loans to pay for school? How did they help them understand the repayment process? We’ll interview both parent and child (ideally father/son, as mother/daughter has been covered) to learn about their higher education experience and how student loans and parental support made it possible.” • Company: Gannett, Inc. (USA Today).

Staff: Dominic Galeano, visuals prod. • Shoots TBD date in NY.

INCOME TAX SERVICE FOR THEATER PROS

• Company: Liz Lewis Casting Partners.

Staff: Angela Mickey, managing dir. of casting. • Shoots in early June. • Seeking—Hero: female, 20-30, all

ethnicities, women in their mid-20s who experience chronic acne or have a personal connection to acne who can share their frustrations that their acne has caused over the years as well as highlight their confidence and the ways in which they embrace themselves. Selected candidates must be willing to show their skin on camera with and without makeup. The focus of this video is to promote acne positivity. Candidates should not have partnered with a competing pharmaceutical, Rx healthcare brand, or OTC product within the skin health/acne space.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Send submissions to gildedage@gwc-

nyc.com.

• Make sure to actually measure your-

self as the measurements need to be as accurate as possible as period clothing have very specific sizing. If interested/available please email current photos and sizes to gildedage@ gwcnyc.com and change subject line to read “Grey hair photo double Backstage” and include the following in the body of your email: name; phone #. SAG or Nonunion (if nonunion please let us know how many SAG waivers you’ve received in the past.) All current sizes: height, weight, dress, bust x waist x hip, shoes. Current photos from the front and back to see hair/color and length. backstage.com

• Casting a demo video for a device that

• Company: South James. Staff: Colin

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com. • In your cover letter, briefly talk about

your experience with acne. If possible, submit a photo without makeup on so we can see your skin.

• Pays $500 for shoot and usage. Usage is

allure.com and youtube.com.

04.01.21 BACKSTAGE

Attorney; Juilliard graduate; former Local 802 member; over 30 years of experience Professional expertise at rates that recognize Covid-19’s impact on the theater industry

Call now; then scan or mail your information to save time and stay safe; we can “meet” by phone or on Zoom

Don Aibel, Esq. 145 West 57th St, 10th floor New York, NY 10019 (212) 765-7532 Fax: (201) 767-5583 don@aibeltax.com

casting California • Seeking—Parent: male, 30+, all ethnici-

ties, seeking parent/child duo with an interesting student loan story for branded content video. Parent should: Ideally be a father, have some expertise in financial spaceChild should: Be a current student or recent graduate (if alumni, ideally with job in their field). Mother/son or father/daughter duos will be considered, too. Child: all genders, 18-38, all ethnicities, parent/child duo with an interesting student loan story for branded content video.Parent should: Ideally be a father, have some expertise in financial space. Child should: Be a current student or recent graduate (if alumni, ideally with job in their field). Mother/son or father/daughter duos will be considered, too. • Seeking submissions from NY. • Send submissions to dgaleano@usato-

day.com.

• For consideration include headshots of

you and your child. Note: This is a “real people” casting, not an acting job. Submissions that do not match the specs will not be considered. • Pay provided.

Stage Staff & Tech ‘Honkey Tonk Angels,’ Stage Manager • Seeking an Equity Stage Manager for

“Honky Tonk Angels.”

• Company: Summer Theatre of New

Canaan. Staff: Melody Libonati, dir.artistic dir.; Doug Shankman, choreo.; Nick Wilder, music dir.; Ed Libonati, exec. prod.; Michael Blagys, prod. mgr.; James Hart, technical dir. • Rehearsals begin June 29; runs July

17-Aug. 1 in New Canaan, CT.

• Seeking—Stage Manager: 18+. • Seeking submissions from CT. • For consideration, email resumes to

casting@stonc.org. Must put “Stage Manager” in the subject line when submitting. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis until position is filled. • Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

Southern California Feature Films ‘Always Present’

• Casting “Always Present,” a feature

length surreal drama about a father

BACKSTAGE 04.01.21

who experiences an afterlife confined to an attic, watching his family move on from their loss and his son grapple with condensing this tragedy into a novel that ends up consuming him and the film itself.

• Company: BURN Media. Staff: Max May,

coord.

• Shoots May and June weekends in Los

Angeles, CA.

• Seeking—Al: male, 40-55, White /

European Descent, a middle aged father and sculptor, who in the film lives on as a ghost trapped in the attic above his house; he encounters two the previous occupants of the house in his time above, and with them works through his gradual erasure; shooting involvement of five days, almost entirely in the attic space. Alex: male, 20-29, White / European Descent, an English grad school student/graduate, processing the death of his father by trying to condense the loss into a story; this efforts triggers visions and a psychological spiral throughout the film; shooting involvement of nine days. Kat: 39-50, White / European Descent, a mother and real estate photographer who works to support her two college age children after the death of her husband; shooting involvement of three days. Katie: 20-25, White / European Descent, a college student and musician who works through the family tragedy by creating dissonant music and trying to explain the ghostly behavior from the attic, all while keeping tabs on her mother and brother; shooting involvement of five days. Dave: 25-40, all ethnicities, a lingering spirit of the house’s previous owner, bound to the attic by Al’s presence; Dave relives the painful memory of his son forgetting him, while being one of two companions for Al’s tentative induction into the afterlife; shooting involvement of five days. Frank: male, 50-70, White / European Descent, one of three leftover spirits commiserating through the experience of being forgotten, his historical knowledge and engagement with Al make him the lead’s connection to a past he is now surrounded by; shooting involvement of four days. Floyd: male, 40-60, White / European Descent, the father of Al, who appears in Al’s last moments as a reminder not to exist as an unjust burden on those you leave behind; shooting involvement of one day. Randall: male, 20-40, all ethnicities, a paranormal investigator allowed by the family to investigate the house for the presence of something supernatural, though quickly reveals himself to be an exploitative dilettante; shooting involvement of two days. Al 1: male, 40-50, all ethnicities, within the film, flashback embodies people differently than they appear in the rest of the film; Al’s only living memories are told through Al( 1 ) who plays the same father figure, but personified unique to memory; shooting involvement of one day. Alex 1: male, 22-32, all ethnicities, within the film, flashback embodies people differently than they appear in the rest of the film; Alex’s memories are told through Alex(1), who in these scenes

interacts with his otherwise absent father; shooting involvement of one day. Katie 1: female, 20-28, all ethnicities, within the film, flashback embodies people differently than they appear in the rest of the film; this role is portraying Katie in flashback scenes; shooting involvement of one day. Kat 1: female, 40-51, all ethnicities, within the film, flashback embodies people differently than they appear in the rest of the film; this role is portraying Kat in flashback scenes; shooting involvement of one day. Edd: male, 30-50, all ethnicities, a hired bereavement counselor, who helps a company avoid litigation when addressing Alex and the rest of the family in the wake of their loss; he holds a highly corporate and faux personal attitude; shooting involvement of one day. P.A.: all genders, 18-27, a P.A. with a travelling paranormal investigation show, who talks with Alex about the inner workings of the show before taking the conversation more philosophical; shooting involvement of one day. Cathy: female, 25-60, all ethnicities, the lead producer of a paranormal investigation show who helps coordinate the operation of the show within the family’s grieving household; shooting involvement of two days. Tony: male, 22-38, all ethnicities, the camera operator and assistant to the traveling paranormal investigation show; shooting involvement of two days. • Seeking submissions from CA. • Send submissions to mrmay@usc.edu. • Meals provided.

Student Films ‘Chapters’

• Seeking submissions from CA. • Send submissions to brooksn@usc.edu. • Submit reel or link to work. • Pay provided.

Online Commericals & Promos Narrative Family Brunch Commercial

• Casting a narrative family brunch com-

mercial. Synopsis: A family makes food for a morning brunch get together. • Company: Brotherhood Studios. Staff:

Julianna Ulrich, prod. mgr.

• Shoots early April TBD in Orange

County, CA.

• Seeking—Dad: male, 30-50, helps

make brunch for family visit; may be required to eat Salmon and/or eggs. Mom: female, 30-50, makes brunch for family get together; role may require eating Salmon and/or eggs on camera. Teen: female, 12-19, teenage girl helps mom and dad make meal for family brunch; role may require eating salmon and/or eggs on camera. Aunt: female, 30-50, aunt comes over for family brunch; role may require eating Salmon and/or eggs on camera. Uncle: male, 30-50, uncle comes over for family brunch; role may require eating Salmon and/or eggs on camera. Cousins: all genders, 10-15, cousins come over for family brunch; twins would be ideal, but real siblings close in age are also great; if you can submit as a sibling pair, that would be ideal; role may require eating salmon and/or eggs on camera. • Seeking submissions from CA. • Apply on Backstage.com • Pays $500 for a 10 hour day for lead

• Company: SFSU. Staff: Jessica Payne,

roles and $300 for an 8 hour day for supporting roles. No travel compensation. Potential wardrobe bump of $20 if wardrobe gets pre-approved by client.

• Shoots Apr. 23-25 in Huntington Beach,

Wine Commercial

• Seeking—Diego: male, 21-29, Ethnically

of a Southern California wine brand.

• Casting two roles in “Chapters,” a short

film about a woman looking back at past relationships in order to find inspiration for her art. dir.

CA.

Ambiguous / Multiracial, Latino / Hispanic, Diego has a smile that comes easy with a gentle and caring touch. He is an actor and Hazel (lead) is a writer. He is her muse. John: male, 24-32, White / European Descent, John is a man whose hands could never be gentle if he tried, which he’s never tried. • Seeking submissions from CA. • Send submissions to paynejessicac@

gmail.com.

• Pays $50/ hoot day plus meals pro-

vided. Any scheduled rehearsals will be unpaid.

Hip-Hop Music Video, Contortionist/Dancer

• Casting a contortionist or skilled

dancer for one-day music video shoot. • Company: Made by God. Staff: Nick

Brooks, filmmaker.

• Shoots one day in L.A. • Seeking—Contortionist/Dancer:

female, 16-60, Black / African Descent.

• Casting a local commercial for a relaunch • Company: www.newkingdomproduc-

tions.com.

• Shoots Apr. 5 in Los Angeles, CA. Note:

All COVID protocols will be followed along with on-site testing, masks, and social distancing.

• Seeking—Friends Get Together: all gen-

ders, 25-55, we will be casting eight talents for this commercial; these roles are non speaking. BBQ, Picnic, Pool, & Cooking scenes to be filled; once we narrow down our selections we will contact you with more information. • Seeking submissions from CA. • Apply on Backstage.com • Submit headshots and a reel if

available.

• $700/Day + Wardrobe rental fee for

each item worn..

VISIT BACKSTAGE.COM/CASTING for full character breakdowns, script sides, and more casting notices

backstage.com

National/Regional casting

Northern California Plays ‘Pericles’

• Casting six Equity actors for roles in

“Pericles.”

• Note: All roles will be understudied. SF

Shakes is deeply committed to inclusive, empowering, and color-conscious casting. Actors of all genders & races and Disabled actors will be considered for all roles unless otherwise indicated. Local Bay Area actors particularly encouraged to submit. • Company: San Francisco Shakespeare

Festival. Staff: Rebecca J. Ennals (she/ her), artistic dir.; David Everett Moore (he/him), casting assoc.-resident artist; Carla Pantoja, dir. • Possible developmental workshop in

May; rehearsals begin June 8; runs JulySeptember. Note: Our 2021 production will begin in virtual space and possibly include an in-person component later in the season, if Equity protocols and state & county reopening rules allow.

• Seeking—Gower/as cast: 18+. Pericles/

as cast: 18+. Thaisa/as cast: 18+. Marina/as cast: 18+. Lysimachus/as cast: 18+. Helicanus/as cast: 18+. Cerimon/as cast: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from CA. • For consideration, submit a headshot,

resume, and link to one-minute Shakespeare monologue to auditions@ sfshakes.org. Submissions deadline is Apr. 5. Callbacks will be on Zoom. • Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

$139/performance during run (2-4 shows per week). Equity LOA ref. LORT Contract.

Stage Staff & Tech ‘Pericles,’ Stage Manager

• Seeking stage managers for “Pericles.” • Company: San Francisco Shakespeare

Festival. Staff: Rebecca J. Ennals (she/ her), artistic dir.; David Everett Moore (he/him), casting assoc.-resident artist; Carla Pantoja, dir. • Possible developmental workshop in

Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

• Seeking—Equity Stage Manager: 18+. • Seeking submissions from CA. • For consideration, submit resume and

cover letter to Pratiksha Shah at shah@ sfshakes.org or mail to Attn: Pratiksha Shah P.O. Box 460937, San Francisco, CA 94146. Submissions deadline is Apr. 5.

• Pays $470/wk. Equity LOA Contract.

Trinity Repertory Company New Play Readings

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors (all genders, races and ethnicities) for parts in Trinity Repertory Company’s streaming series of commissioned new plays in various forms including “Wrap Our Injured Flesh Around You” by James Ijames in April and readings of the winners of the high school short play contest in May. • Company: Trinity Repertory Company.

Staff: Curt Columbus, artistic dir.

• Pays $696/wk. during rehearsals and

$139/performance during run (2-4 shows per week). Equity LOA ref. LORT Contract.

• These are two day (reh/perf) readings

National/ Regional

• Seeking—Will: female, 18-29, Black /

African Descent. Sharon: female, 30-39, Black / African Descent. Desmond: male, 30-39, Black / African Descent. Cooper also Cecily: female, 40-49, Black / African Descent. Jordan also Lafayette: male, 40-59, Black / African Descent.

Plays

• Seeking submissions from RI. • For consideration, submit a video no

Hope Summer Repertory Theatre 2021 Season

longer than four minutes (preferably two short monologues) to auditions@trinityrep.com. Submissions deadline is Apr. 9.

• Seeking video submissions from a

highly diverse group of Equity actors to perform throughout our 2021 Summer Season. Season includes “Every Brilliant Thing (Rehearsals begins June 7; runs June 24-July 27); “The Mountaintop” (Rehearsals begin June 14; runs July 1-10); “The Importance of Being Earnest” (Rehearsals begin June 28; runs July 15-24); and “Children of a Lesser God” (Rehearsals begins July 12; runs July 29-Aug. 6).

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

• Company: Hope Summer Repertory

• Pays $800/wk. Equity LORT Non-Rep

Theatre. Staff: Lenny Banovez, artistic dir.

Contract.

• The plan is for in-person, outdoor

rehearsals and performances in Holland, MI.

Musicals

• Seeking—Actor: 18+, in “Every Brilliant

Little Thing” Dr. King: 18+, in “Mountaintop” Lady Bracknell: 18+, in “The Importance of Being Earnest” (not gender specific). Sarah: 18+, in “Children of a Lesser God;” Must be proficient in American Sign Language. Deaf and hard of hearing actors are particularly encouraged to submit for Sarah. Franklin: 18+, in “Children of a Lesser God”

Lake Dillon Theatre Company 2021 Season • Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors for roles in Lake Dillon Theatre Company 2021 productions of “Shout: MOD the Musical” (Phillip George & David Lowenstein, creators; “Mod Musings” & “Groovy Gab” by Peter Charles Morris & Phillip George; Bradley Vieth, orchestrations and additional arrangements. Rehearsals begin June 27; runs July 14-25); “8Track: The Sounds of the 70s” (Rick Seeber, conceived by; Michael Gribbin, musical arrangements. Rehearsals begin July 26; runs Aug. 11-22); and “Holiday Follies” (Rehearsals begin Nov. 22; runs Dec. 10-23).

• Seeking submissions from MI. • Send submissions to hsrtauditions@

hope.edu.

• For consideration, prepare and record

a one-minute Shakespearean monologue and a one-minute contemporary monologue and send video to hsrtauditions@hope.edu. Submissions deadline is Apr. 1. • Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

• Company: Lake Dillon Theatre

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such,

Company. Staff: Christopher Alleman. prod. artistic dir.; Melissa Livingston, assoc. artistic dir. • Rehearses and performs in

Silverthorne, CO.

• Seeking—Equity Actors: 18+. • Seeking submissions from CO. • For consideration, prepare one of the

following (not to exceed two minutes in length): one brief song not to exceed two minutes (see below); or one comedic monologue & one brief song not to exceed one-minute (see below) to casting@lakedillontheatre.org. For songs, you may submit with music of your choice for which you will provide your own accompaniment, or use the provided accompaniment from 8Track. Sheet music & accompaniment is listed at www.lakedillontheatre.org/join-theteam/auditions/. Submissions deadline is Apr. 9 at 5 p.m. • LDTC is a proud equal opportunity

employer. No person shall be excluded from the services of the organization because of race, color, religious beliefs, sex, age, gender orientation, national origin, or physical or mental disability. • Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

Feature Films ‘The Desecrated Ones’

• Casting “The Desecrated Ones,” a psy-

chological thriller/horror feature film. • Staff: Jamie Bernadette,

writer-dir.-actress.

• Shoots in June in St. Simons Island, GA. • Seeking—Jimmy: male, 40-65, White /

European Descent, quirky, charactery, redneck type, with natural aging in the face. Small frame. Neutral accent. From a small town. He is comedic without trying to be. He has a kind heart, but he does not always show it. At heart, he is a softie. He tells it like it is and his girlfriend pushes him around. Strong supporting role. Role shoots about 6 days and works as a local in St. Simons Island, GA. Note: Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission. About 7 shoot days, give or take, starting in 2nd or 3rd week of June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Don’t submit if you have a conflict in the schedule. vMay fly and house talent for this role, but priority given for local talent. $500 flat for the project. Cheryl: female, 40-65, White / European Descent, dirty blond hair, thin, aging naturally, rough. She has been an alcoholic in the past and has recovered. She smokes constantly and has a bad mouth. Must be willing to smoke. She is rough around the edges, tells it like it is, and is bitter and hateful. She pushes her boyfriend, Jimmy, around. She is a waitress and poor and unhappy about it. Note: Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission. Shoots about 9 shoot days, give or take, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Don’t submit if you have a con-

04.01.21 BACKSTAGE

casting National/Regional flict in the schedule. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. May fly and house talent for this role, but priority given for local talent. $500 flat for the project. Richard: male, 40-55, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Latino / Hispanic, White / European Descent, blue-collar worker, tall with a larger frame, would love a beard or we can put a fake one on, abusive, drinks, condescending and mean. Would love longer, brown hair or dirty blond. Must be coordinated because there is a large fight scene. About 2 shoot days, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Don’t submit if you have a conflict in the schedule. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission. Copy, credit, and meals provided.Note: This role requires nudity. Sex scene shot in the dark. May show rear nudity in the shot but very darkly lit. Steve: 40-65, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, Middle Eastern, South Asian / Indian, Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander, White / European Descent, open to look on this one, but need someone rough around the edges, not clean cut, some lines/wrinkles on the face are great, naturally aging. Must have a drivers license because scene is in the car. Powerful scene with 3 pages of dialogue. One shoot day, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission. Copy, credit, and meals provided. Little Sara: female, 5-9, White / European Descent, playing a young Jamie Bernadette. Must look like Jamie: https://www.imdb.com/ name/nm2584117/?ref_=tt_cl_t2 Must have a nice emotional range, being able to show fear, grief, depression, and anger. Must be able to shoot fast, so someone with some experience would probably be best. Must look the age range and not look like a tween or a teen. This is an incredible opportunity for a young actress. One of her scenes is with horror icon, Camille Keaton. She has about 3-4 short scenes that will be filmed in one day. Child actress’ time will be respected and she will be shot out as fast as possible. These are fantastic scenes that will show the talent of a young actress. Notee: The subject matter is about sexual abuse, though no sexual abuse is ever shown. So parents must be ok with the subject matter. Do not submit if you are not ok with the subject matter. This is very important. Also must be ok with a violent, bloody scene. One shoot day, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission if you have it. Copy, credit, and meals. Kevin: male, 20-35, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, White / European Descent, for two very powerful scenes. Cleancut, good looking. Open to hair color and eye color. Must be able to show anger and be ok with fake blood. One shoot day, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in

BACKSTAGE 04.01.21

June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission if you have it. Copy, credit, and meals provided. Little Alex: female, 4-7, White / European Descent, one very powerful scene. Must look like actress Betsy Sligh: https://www.imdb.com/name/ nm6564587/?ref_=tt_cl_t4 Must be able to show shock and scream and cry. Must be ok with blood and violence. It is very important that the child be in the age range of 4-7. Cannot look like a tween. One shoot day, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Child’s time will be respected and child will be shot out priority and done filming as fast as possible. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission if you have it. Copy, credit, and meals provided. Police Officer: male, 30-70, Black / African Descent, one great scene with veteran actor Brian Krause. One shoot day, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission. Copy, credit, and meals provided. Grandma: female, 70+, White / European Descent, a grandma who can play annoyed and get very angry. One very powerful scene. One shoot day, starting in 2nd or 3rd week in June. Dates are locked and project is funded. Must work as a local in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Include IMDB link in cover letter of your submission. Copy, credit, and meals provided.

Locations: México City, Ciudad Juárez, and Chihuahua, Mexico and El Paso, TX. • Seeking—Yocasta: female, 50-70,

Latino / Hispanic, portrayed as she/her, Mexican. Yocasta is an unconditionally loving mother and a warrior. She’s the biggest supporter and protector of Saul, her son. A daydreamer with a sense of loneliness and heartbreak, she loves the esthetic of old fashion culture and is faithful as well as religious. Life hit her very hard but, with a dark sense of humor and love, she has made it through. Eduardo: male, 50-70, Latino / Hispanic, portrayed as he/him, Mexican-American. Eduardo is on the lookout for redemption and wants to reconnect with his son Saul after many years of absence. He is caring and appreciative of special moments. Pete: male, 40-60, White / European Descent, portrayed as he/him, American. Pete is a square-thinking kind of fella. He knows how the world of wrestling works, and doesn’t agree with anything that doesn’t fit the formula he knows. Dante: male, 40-60, portrayed as he/him, American. Dante is stubborn. He was accustomed to following the rules of lucha libre until the crowds’ reaction to Cassandro surprised him. After that he went along with this new style of lucha libre where exoticos win. • Seeking submissions nationwide. • Send submissions to labtings@gmail.

com.

• Production will request a self-tape and

share sides via Embershot. Must be nonunion. Must have a valid passport to travel to Mexico. • Negotiable pay. Travel, housing, and

per diem provided. Nonunion. Must have a valid passport to travel to Mexico.

• Seeking submissions nationwide. • Apply on Backstage.com. • For consideration, in your cover letter,

include a link to your IMDB profile.

• For more info on the producer visit

Student Films

www.imdb.com/name/nm2584117/.

• Pay depends on role. Pays $500 flat

rate pay for the strong supporting roles of “Jimmy” and “Cheryl”, which require a 5-10 day time commitment. All other roles with a one or two day time commitment are copy, credit, and meals. Talent must be local and self-report to St. Simons Island, GA. Open to possibly flying and housing talent for the roles of Jimmy and Cheryl, but local talent will have priority.

‘The Emperor And Truth Potion’

• Casting “The Emperor And Truth

Potion.” Synopsis: After a tailor cheats the emperor into spending a lot of money on a nonexistent dress, 14-yearold Jimmy uses various methods to expose the trick. • Company: SCAD Students’ Thesis Film

Project.

‘Untitled LCDG’

• Rehearses Apr. 25 in Atlanta, GA;

shoots Apr. 30-May 3rd in Atlanta, GA.

• Casting “Untitled LCDG.” Synopsis:

Cassandro tells the story of Saul Armendariz, a gay amateur wrestler from El Paso who rises to international stardom after he creates the “exotico” character Cassandro, the “Liberace of Lucha Libre,” and in the process upends not just the macho wrestling word but also his own life.

• Seeking—Jimmy: male, 10-15, all eth-

nicities, 14-year-old boy who has a great passion for “telling the truth” and always wants everyone to tell the truth; after the tailor Ulis cheats people, Jimmy intends to expose Ulis’ lies in various ways; but the real world is not what Jimmy imagined. Ulis: male, 38-43, all ethnicities, a 40-year-old crafty tailor; he cheats on the emperor to make a dress that only the wise can see, but the stupid can not; in fact, he does nothing and gets a lot of money from the emperor for nothing; he wants people to continue to be blinded by him and to profit from it. Amy: 35-38, all ethnicities, 36, Jimmy’s mother; she runs a potion store with Jimmy; she often gets small benefits from cheating

• Production states: “We are committed

to diverse, inclusive casting. For every role, we submit qualified performers, without regard to disability, race, age, color, national origin, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other basis prohibited by law.”

• Company: La Corriente del Golfo. Staff:

Luis Rosales, casting dir.

• Scheduled to rehearse Apr. 12-May 9.

Scheduled to shoot May 10-July 10.

customers and hopes to make more money. Maynard: male, 60-68, all ethnicities, a mild and kind 67-year-old archbishop; he encourages Jimmy when Jimmy is lost but later lets Jimmy down. Philip: male, 40-45, a 42-yearold vain emperor; he spends a lot of money on a nonexistent dress; to hide his ridiculous behaviour, he would instead go wrong all the time. Tom: male, 33-36, all ethnicities, a straightforward 35-year-old butcher with a bad throat; he often goes to Jimmy’s shop to buy medicine; he appreciates Jimmy’s pharmaceutical talent and honesty. Betty: female, 20-25, all ethnicities, 22, is a customer of Jimmy’s shop; she believes in Ulis and the emperor and thinks that Jimmy is stupid. • Seeking submissions from GA. • Send submissions to anqgao20@stu-

dent.scad.edu.

• Note: Jimmy won’t be taller than five

inches. Philip should be challenging and he is going to have partly naked shots (not in sexual situations). Auditions starts from this weekend. • Meals and water provided. No partici-

pation fees required. The producers plan to strictly follow the requirement of filmming during COVID-19 period.

Scripted TV & Videos Backstage TikTok

• Casting Backstage users. Note: Are you

our next TikTok star? We’re casting Backstage talent to create videos for Backstage’s TikTok (@backstagecasting). Think outside the box, creativity is encouraged. We are looking for someone to be the face for our Tik Tok page. • Company: Backstage. Staff: Alysa

Cirelli, social media marketing assoc.

• Works remotely. • Seeking—Backstage User: 18+. • Seeking submissions worldwide. • Send submissions to alysa.cirelli@back-

stage.com.

• For consideration, choose one of the

articles below and describe that piece in a TikTok video. See attached videos for examples of what we are looking for. • Piece #1: (Reference Video) You should

record showing exact what you should be putting on your resume, act it out! (https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/ things-to-include-on-your-voiceoverresume-72644/)

• Piece #2: (Reference Video) You should

include and point to the things you would say in a slate: representation, present location, height, local hire? Union affiliation and character you’re auditioning for. Note: You may want to use voiceover, music, titles, we want to see your creativity! (https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/ how-to-slate-in-an-audition-72708/)

• In your submission, note the article you

picked, your Tik Tok handle, and your Instagram handle. Note: Will only view submissions with attached video.

• Pays $25 for usage of selected video.”

backstage.com

National/Regional casting

Demo & Instructional Videos

• Creative strategist states: “We’re look-

Software Demo Video

• Company: Bamboo Technologies. Staff:

• Casting a video to be used on the web

to help clients learn how to use the software (not for broadcast). There are three mini demos, each :45-seconds. All three will be shot in one session – talent is expected to know lines without reading from a script. • Company: BizMark,CT. Staff: Brian

Gillespie, advertising account exec.

• Shoots remotely between Apr. 12-16.

Production states: “This will be a remote shoot – we will record actor from their location. Using camera on talent’s phone or desktop – will need good wifi connections. Will need to have professional microphone and good lighting. Will not be able to wear headphones during the shoot. We will have one half hour pre-production session, and one 90-minute recording session.”

• Seeking—Demo Person: female, 30-45,

Friendly, approachable, likable, trustworthy, helpful. • Seeking submissions nationwide. • Send submissions to bgillespie@biz-

markct.com.

• Pays $500 flat.

Local Commericals Home Services Commercial

• Casting for home services TV commer-

cial that will be aired in Tacoma, WA and Las Vegas, NV for 12 months. • Company: Pence Media. Staff: Paulette

Hopkins, coord.

• Shoot Apr. 6 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. in the

Dallas, TX area.

• Seeking—Tech: male, 30-50, all ethnic-

ities, this is a non-speaking role for a home services tech such as plumber or HVAC. Customer: female, 35-55, all ethnicities, this role is the customer for an HVAC and/or plumbing company that is having problems and has the company there to fix their problems; it will be interacting with the tech and is a non-speaking role. • Seeking submissions from TX. • For consideration, send submissions to

paulette@blusparkagency.com. Note: There will be no audition for these roles. We just need availability and interest. • Pays $300/day.

wanna-be villians for an animated series, “Jade in the Garden,” which the producer plans to pitch to networks. Logline: “In a realm of fantasy where childhood memories grant you superpowers, a quirky yet embittered 24 year college grad Chloe reconnects with her old life through the aid of her sidekick pal Rengari, learning about her past, powers, and destiny for better and for worse.”

ing for personality so have fun with this. We want to hear how Backstage has helped you transform your career to help inspire others to dive in. If chosen, this will be the final video footage used.” Kelly-anne Murphy, creative strategist.

• Shoots remotely. Talent must be able to

record high-quality video content with good lighting and sound.

• Company: Christian Dessler. Staff:

Christian Dessler, casting.

• Seeking—Actor for Social Media Ad: all

genders, 18+, all ethnicities.

• Zoom recordings will be held based on

availability.

• Seeking submissions nationwide. • For consideration, submit a UGC video

• Seeking—Incident Voice Male: 18-60.

Incidental Voice Female: 18-60.

that includes your name and your experience landing your first gig, role, or job through Backstage to submissions to Kelly@growwithbamboo.com.

• Seeking submissions nationwide. • For consideration, submit your voice

over reels to cd247151@gmail.com.

• Pays $150 to use footage in perpetuity.

• Copy of the final project will be

provided.

Beauty Brand Video

• Casting a beauty brand commercial,

produced by an Emmy-winning production company.

Corporate & Internet Videos (Voiceover)

• Company: Ruckus Marketing. Staff:

E.S., casting.

• Shoots TBD in the Austin, TX area. • Seeking—Business Woman: 25-45, all

ethnicities, lead business woman in beauty brand; applying skincare products. Street Artist: male, 18-35, all ethnicities, street artist for beauty brand commercial.

National Pet Week 2021

• Seeking Equity stage managers for

2021 season. Season includes “Every Brilliant Thing (Rehearsals begins June 7; runs June 24-July 27); “The Mountaintop” (Rehearsals begin June 14; runs July 1-10); “The Importance of Being Earnest” (Rehearsals begin June 28; runs July 15-24); and “Children of a Lesser God” (Rehearsals begins July 12; runs July 29-Aug. 6). • Company: Hope Summer Repertory

Theatre. Staff: Lenny Banovez, artistic dir. • The plan is for in-person, outdoor

rehearsals and performances in Holland, MI.

• Seeking—Stage Manager: 18+. • Seeking submissions from MI. • Send submissions to hsrtauditions@

hope.edu.

• For consideration, email resume and

cover letter to hsrtauditions@hope.edu or mail to Lenny Banovez 141 E. 12th St., Holland, MI 49423. Submissions deadline is Apr. 1. • Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

• Pays $600/day for two days.

Weighted Blanket for Kids, Photo & Video Shoot

Medical Association. Staff: Matthew Zingale, video prod.

access to professional quality home studio. Recordings needed no later than Mar. 31.

New Play Readings, Stage Manager

• Seeking submissions from TX. • Send submissions to emilys@ruckus-

marketing.com.

• Company: American Veterinary

• Casting an actual family (a mother, son,

• Records remotely, talent must have

and daughter) for a lifestyle shoot for a weighted blanket. Photos will be used for the product box and video clips will be used for Amazon and the client’s website. Seeking a mixed-race family.

• Seeking—Narrator 1: all genders, 18+,

for multiple voices for pet owners. You will be expressing your love for everything that your pet has done for you. Narrator 2: all genders, 18+, multiple voices for pet owners. You will be expressing your love for everything that your pet has done for you. Narrator 3: all genders, 18+, multiple voices for pet owners. You will be expressing your love for everything that your pet has done for you. Narrator 4: all genders, 18+, multiple voices for pet owners. You will be expressing your love for everything that your pet has done for you. Narrator 5: all genders, 18+, multiple voices for pet owners. You will be expressing your love for everything that your pet has done for you.

• Company: Motion Source Video

Production. Staff: Rachael Nielson, assoc. prod. • Shoot date TBD (likely in May) in

Brookfield, IL.

• Seeking—Mother: female, 35-45,

Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial. Son: male, 6-11, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial. Daughter: female, 6-11, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial. • Seeking submissions from IL. • Apply on Backstage.com • Submit a photo of each family member

(mother, son, and daughter). Can be a recent image where all are together in one photo. No speaking required for this production. • Pays $1,500 flat rate for roles of

• Seeking submissions worldwide. • Send submissions to mzingale@avma.

Mother, Son, and Daughter combined.

Online Commercials & Promos

Animation & Video Games (Voiceover)

Backstage, ‘My First Gig’ Digital Campaign

‘Jade in the Gardens,’ Incidental Voices

used on social channels.

acter voices ranging from customers to

backstage.com

Hope Summer Repertory Theatre 2021 Season, Stage Manager

National Pet Week video to be posted on YouTube. This video will celebrate the human animal bond we share with our pets. It also serves as a reminder to care for our pets as best as possible.

• Casting narrators for our yearly

org.

• For consideration, include a note about

• Casting digital ads for Backstage to be

Stage Staff & Tech

your recording capabilities and turnaround time in your cover letter. Only submissions through the site will be considered. No unsolicited contact. Audition required to be considered. • For more info on the American

Veterinary Medical Association visit avma.org. To view last year’s video visit https://youtu.be/40b5NdPKLhM.

• Audio to be used in a video to be posted

to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s YouTube channel.

• Casting incidental or background char-

• Pays $470/wk. Equity LOA Contract.

• Seeking Equity stage managers for

Trinity Repertory Company’s streaming series of commissioned new plays in various forms including “Wrap Our Injured Flesh Around You” by James Ijames in April and readings of the winners of the high school short play contest in May. • Company: Trinity Repertory Company.

Staff: Curt Columbus, artistic dir.

• These are two day (reh/perf) readings

of sections of commissioned plays by Trinity Repertory Company in mid April and mid May (Apr. 13 and May 11). There will be a rehearsal the day before or the day of each reading. Rehearsal and performance will all be virtual. • Seeking—Stage Manager: 18+. • Seeking submissions from RI. • For consideration, submit resume and

cover letter to Laura Smith, production director at lsmith@trinityrep.com. Submissions deadline is Apr. 9. • Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit. • Pays $800/wk. Equity LORT Non-Rep

Contract.

VISIT BACKSTAGE.COM/CASTING for full character breakdowns, script sides, and more casting notices

04.01.21 BACKSTAGE

Ask An Expert Acting Auditions Film Headshots Television Theater Unions Voiceover

How do you fully commit to a character and make strong choices?

—@mads_miller

Our Expert Elise Arsenault is an actor and acting coach.

Mine the script for clues. The writer will often let you in on character traits throughout the script. These will be found in character descriptions, what your character says about themselves, and what other characters say about your character. Take your time with this, and write down what you find so you can refer back to your research. Ask yourself what you and the character have in common. As an audiobook narrator, I often have to develop characters on the fly. Something I’ll ask myself to get in character

efficiently is: What do I have in common with this character? Do we move similarly, talk the same, or share similar interests? Is the character my age, or older or younger than I am? Then, of course, explore those differences, and choose one or two to explore in detail. Take your character for a walk. Once you’ve discovered what you have in common and what’s different, try this character on for size, literally. Explore the way they walk and talk, and be open to feeling silly as you try a few options. What is their status compared with other characters in the scene? Once you’re clear on how you’ll play the character, go all in. Still having trouble committing? I recommend writing a journal entry as your character. Journal writing is where we get to see our inner monologue come out to play. Creating a character playlist can be fun, too. *Submit questions for our Experts on Backstage’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or via our forums page at backstage.com/forums!

The views expressed in this article are solely that of the individual(s) providing them, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.

BACKSTAGE 04.01.21

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ILLUSTRATION: MARGARET RULING/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; ARSENAULT: COURTESY ELISE ARSENAULT

As actors, our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—is both our greatest gift and our greatest challenge. When we fully commit to a character, the audience truly gets to go on a ride. In fact, your commitment to character has the power to impact and open hearts and minds. There are several exercises you can try in order to create and commit to your character. I’ll share a few of my favorites to help you get started.

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We’re taking you directly to acting and casting industry power players through Instagram takeovers, Q&As, live-streamed seminars, and interactive group classes to ensure you’re hitting all the right marks in and out of the audition room!

Celebrity guests include: Nicole Kidman Jodie Foster Jason Sudeikis Elle Fanning Rachel Brosnahan Alison Brie Aishe Dee Ricky Gervais Anthony Mackie Bradley Whitford Nicholas Pinnock Susan Kelechi Watson and more! To get all the details and view the full schedule, please visit backstage.com/magazine.

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