ACTOR: I have a question about what you’ve been saying about casting. I like the part about an actor having dignity. But my thing is like, you’re an actor and you hear of a project happening, and you say, “Yeah. Yeah, that’s right for me. I could possibly do that.” Then the director, in this case you, uses so many finite details and decisions, whether to use the actor or not for a specific part, that I say, “Wow, man! You know? Like, if I part my hair differently from what the director has envisioned in his head, I’m out.”
MILTON: Or in.
ACTOR: Or in. Right.
MILTON: What else?
ACTOR: I guess what I’m saying is that I feel an actor, no matter how much dignity he maintains, has very little influence on the ultimate casting decision—you know, roulette.
MILTON: Who makes the decision?
ACTOR: The director. And the people who are creating the project.
MILTON: I see. You think they make their decisions alone in the office.
ACTOR: Before the office, even.
MILTON: So you’re saying an actor can’t really go out and get the part, because it really isn’t up to him?
ACTOR: Well, yeah. We’re almost helpless. We have so little power over anything.
MILTON: Sure. Like Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Marlon Brando, Julia Roberts, Vanessa Redgrave. No power, they’re all just victims.
ACTOR: Yeah, but they’re stars, and we’re just no-name actors.
MILTON: Those stars were “no-name” actors at one time. You don’t come out of the womb a “name.” Well, maybe Drew Barrymore....
Laughter.
ACTOR: It seems that the choice is so dependent on the director’s concept of what the part is.
MILTON: The real point of the matter is that the actor, whether no-name or name, can convince the director, the producer, even though their image of the part is totally different. Take The Graduate, which was cast by my friend Mike Shurtleff. He said they went looking for blond guys, Ivy League types, six feet tall, and they ended up with Dustin Hoffman. Because of his talent, they changed the whole image of the character. And Dustin wasn’t very famous at that time, not a star, he wasn’t Dustin Hoffman yet by any stretch.
ACTOR: Okay. That’s one.
MILTON: Butterflies Are Free: I cast a guy who had never acted before, Edward Albert, who, when he heard about this film, told his father, “I’m going to play the lead in that movie.” Now you can’t say that my concept was a guy who had never acted before. But as he read for us, there was no denying that he was the part—he defined the concept for us.
ACTOR: Uh huh. Okay, two.
MILTON: My friend, I can go to 100 and beyond. In casting the play, Streamers, an actor from class, Richard Lawson, worked on a reading for the part. He told me, “I’m going to get that part. I mean, that’s it. No question. It’s mine.” He fully committed himself to the reading. No holds barred. During the reading with Richard Thomas, who was already cast, Lawson pulled a switchblade and scared the shit out of us. The producer was like, “Who the hell was that guy?!” I pretended I’d never seen him before. We couldn’t conceive of anyone else after that. He was truly excellent in the role.
ACTOR: But all those little tests to see if the actor is right for the project—it always sends a chill down my back.
MILTON: Well, what’s the matter with you? Are you flawed?
ACTOR: Am I flawed?
MILTON: Yeah. Is there something the matter with you that we’re going to find out? Why wouldn’t every test confirm your rightness more and more?
ACTOR: Oh, just... uh... I just assume that whatever the director’s concept is for the part, I’m not it.
MILTON: That’s the whole problem. Okay. Let’s solve it. If I hold a concept of the part as a director....
ACTOR:... then I don’t get the job.
Class laughs.
MILTON: You’re joking, but that’s what you really think. Are you sure it’s alright with you if I have a concept at all?
ACTOR: I’d rather you didn’t, honestly.
MILTON: Why would you rather I didn’t?
ACTOR: Because I’m the actor. I’m bringing the concept to the part.
MILTON: That’s great. I like an actor who brings a concept. Couldn’t your concept be just as good as mine? Or better?
ACTOR: Sure. I mean, I think I should have the role. That’s how much I believe in my concept.
MILTON: So how are you going to let me know about that concept?
ACTOR: Show you. I’m going to read for you. Audition.
STUDENT (From the audience): Milton, can I say something about this? Just because it hits what you’re talking about.
MILTON: Sure.
STUDENT: You’ve nailed me before on apology, on really being in the room. So on a recent audition, I went in and the director asked, “What’s she reading for?” When the casting person told him, he said, “Oh, she’s too pretty.” Now normally I would just cave in on a comment like that....
Class laughs.
STUDENT: No! I’m serious! It’s a compliment, but not when I want to get a job, when I’m in there to get a part! Then it’s like the reverse. But I thought about what you’ve been teaching me about staying in it, about being charming. So I said, “Wait a minute. I’m ugly, I’m ugly. Really!” The director laughed. Then he actually talked to me for awhile, and said, “Well, you’re getting uglier by the minute.” I said, “Let me read for you.” And I whipped around in there and did a real killer audition. And after I read he said, “You know, I’m not telling you now that you’ve got it, and you’re not what I had in mind, but I want you to know that you’re good. I’m not saying you got it now....” I said, “That’s okay.” Then two weeks later he called me to tell me I had the part.
Class applauds.
MILTON: Excellent. (To actor in critique:) You see? At the key moment when the director said, “Nah—not right...” she stayed in it, stayed clever, stayed light and humorous. And then the talent comes through. The director starts to open up to her.
ACTOR: Yeah, I think I see....
MILTON: Or like I was saying about Richard Lawson, in that Streamers audition, there wasn’t a conversation. No chit-chat in the office. He just delivered a fucking concept. I mean, pulling a knife—I wouldn’t recommend it, but he chose to do that and suddenly we were face to face with a concept. He was reading against the best guys in town—I saw a lot of actors for that role, important guys, so-called names. He blew everyone out of the water. So what happened there? What happened to us after his audition?
ACTOR: Well... you... you cast him, I guess.
MILTON: Yeah. And why is that?
ACTOR: Because his concept was so strong, you couldn’t do anything else. No one touched what he did.
MILTON: Bingo! Right! You have the power to convince us of how it goes, and then it’s yours.
ACTOR: Yeah. I like that.
MILTON: You’re a partner in that process, not some “no-name” without influence or power. You are not playing roulette. Your power is the talent you bring, the choices you make, the concept, the point of view. And the more loaded you are, the more vibrant your choice is, the clearer your concept, then the more likely the director will cast you in the part.
ACTOR: That’s cool. I like that a lot better. I’ll kill it the next time.
MILTON: Excellent. Let’s take a break.