And before we wrap, can you share your secret for managing work/life balance? The others laugh a little. The thing that Luca seemed to be connecting to is a real combination of, could they do the material, but also could he engage in real dialogue with them about what it means to be their age in this moment and incorporate that into the vision that he had., Jordan didnt even have an agent. These casting directors pull back the curtain on the process #LucindaSyson #TheoPark #SherryThomas SharonBialy #CastingDirectorsQ&A with casting directors from several Apple TV+ series; Lucinda Syson (Foundation), Theo. Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in Frozen, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own, Interview: Casting Director Kim Coleman on Five Days at Memorial, Self-Tape Tips and Portraying Real People, Interview: David Christopher Wells on His Role in To Kill a Mockingbird, Being an Understudy and Getting His MFA, Interview: Clifton Collins Jr. and Molly Parker on Jockey, Research and Bad Auditions, Ted Lasso Star Phil Dunster on How He Got the Role of Jamie Tartt, Theres No Such Thing As Chemistry In Acting. Sherry Thomas: Well, its crazy. She then added, To be perfectly honest with you, I think that were all in the reality that there are several other huge nominees in there, and so were blessed and honored to be there. As for the ladies favorite guest stars over the years, they bring special attention to Charles Baker (Skinny Pete), Matt Jones (Badger) and Daniel and Luis Moncada (the Cousins), but they admit that Emmy nominee Mark Margolis may be their favorite casting scoop for the show. Defying past portrayals of female friendship on television, Dead To Me enamoredaudiences with its unexpected casting choices of Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. While eager to gather a diverse troupe for Mindy Kaling and Lang Fishers series, casting directors Collin Daniel and Brett Greenstein quickly realized that until they had nailed down their series leads, there was no ensemble to assemble. Sherry Thomas Lane - Facebook [Niccos] brilliant, says Hopkins. Sherry Thomas @SherryThomas_ST , Twitter Profile - instalker.org And, Id imagine, completely challenging. Its also an emotional drama. The process when we started of course is making lists. I dont know if theres a generic answer that fits every person when it comes to managing work/life balance, though. RS: A lot of times those small roles are the hardest to cast. Was that hard at all? She came in and was so natural, so funny. In some hypothetical situation in which you had to choose a different career, what would your profession be? We got so many emails from agents asking, Where did you find these actors? Everybody was blown away, says Greenstein. In person its almost distracting how gorgeous she is, says Ingram. Luca was intrigued [by Alice] and it seemed like a great match. Sharon Bialy & Sherry Thomas Q&A: 'Breaking Bad' casting It is one of our most rewarding jobs., [John McEnroe] was in the original script, and I remember nobody was dealing with it. Having her name value in that role grounded the whole office., For Skylars role, we auditioned lots and lots of great people, says Ulrich of the co-worker character with romantic potential. Its just a wonderful place to be to be able to cast these amazing actresses from Frances Conroy to Katey Sagal to Valerie Mahaffey. I have no history with her. The theater is located at 38 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City.The Cherry Lane Theatre contains a 179-seat main stage and a 60-seat studio. Alice Lee was just a discovery. Scott says Dead to Me is a comedy, but its very down to earth. 'Breaking Bad' casting directors Sharon Bialy & Sherry Thomas 'very To see somebody with natural comedic timing who really got the nuances of the scenes and really got the multidimensional character she wasnt just reading lines. Sharon Bialy: What a nice way to start the day. Sherry Thomas: But everybody was generous and kind. To say I was enthused was another thing. We make several-page lists of actors who might be a good fit. That is such a skill, and one I wish I had. Sherry Thomas - IMDb 'Dead to Me' Casting Directors Sherry Thomas and - Awardsdaily And one of the first things that we did together as Bialy/Thomas was The Unit with Shawn Ryan and David Mamet and Eric Haney. Its so much more fun when youre doing a musical, because people are singing and your days suddenly better, says Robert J. Ulrich. He felt just perfect for Bruce. That was a very, very challenging role, Thomas says of the eager young econowife character who comes to learn just how divorced love and marriage are in the Gilead dystopia. And so I said, Oh my God, oh my God, Michael Rispoli is going to be in town from New York and we need to get him in. Survivor Users Leaderboard Coming Soon! One of the limited series biggest secrets spoiler alert: If you havent seen Watchmen, skip down several paragraphs was that perhaps the most iconic character from the comic would indeed appear in the show, set years after the source material. Casting Networks is a registered trademark of Casting Networks, LLC. With Tyler as Diamond, when you see him experience that, you dont question whether or not thats his truth., We all loved [Harriett] from the beginning. I get told all the time that I remind people of Melissa McCarthy. But going into the second season, the world knows the show, and we dont have to explain what it is. Five seasoned entertainment journalists predict the shows and performances the Television Academy will honor with Emmys; do you agree with their picks? She was the lead casting director on this one and what she did was really take actors that are known for one thing and respect them and the breath of their talent and say, Im going to try something else here. Sometimes our job is basically that of a casting director/producer. We checked in on her, and the challenging part was convincing producers to take a chance on an actor that youre very familiar with but they might not be. Did you experience a lot of actors who struggled to nail the specific tone and how did you help them get there in the audition room? I recently got a perm, Sherry, and its been a real challenge. And our associate, Alyssa Morris, did the same with the smaller roles. Those things are leaps of faith, right? Shes just someone Ive been watching. Bialy, Thomas and Russell Scott are nominated twice this year, for Dead to Me along with Handmaids Tale. Another of their shows, Better Call Saul, now has 11 acting nominations. We also share information about your use of our website with our social media and web analytics partners. By Vinnie Mancuso 12/30/15 10:00am. His instinct was that she was the perfect fit for the part, and he didnt give up. Get to Know the Casting Director: Sherry Thomas And I said, Yeah, I really feel like it could be really cool, and okay, great. Interview: Casting Directors Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas on 'The RS: With Katey, we wanted someone who is very special because there is a lot to unpack there with Lindas mother being in prison. Exclusive: AMCs Emmy episode submissions for Breaking Bad & Mad Men, Even though Breaking Bad is over, Bialy and Thomas are still involved in that universe thanks to their casting of the spin-off series Better Call Saul. However, Bialy warns us, I cant tell you anything about Better Call Saul. Were sworn to secrecy! Theyre also keeping busy casting Halt and Catch Fire, which just ended its first season on AMC, Foxs upcoming comic-book series Gotham and TVs biggest ratings hit The Walking Dead., Hey, whats with all the dark shows on their resumes? Were lucky., I was a giant fan of Janes for many, many years, from Suburgatory, Robert J. Ulrich says of the lead actress whose Zoey can see and hear what others are feeling via fantasy musical numbers. . There would be years where people would be like, Where did you get all these drug addicts? . Literally, we were all just howling because she just got it., We needed a Jake from Sixteen Candles, someone brooding and obviously swoon-worthy and somebody that Devis going to have a mad crush on, Greenstein says of the protagonists love interest, Paxton Hall-Yoshida. That has been nice because so many of these shows are aged for younger women. New to Casting Networks? Gohar Gazazyan, Casting Director. So we can say, No, this is the Bob Odenkirk character youre reading with. And its like, oh, a light bulb goes off, but we cant in email. Sherry Thomas (I) Casting Director Casting Department Producer IMDbPro Starmeter See rank Sherry Thomas was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. Because they're not "pro-life". Its a natural human thing to think of somebody in one way. So weve always cast in a broad, worldly way. A lot of offices have become that even prior to pandemic, to COVID, but thats just never been the way that we like to generate the work. Casting Networks acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land throughout Australia. In 1974, Sherry joined Talent Associates, as an executive in charge of development. Send it to the producers. We were able to find actors like Ericka Kreutz who played Shandys mother, and you had Adora Bricher who played Shandy who is amazing as the dark, dark little girl. And were really fing funny! Theres a lot of complexity to the role and we needed someone funny. She was kind of in my head when I read it. And if an actor does the wrong choice and they come in the room, you can easily give them direction and play with it and get them more relaxed and support them. 2023 Gold Derby Media, LLC. A lot of times in these teenage parts, you have 20-year-olds playing 15, and that wasnt the case, says Cuba, who wanted the coming-of-age roles to be occupied by fresh faces. He is so wonderful. AD: I imagine one of the more interesting challenges of that character is finding someone who can believably portray someone who has both dated Ana (Diana-Maria Riva) and Judy. John Ennis is a character actor weve known for a long time and he was amazing as the exterminator. This weekend, we'll hear from three more guilds: the ACE (Eddie Awards), the ASC, and the WGA. The external is not whats important to him. The main cast may seem only six actors deep, but to the casting directors, the world was expansive. Part of our journey is the process of learning about the actor, says Bialy. All of the shows we do from The Walking Dead to Better Call Saul to The Righteous Gemstones are all over the country. When we circled back, I remember looking at the date and I was like, Holy shit, I think shes available. , Theres an assuredness to Sister Alice that the audience has to buy because she believes [her evangelism] so strongly, Bialy says. You have this sort of visceral, gut reaction when its right, and thats how it was for me with casting. Every actor that comes in, even if they dont get the job, we keep a lot of notes . Well often write notes like, Remember for BCS because theres a naturalistic approach to the acting on the show; its not showy at all. He did come in and audition and just blew everybody away., The most fun bit of casting was the fact that Mo was written as a woman. I dont think it took an hour for every creative to say, Shes perfect. , The most exciting thing is taking that actor everybody sees one way and flipping expectations, Bialy says. And thanks for sharing about the magic of working with the person who not only co-created the show, but who also produces, writes, directs, and stars in it. Sherry Thomas: And the show director, Jesse Peretz, just really kind of took everybody and, everybody shines. Sherry Thomas Says Casting Directors Are Therapists, Too And, speaking from first hand experience, they are the best people to audition for. Im just blown away with how Bill can be in a scene, fully connected to it as an actor, even when I know his eye as the director and ear as the writer are simultaneously at work. Find out if Bialy and Thomas can win their very first Emmy for Breaking Bad when the Creative Arts Emmys are announced August 16. I was doing a virtual Pilates class when I got a text from Christina that said, Congrats lady! Im always thrilled when stunt casting works, because people immediately feel a sense of connection by knowing somebody from the past, he says. He was pursuing editing work on the side. Thats me, Thomas says. But this is definitely a collaboration between Jack and Luca, and who teenagers are today, in this moment., [The character of Sam Pratchett] was really about mixing and matching with whoever [would be playing his girlfriend] Caitlin. Then, I go through my notes and consider actors that I love, as well as some new actors. ST: I think thats one of the reasons we love to be in the room with actors and why right now it is really hard with the world of COVID. I think we got to try. And she says, You feel really passionately about it.