Get To Know the Casting Director: Ellen Chenoweth

It’s hard to convey the extensive resume of Ellen Chenoweth in just one paragraph. To start, the casting director’s storied career includes two Best Picture winners: Terms of Endearment and No Country for Old Men. The latter marks one of Chenoweth’s 13 collaborations with either one or both of the Coen brothers. That record is only topped by the number of projects she’s cast for Barry Levinson — 15, to be exact. You can explore on IMDb the rest of the impressive titles she’s cast and filmmakers with which she’s worked on your own time because we’re here to help you get to know the person behind all the credits. Chenoweth made time to virtually sit down with Casting Networks and give insights into everything from how she works — including a window into casting her most recent collaboration with Levinson — to how she recharges when off the clock.

It’s great to virtually meet you, Ellen, and I’d love to kick things off at the start of your career journey. When was the moment you knew that casting was the job for you?

I don’t know if I can pinpoint it to an exact moment, but one of my first jobs was at The Actors Studio in New York. I wasn’t an actress — I worked in the office. That was during the sort of “glory days” when Lee Strasberg was still alive and running sessions at the studio, as well as Elia Kazan and Arthur Penn. Watching those master teachers work with actors got me interested in the craft of it all. I wanted to be a part of it in some way, and when people called the office asking about casting ideas for projects they were doing, I was able to recommend actors. I would also put together casts for the plays that were put on at the studio. So, that’s where it started, and I stayed at The Actors Studio for four and a half years. I remember thinking that I didn’t have a strong sense of what I was going to ultimately do, though. But, then I started seeing movies cast by people like Juliet Taylor and Howard Feuer, and I began noticing what you could do with the surprise of an unusual casting choice. You know? It’s the fun and the “pop” that you get from seeing someone in a role that you didn’t expect. I thought that making those types of casting choices was something I could do, too. And then from there, I got lucky with meeting Barry very early on and casting Diner with him.

I know that was only the second film you’d ever cast — what a way to jump in! And now 14 projects with Levinson later, your latest collaboration just recently released and has already received much praise for how it tells an impactful true story. What can you tell us about the process of assembling the cast for The Survivor?

Barry and I started talking about it early on, and when he sent me the script, I realized The Survivor was something special. I knew it was based on the true story of Harry Haft and began researching him. He was a fighter who survived Auschwitz, and there was a certain toughness about him that came through in photos. So, Barry and I started thinking about who had the chops and physicality to play Harry. That list was pretty short, but then we came up with Ben [Foster]. We knew Ben from casting him in Liberty Heights, which was one of the first films in which he starred. And Ben just jumped right in, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the role of Harry.

I gather that Foster lost 62 pounds to play Haft at one point in his life and gained back 50 pounds in five weeks in order to accurately portray him during another period of his life.

Right. And after casting Ben, we just started putting the rest of the pieces together. It had become clear that we weren’t going to shoot very much in New York — we did the majority of filming in Budapest. A lot of good actors live there, and we worked with a very talented local casting person who would send us their audition tapes. It really became an international search for a lot of the roles, with people sending us audition tapes from around the world. The character of Miriam, for example, is played by Vicky Krieps, who’s from Luxembourg. We found an Israeli actress named Dar Zuzovsky to play the role of Leah and German actor Saro Emirze for Harry’s brother Peretz. Then we filled out the American characters with actors like Danny DeVito, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Leguizamo.

That’s an impressive cast list. And now it’s time for my favorite question to ask casting. If someone made a film about your life story, which actor would you cast to play the role of Ellen Chenoweth?

I guess it would depend on which age I’m casting for my life story. But one name does come to mind. I had a friend who used to say that I reminded her of Diane Keaton in Annie Hall, which was very flattering. I used to dress the same way — I’d wear a necktie from my grandfather on top of a vest and a men’s shirt. That was my look, and I probably still have that vest in my closet somewhere. [Laughs] So in a fantasy world, I would cast an Annie Hall-esque Diane Keaton. That would be such an honor — she’s a goddess.

Fantastic choice! Now, your storied career speaks for itself, and I’m sure you have many options to choose from for this next question. Can you pick a few examples of proud casting moments that stand out in your mind?

Off the top of my head, I can say that I was really excited about casting Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton. She was known at the time for doing roles that were a little more indie and offbeat, but her character in the film was pretty straightforward. To be clear, Tilda still brought her own personality and quality to the role, but she might not have been the most obvious casting choice for it at the time. So, that was really special to see how it turned out — she won an Oscar for her performance. I’ll also say that casting Annette Bening in Bugsy was memorable because she met her husband on that film. When I heard they’d gotten together, I left a message on Warren Beatty’s answering machine, saying, “I’m taking a lot of credit for this!” [Laughs] And then casting Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men and Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis come to mind, too, because those roles turned out to be breakthroughs in their careers. It always makes you feel happy to have been a part of something like that. Casting people in Diner was a similar experience — it’s just exciting when you can help give actors a step up.

Before the interview wrapped, we had to ask Chenoweth one last get-to-know-you question. When queried what she does in her downtime to recharge, yoga made the casting director’s list, as well as watching the Yankees play. The casting director also mentioned her Miniature Australian Shepherd, Miso. “That’s definitely a big stress-reliever, getting down on the floor to play with a dog,” she noted. “And Miso is just the pride and joy of the family.”

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This interview has been edited and condensed.