Get to Know the Casting Director: Lisa Beach (Part 2)
Casting director Lisa Beach is one of the most preeminent casting directors in the industry, having worked repeatedly with filmmakers such as Alexander Payne, James Mangold, Seth Gordon, and actors like Reese Witherspoon and Jason Sudeikis. In Part One, Beach spoke about her experiences in casting, talents she cast on their way up, and how much she’s had to go to bat for her choices. Now, in Part 2, she reveals her casting process, the dos and don’ts for actors in the room, and how she’s staying busy under quarantine.
PART 2
What’s a typical casting day like for you?
First of all, Sarah [Katzman] and I look at every submission for every role. In the mornings, we will have our live auditions and see maybe 40 to 50 people. In the afternoons, we will see at least that many via self tape. We can get through more people with self tapes because, within 20 to 30 seconds, we’re able to say, “Nope, this person isn’t the right one,” and go on to the next.
These days, we post more for producers and directors than in the past, because they all want the volume. They want to see as many people as possible, and to know that we have covered the waterfront and left no stone unturned.
Even for smaller parts?
Even for the smallest parts, we’ll post at least 30 to 35 people for every role we read. In the old days, we would see a lot of people, pick 10 to bring in for the director, and have a live session. From those 10 people, the director would usually say, “Yes, this is the person I want for the role.” Now, the amount of people the director chooses from has tripled.
Are there cases when you don’t even bring the director in?
Shows we cast like Altered Carbon, shot in Vancouver, and Impulse, shot in Toronto — our producers and directors were working up there, so we never got a chance to spend time with them on a one-on-one basis. But at the same time, we showed them a lot of actors. They always cast off tape.
What’s been the downside of self-tape casting?
Losing that personal feeling that you get with actors, directors, and producers. I loved that familial feeling. When we were casting all three Scream movies, it felt like we were a family. We had the greatest times in the sessions. I remember the day that Matthew Lillard came in and auditioned for the role that he got. Wes was blown away. It was just so great to have that feeling where everybody was on the same page because we were all in the same room together. I miss that.
What are some of your pet peeves that actors do at auditions?
They should never say, “I’ve prepared it two ways,” because that means they want me to see them do it twice. Doing something twice is not a given at an audition. It means that they are letting their ego take hold. I want them to leave their ego on the other side of the door. Come in with no ego and be fearless. A fearless actor with no ego is the best actor you can find. Preparing it two ways means they haven’t made a strong choice, which means they’re not going make a strong choice on the set. Make one, strong choice about who you think the character is and show me.
How important is attitude in the room?
One of the biggest things directors and producers say to me is, please make sure they’re not a jerk. My advice to actors is: Be great between action and cut and don’t be a jerk between cut and action. I want to be able to tell the director that you are going be great on the set, pleasant, professional, willing to take direction, no pushback, and no attitude. I need to tell them you’re going to be somebody others want to work with. So keep that mind.
Now that Hollywood has ground to a halt, what have you been doing with your newfound time?
I’m watching all sorts of stuff that I wanted to catch up before. I’m using this time to get to know actors through their work, build my database, add more names to it, note the names of those who are new, or those whom I have not experienced before. That’s because I’m not seeing people live as much as before. This has nothing to do with the quarantine; that’s just how casting evolved with self tape. I binged [British shows] The English Game [and] Belgravia, and the Israeli series Fauda. They were terrific. I just finished the first season of Save Me on Starz. It’s really dark, but the cast is spectacular. It stars Lennie James, who is one of my favorite actors in the world. Can’t wait for season 2. Some of these international actors are just insane. They’re so, so good!
Meryl Streep in ‘Sophie’s Choice’ (1982)
What should actors be doing to hone their craft during this time when Hollywood is shut down due to COVID-19?
You know what I want them to be doing? Especially the ones under 30? I want them to be going through the AFI film library and seeing movies that are considered the all-time classics. There are actors out there who don’t know who Rod Steiger is, or who don’t know who Sidney Poitier is. They should be catching up on the classics and understand what made those performances so great. Like, everybody should see Sophie’s Choice. In my humble opinion, there’s been no finer performance in the history of film than Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice.
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