Casting director David Rubin (Men in Black, Gravity, and Rosewood) was recently interviewed by PBS and he shared what it was like to work on the film industry.
Instead of focusing on the character descriptions, David Rubin explains that it’s important to look for an actor’s authenticity as well as casting diversity.
“The most important thing for an actor to bring to the table is themselves, their own idiosyncrasy. And so many actors get preoccupied with what they think the filmmaker is looking for. And, frankly, what we’re looking for is them.”
Rubin said his first jobs was working as a production assistant on Saturday Night Live and that’s where he met the head of casting NBC. That’s where he learned how to cast productions.
When I first read a screenplay, there are sometimes very specific descriptions of the characters. And the first thing that I do is forget those descriptions, because writers write very specifically, not for the casting director or not for the director, but for the studio executive or the financier.
When you read in a script “doctor 40s,” the temptation on the part of the filmmaker might be just to assume that it was a white male in their 40s or 50s. Why couldn’t it be an Asian person in their 30s? Why couldn’t it be a little person? Why couldn’t it be a Latino?
Rubin said diversity including gender and racial diversity are important and should be taken into consideration as a casting director.
Gender diversity, racial diversity, all of those things come into play in a conversation with a filmmaker when you are bringing in different approaches to a particular character.
You can check out the full and amazing interview below.
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