You know what bothers me...

Brickhouse

Brickhouse

Well-known member
What seriously bothers me casting is people who are way too old for a part, but keep insisting they can do it.

We're casting our feature right now, and all the roles have a playing age of 17-19. We have that in big bold letters on every ad we put out. Yet for some reason, we get 35 year old people who genuinely believe they look 17, and it feels terrible to tell them they look too old. And some people fight it. And it bugs me.

Honestly, half the submissions are people who are at least 5 years older than the playing age. A lot of people claim to be a "movie 17".

So what do I write in the ads? Do I write "real 17-19, not movie 17-19", because I think that's dumb- big time. As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as movie-17, just bad casting.

I'm getting sick of writing out emails to each person. I just want to delete the emails from the 'old' people and not bother with them, but that would just be rude and unprofessional.

So I just wanted to quickly rant that out of my system, and tell all you actors out there: Don't be that person. I don't care if you're the greatest actor ever, if you're too old, and you don't look the age, then don't!!!!

Thanks
 
I'm a photographer, and I've had to shoot plenty of models who can't accept who they are and want to make sure they look like 19 twenty years late. They'd look better as older models, but often don't want to hear that. Pretty sad, really.
 
I think it depends on how you cast it. If you cast a bunch of people in their mid 20's and to play high 17-18 year olds, it could work if they all look the same age. But if you were to start casting some 17-18 year olds to play 17-18 year olds along with people in their mid to late 20s, then it would be noticeable.

I would still audition those people though, even if you know that you aren't going to cast them in that particular role. You may need them for a future role for an older character.
 
Brickhouse said:
Honestly, half the submissions are people who are at least 5 years older than the playing age. A lot of people claim to be a "movie 17".
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Tom Welling was playing high school senior Clark Kent in "Smallville" when he was 26...

Not saying you're wrong, just saying that it happens all the time.

So what do I write in the ads? Do I write "real 17-19, not movie 17-19", because I think that's dumb- big time. As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as movie-17, just bad casting.
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You can just say "nobody older than 19, please."

I'm getting sick of writing out emails to each person. I just want to delete the emails from the 'old' people and not bother with them, but that would just be rude and unprofessional.
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No, what's rude and unprofessional is when someone completely ignores what you asked for. They've already committed the infraction, you haven't. You're entitled to ignore them. Frankly, if someone shows no regard for what you asked, why do you owe them the courtesy of a response?

Sounds harsh, but come on -- if you put out a call for a 12-year-old hispanic male, and you got a response from a 50-year-old vietnamese female, clearly someone is wasting someone's time here, and in this case you're the victim.

Lay out your parameters. Expect people to comply. If someone doesn't comply, you're under no obligation to proceed with them.

Now, with all that said, if they can "prove it" by showing you a reel, maybe they're worth auditioning. I used to do some work with a kid in Vegas who absolutely, unquestionably looked 8 years old, even when he was 13. He was extremely small for his age and totally passed for younger, and it was a huge benefit to have the additional maturity level of a 13-year-old versus an 8-year-old.
 
Just to reiterate, you are not obligated to contact each person who submitted for the roles in your breakdown. Especially if they are not right for the role. View the headshots and move on. Contact those who fit the bill and move forward with your auditions. We just shot a Snoop Dogg video a few weeks ago and I received 982 submissions. I sure as heck wasn't going to contact each actress, it's kind of an unwritten rule for actors: Submit and forget about it, if they call you great; if not, no worries. The only ones loosing sleep over hoping to get called in are the rookie actors, but that changes when the skin thickens.
 
Keep in mind computers can do anything nowadays. Did you see Benjamin Button? Why not hire a 35 year old guy and then just fix it in post?
 
you can't just put no one older than 19, because sometimes people as old as 24 can realistically look 17. and I've seen 19 year olds look over 30, so you can't just judge by real age. as far as i'm concerned, you need to go by playing age. I mean, you can do whatever you want. It's your movie and there aren't any laws or regulations.

but yeah. i spend hours sending emails to people who need to gain a sense of realism.
 
SERIOUSLY?? Hours??? Don't wast your time, it takes long enough to sift through the original submissions to narrow down who you actually want to audition let alone lecture an actor in an email as to what characters they should submit for and whether they fit the breakdown or not. It's so often taught in acting classes to submit to everything. With the thought instilled that at times the CD or client doesn't fully know or realize what they want. Or that when they see a headshot something could spurr them to bring you in for a read even if you don't fit the breakdown specifics such as age, gender or ethnicity.
 
Sometimes you have to go with 18+ TPY if you care about hours on the set and someone from the state stopping by. There are laws. Speaking as a father of a 15 YO.....
 
had a casting director tell me once that it's forbidden for a SAG signatory production to ask a SAG actor their age during casting. is this true?
 
No!! Particularly if you are talking about children. State laws supersede SAG agreements. But you may get into some age discrimination areas for older actors.
 
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DadinWestchester said:
No!! Particularly if you are talking about children. State laws supersede SAG agreements. But you may get into some age discrimination areas for older actors.
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well, i looked it up and SAG claims its illegal for a casting director to ask for their age.

http://www.sag.org/content/diversity-faq


from the SAG DIVERSITY FAQ:
Are casting directors allowed to ask me about my age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation?
Absolutely not. Casting directors are prohibited from asking such questions during the hiring process. But the reality of the audition experience often includes such inquiries, and an actor may not want to appear uncooperative by not answering the question or by informing the casting director that he or she is not allowed to ask that question.
More often than not, the casting director is not asking the question in order to exclude certain groups but, rather, to determine if you fit the character description.
Regardless of an actor wanting to avoid a potentially uncomfortable situation, and regardless of the casting director’s reasons for asking, actors should be aware that it is illegal to ask for this information.

So what should you do?
Different people use different tactics when facing this situation. For example, playing it coy by saying “I can be whatever you want me to be,” or perhaps your best bet is to gently remind the casting director that he or she should not be asking you that question.

If they insist, you should feel comfortable telling them that they can call someone in the SAG Diversity office for clarification at (323) 549-6646 or (212) 827-1433.
But remember, the bottom line is they are not allowed to ask, and therefore, you are under no obligation to answer.
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but anyway, this is yet another reason why i don't do "open" casting sessions. have resumes and headshots sent in and choose who you want to see.
 
"Are casting directors allowed to ask me about my age,
Absolutely not. Casting directors are prohibited from asking such questions during the hiring process."

This is wrong and particularly when hiring children. Different laws kick in when hiring someone under 18 and they better sure as hell know how old a young person is before hiring them. Child Performer permits, Coogan or blocked accounts, hours on set, guardians and teachers on set, etc. State labor laws can shut down a production on the spot and they have. Do your homework!
 
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I appreciate your enthusiasm, but SAG is not an entity you just want to dismiss. there is a difference between asking an actor their age to determine if they are appropriate for the role (which is discriminatory in SAG's view) and asking if they are under or over the age of 18.

the only two questions I've ever heard casting directors ask in regard to age are: "what is your playable age range" and if there is a question as to being a minor, "are you over 18?". but I've never encountered a casting director who asked, "how old are you?" I didn't understand why this was always danced around, but now I do.
 
You can still say "No one older than 30" (for example) and you aren't breaking any rules. I mean, you can't confirm that they aren't older than 30.

There's also some loop holes in the system around SAG rules. I heard something about claiming your project as recreation (or something) and casting actors but not as "actors" (or something, I don't quite remember)

I find it rude to ask, regardless, so I just don't.
 
is it unprofessional to send out a mass email. or should i send emails to each individual. not concerning the age thing, but sending out date place and time sort of thing.

I'm just afraid that some people might see that there are lots of people trying out judging by all the emails and they might be a bit turned off.

Thanks
 
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