A Quote by Sian Clifford

Don't try to guess what a casting director wants. — © Sian Clifford
Don't try to guess what a casting director wants.
[Sylvester] Stallone and I were in a meeting for Rocky Balboa. We were laughing about something, and he looks at my mouth and says to the casting director, "Wow, your lip even hooks down like mine does." Then he looked at the casting director and nodded, and I guess that was the nod of saying, "Hire this kid." So yeah, I have a really crooked mouth. They don't work, but I can feel everything.
I was modeling while I was in university and my agency said, 'There's this fashion campaign, can you go?' And I didn't want to; I told him I wanted to focus on my acting, but I ended up going, kind of dragging my feet, and it turns out, the casting director for it was the casting director for Lars von Trier's new movie.
I randomly went to a casting session in my hometown in North Carolina, and the casting director introduced me to my manager. I really lucked into it!
Where having been an actor was extremely helpful to me was in casting. That's where I think a director who has acted can really shine, and casting is the most important thing you do.
When 'The Master' came around, they said they wanted to try and find a part for me, and I got a text from the casting director saying that.
When the director narrates the story, I try to understand how he wants me to do my role and I try to deliver that.
A good director creates a playground for actors, and lets them go. The trick for a good director is in casting properly, and creating the playroom, and then they'll get stuff that they don't expect, and can't even direct. All the audience wants to believe is that whatever is happening, it is happening for the first time. They want to see the people within the work exchanging dialogue and action in that moment. There are not a lot of actors that can do that.
A lot of the stuff that's happening now, I can trace back to 'Death of a Salesman.' Francine Maisler, the casting director, saw 'Death of a Salesman' and called me in for 'Unbroken.' The casting director of 'Normal Heart' had seen 'Salesman' too. I look back on it now, and it's like one thing led to another; it was a chain reaction.
Allison Jones, a big casting director out there, was like, 'They're casting 'The Daily Show' right now - you should submit a tape.' I remember leaving school to go shoot an audition.
I got an internship with the casting director of The Girl Next Door. I would hold the clipboard and help them in their casting sessions and get them lunch.
I don't know what I'm qualified to do, film-wise... So it's really down to a director or a casting director to find something that they think I could do.
Casting director was a part-time thing, which later became a full-time job because there was a lack of casting directors in our industry and people were looking for professionals to do it.
Acting in itself is changing. This change is because of the advent of the casting director. Earlier, there would be stock characters, who would be seen in every film. Now, casting directors are bringing fresh faces.
I was in a TV show called 'Lucky' on FX. The casting director from 'Lucky' was casting 'Dragon Wars'. She called me in to meet with the producer and audition, and I got it from there.
Casting directors I don't think are the best in Mexico at street casting. Whereas, I think, in New York and in L.A., that's more common; not so in Mexico. So it's up to you as a director in a lot of ways to go out and do that.
My job as an actor is to try to do what the director wants me to do. I'm going to do everything I can to incorporate that note and make it work. If it doesn't work, I'll try this kind of thing, and "How do you feel about that?" If you are at odds with the director, neither one of you is going to get anywhere. You really do have to be able to make both of you happy. Even when I was younger, there were times when you have to find a way to make it work for both of you.
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