Here at Playback, we interview lots of producers, directors and writers, and even some actors. But we seldom chat with casting directors, whose services include scouting for new talent, choosing actors to audition for roles, and negotiating with agents on behalf of producers.

So we decided to speak with some veteran casting directors across the country about the highs and lows of their job and the challenges they face. We even encouraged them to complain a bit – after all, everyone else in this industry gets to air their beefs on occasion, so why shouldn’t they?

MARSHA CHESLEY, TORONTO

A casting director for 33 years, Chesley’s credits range from Seeing Things and King of Kensington to Blue Murder and Little Mosque on the Prairie.

What is the biggest issue in casting right now?
The economy. Almost everything is a scale project, so we don’t have the money in the budget to offer actors. I rely on personal relationships with agents, they have to trust me when I say this is a good script, a good part, you should look at it – so they don’t dismiss it right away because it’s scale.

What other challenges do you face?
Casting is one of those elusive things; when it is good, it isn’t really noticed and all sorts of people take credit for it. And when it is bad, it seems to glare and everyone says that was a really bad casting director. The final decision in many cases isn’t up to the casting director – it’s a big group, including director, executive producers, distributors or the network.
A casting director can bring a lot of historical knowledge about an actor – some don’t audition well but can deliver, others audition well but that is the limit of what you get. I can bring that kind of historical knowledge. You want to feel your experience is respected. It often is, and it often isn’t.

Have you helped launch any careers?
I cast Mike Myers when he was 14 years old in a dramatic role – he was just a kid who wanted to act. But I didn’t launch his career!

What is one of your most memorable working experiences?
This Is Wonderland. Over the course of three seasons we had over 650 actors on the series and 20 different languages were spoken. It was challenging to find all that ethnic diversity, and I had to go out into the community to find new talent.

What is your worst experience with an actor?
An actor was supposed to be on set for a 7:30 a.m. call, and at 6:30 a.m. his agent called to say he wouldn’t be showing up. I sat there silently for a moment and then said, ‘He either better be dead or in hospital or in jail.’ It turned out it was a big drug bust and he was in jail. I had another show where the lead actor quit on the first day of shooting, so I replaced him. On day three, a female lead walked out. Not only did the role require an accent, it was a period piece, so I had to find an actress to fit the wardrobe already made. It was pretty dramatic.

Marsha Chesley’s talent pick:
Chesley found newcomer Geetika Sharma for a role in Deepa Mehta’s Heaven on Earth, and although just 13 years old and having never acted before, both the film’s producers and Chesley say she is fantastic in the movie and has a promising career ahead of her.

STUART AIKENS, VANCOUVER

Aikens has 35 years experience as a casting director and, along with partner Sean Cossey, has worked on the Twilight sequel New Moon, and series such as Sanctuary, Reaper, Eureka and jPod.

What is the biggest challenge you are facing?
Canadian producers have to cut all corners because the budgets are so tight. So when we take on a Canadian project we know we are getting paid half as much as we would on a U.S. project. I can make more money on three episodes of an American network series than I can casting a Canadian miniseries that will take two months of my time.

Does this impact what jobs you take?
No, you have to take everything. This business is all about relationships, and if you say no, that relationship goes away. Especially with pilots, you want to do as many as possible because series is where the money is.

Are you doing many American pilots?
This year [has been] a huge pilot season for the U.S., there are almost twice as many pilots as compared to last year. Our biggest challenge at this precise moment is the fact that half the actors in this country are in L.A. for pilot season, [and] if you are looking for a lead, they aren’t here. So actors go into studios in L.A. and put themselves on tape, upload it to the Internet and I get it same day. There are lots of cases now where actors are chosen based on tape alone.

What is your biggest success in casting?
Unforgiven, because so much of the visual face of the film came from me saying to Clint [Eastwood], this is what the time period was like – not as it is in the script, which was written by a middle-aged white man and full of middle-aged white people. Clint said go for it, so to be more accurate we put in ethnic voices and natives and gave the film more depth of color.

Do you feel your expertise as a casting director is valued?
I think your input is valued; it is whether directors and producers listen to their own input before they listen to yours. It is an ego-driven medium and sometimes they have a very specific image of what they want and aren’t prepared to listen.

What is the most difficult part of your job?
Indecision based on too many people involved in the casting process and politics and different agendas. It’s hard to get directors, producers, studio execs and the network to agree, so it isn’t necessarily about the most creative choice or always the best person for the role. And if decisions aren’t made quickly, you lose out, especially on pilots. On a show the other day someone commented, ‘Gee, I don’t know if they are funny enough,’ and 30 minutes later that person was hired as a regular on The Office.

Have you ‘discovered’ anyone?
I basically found Barry Pepper [Flags of Our Fathers, Saving Private Ryan] for a project, but Barry created his own career, so to accept responsibility for someone else’s career is an erroneous assumption. Evangeline Lilly [Lost] came to see us for Sanctuary and I couldn’t get Sci-Fi [Channel] to see her for love nor money. And yet she is a huge star now, so who is responsible for Evangeline Lily? We saw something there, but J.J. Abrams picked up on it.

What part of your job do you dislike most?
I hate when so-called professionals don’t act professionally. When actors, directors or producers are rude or irresponsible or waste time. For example, you do all this work and send it to the director who says, ‘Oh, I don’t know what I did with that,’ and you wind up sending three copies because they don’t have their crap together and keep losing everything.

Stuart Aikins talent picks
Aikins was instrumental in starting the careers of Jessica Lowndes (pictured – Kyle XY, Alice, I Think) and Dustin Milligan (The Butterfly Effect 2, Slither), both of whom he cast in numerous roles in Vancouver before they both landed starring roles on 90210. Aikins recently cast Lowndes in the independent feature Altitude, and she will return to Vancouver this summer to work on the film. Milligan has shot a feature, Extract with Ben Affleck, that will be released later in 2009.

VERA MILLER, ELITE CASTING, MONTREAL

Vera Miller and her Elite partners Nadia Rona and Rosina Bucci have been casting for 25 years. Credits include Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Bon Cop, Bad Cop and The Sum of All Fears.

What is your biggest concern right now?
There are not as many projects happening and less American movies coming. It has been tough for the past year.

What do you consider your biggest casting success?
Grey Owl, because director Sir Richard Attenborough was an exceptional man and a real challenge to work with. Also Lakeshore Entertainment’s The Last Kiss, because Tony Goldwyn is a wonderful actor and director, an honorable person and a pleasure to work with – I would do anything for him. The more you like the person you are working with, the easier it is to find them the right cast.

What do you dislike most about your job?
Negotiating our deal – the fee we get paid as casting directors. I wish I had an agent. These days everyone wants to get more for less.

What do actors do sometimes that you hate?
Actors who aren’t prepared, show up late or don’t conduct themselves professionally. Say a guy is coming in for a stockbroker role; he comes in wearing a T-shirt and shorts. I say, ‘Why are you dressed like that?’ He says, ‘Well it’s hot out.’ Producers and directors want to see the actor looking like the role they are auditioning for. They lose out if not properly attired.

If you had a magic wand and could change one thing about your job what would it be?
We need more ambassadors, more people hustling here, so that Hollywood becomes more aware of Montreal, rather than always going to Toronto or Vancouver.

Vera Miller’s talent pick:
Ricky Mabe has worked as an actor in Montreal since the age of 12, but Miller notes that he is now ‘making waves.’ She cast Mabe in the feature film Halo, shooting later this month, and he recently completed the Fox pilot Two Dollar Beer and had a part in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. His other credits include Nightmare Man, Frankenstein and Me, Phantom of the Megaplex and Believe). Mabe currently lives in L.A.

RHONDA FISEKCI, CALGARY

A casting director for 12 years, Fisekci’s credits include Heartland, Wild Roses, Passchendaele and Fear Itself.

What is the biggest challenge of your job?
Casting as many people locally as possible. It is a small acting pool, so when you are into a second season of a series, coming up with fresh talent in Alberta is the challenge.

Are American projects open to casting Canadians?
More and more they want to cast locally because budgets are smaller. And the Alberta grant program helps – in order to get an extra 1% you have to cast an Albertan in one of the top seven roles.

What do you consider your biggest success?
Casting the DreamWorks/TNT project Into the West along with my Vancouver casting associate Candice Elzinga. It changed the trajectory of my career and I received my first Emmy Award nomination. I am also really proud of Passchendaele – an Albertan story, shot in Alberta, and Paul Gross wanted to cast as many local actors as we could. Of the 60-odd characters, we only brought in six or seven parts from outside Alberta.

Have you ‘discovered’ any actor and launched their career?
I didn’t discover him, but I first came across Landon Liboiron when auditioning for Dinosapiens. He didn’t get a part but he was memorable, so I brought him in for Mayerthorpe and he landed a gig, and then he got an episode of Flashpoint. I also brought him in on Wild Roses and he had six episodes. This kid is going to take off. Also Meredith Bailey – she was just out of university when we cast her as the fifth lead in Passchendaele. She is also someone to watch.

Rhonda Fisekci’s talent picks:
Meredith Bailey (pictured) was just out of theater school when Fisekci cast her as the fifth lead in Passchendaele and since then Fisekci has booked her for Heartland, and other shows shooting in Calgary. Bailey is now based in Vancouver.
Kailin See: Fisekci describes See as one of those girls with the ‘it’ factor. She had a memorable part in The Assassination of Jesse James and landed a supporting lead role in the ABC Family/Disney movie Snow Globe. She is now based in Vancouver