Criminal Minds Casting

It's been half a century since my last post, but I've been really busy working and umm..err.....partying! Yes partying. I spent most of my first year in Los Angeles focused on my goals. It was all work and no play. I hardly went out at all. Now, I'm still focused, it's just time for me to get out and meet people and things like that. I'm having fun.

Last Wednesday I had the honor and privelege of working in the casting office of the show Criminal Minds. A HUGE thanks to April and Scott, the 2 casting directors in the office and Erica the casting assistant for letting me spend a day with them even though things are hectic over there. It was so much fun and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things and put my mind at ease for others. I'll try to go briefly through the day.

It was the first day casting for a new episode: Espisode #4. The cast and crew were on location filming episode #3. The day started off with a meeting in which the casting directors, writers and producers get together to discuss exactly what they want the characters to be like. This was the first thing we did and I'm so glad they let me go to this meeting, because I was originally scheduled to come in after the meeting. This meeting really made me feel better about myself as an actor for one reason. They talked about what the characters were supposed to be like in such detail. They already have a preconceived image in their head about what kind of look they want. I hate to say this, but in Hollywood, it really is more about looks than "talent", whatever your definition of talent is. I'll explain more about this as I continue my story. My point here is that, as an actor, you go on so many auditions, yet rarely hear back from any of them. It really is a hit or miss thing. I had read in books that said that when you don't hear back from an audition, to never take it personally and to not get down about it. I never really believed it, but it is true. You still can't help thinking every now and again, "Am I really meant for this?"

After the meeting, I got to do something really fun. I got to audition 4 actresses that they wanted to see for a small role in this episode. I can't explain how relieving this was!! To be in an audition room and NOT be the one auditioning! It was great! In the room were the 2 casting directors, one of the producers, and me working the camera. The first actress came in and read the scene which was about 4 lines. It took a few seconds and she was done. The producer did not ask her to do the scene again. Now see, this is something that it took me a while to catch on to. When an actor goes on an audition, and they ask you to do the scene multiple times, they're at least interested, or see you as a potential candidate for the role. If they don't ask you to re-read, it's probably a no go. This may seem like common sense, but it took me a while to figure out. This is another reason why I really wanted to shadow in the casting office. In any other profession (i.e. -medical school), part of your training is shadowing a professional to get some hands on experience. In acting, you can't just go shadow another actor and watch them audition. You're just thrust out there to fend for yourself and learn everything on your own pretty much. I'm speaking of auditioning in particular, not acting technique or anything. So, for me it was essential to have this experience. They ended up choosing the 4th actress that auditioned for this part. The overall mood for this scene is going to be kind of dark, I think, so they wanted someone who fit that look. The first actress was bubbly and blonde. See, so they were all "talented", but they needed to go with someone who fit the look of the scene.

The rest of the day consisted of me helping Erica around the office. I got to read the whole script and check it against the updated version and make note of any changes. This episode is going to be really good by the way. I helped Erica call actors to bring them in for auditions the next day. How great they must've felt to get a call and hear: "Hi, this is Kris from Criminal Minds. We want to audition you tomorrow". Exciting! At some point in the day, Scott received a delivery from an actor. It was an elaborate fruit basket from a company that can do some amazing things with fruit. They make flower bouquets and stuff all made from fruit. It was good, and I know that casting directors and agents get gifts like this all the time. Honestly, it is SO cheesy and I'd never do it. Thanks to all the books I read before I moved to Hollywood, they said that doing things like this is a waste of time and money. It's true, and besides, it just makes you look desperate!

So, that was my day in the Criminal Minds Casting office (in a nutshell). Great experience and I definitely took a lot from it that hopefully I can put to good use for myself. I wanted to meet Ed Bernero the executive producer (and writer) and also Simon Mirren (also a producer/writer), but I wasn't able to. They know my blog buddy Jill very well and I wanted to say hi to them for her. Oh well, maybe next time.