I went to a casting session for the movie today. Partly because I wanted to be able to say that I went to a casting session but mostly because I eventually want to write for both TV and film and so I'm trying to learn how all this works.

Or I thought I wanted to write for film and TV. I'm not so sure anymore. Casting is exhausting. I had thought that it would be easy, you just sit there are watch people read a scene or two. I didn't realize that you get sucked into the process. There's a real emotional investment in watching these people play out a range of emotion in front of you.

It's frustrating because the majority of what you're watching is people failing. I don't know how many people audition for each part but it's a lot. And obviously only one person is going to play that character. So for two hours or so you're watching people who don't have what it takes to play whatever character they're reading for. It's not about whether they're a good actor or actress or not. It's that you're looking for the perfect person to fill that role. I saw some very good actors / actresses who just weren't right for the parts they read.

What makes it all worth it though is when someone actually hits a role. A couple of people read today that I think* are going to be cast and watching them get it right was very, very cool. It's this "holy shit" moment when you can see the role come to life in front of you, instead of picturing it in your head.

What was even cooler though is that until now, the script was just words on a page to me. Seeing people act out the scenes really brings those words to life. For the first time, you get a real sense of how this thing is going to look when it's all put together.

And I'm not even a writer on the screenplay. I can't imagine what it's like when it's your own work.

*I don't know for sure. I was just there as a third wheel.

Posted by Ben Corman at 7:12 PM

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