 |
I pass through a room filled with sobbing women and handsome young men muttering quietly to themselves. I try not to make eye contact with anybody, and step down into a tiny hallway, and then into a carpeted, windowless room with five metal folding chairs set up in a row. One folding chair sits across from the others.
I'm in a casting session for episode #407 of Six Feet Under. Executive Producers Alan Ball, Alan Poul and writer Bruce Eric Kaplan take their seats, along with the episode's director, Peter Webber, and casting director Libby Goldstein.
Libby steps outside and leads the first actor into the room. She briefly introduces him and announces what part he'll be reading for: The role of Dr. Parnell, who gives a patient some bad news in the show's opening scene. Libby hands the actor's headshot-- a photograph of the actor, usually black and white, stapled to the back of his resume -- to the director. The actor has "sides" with him, portions of the script containing only the scenes with his character. He takes a seat in the chair facing the others and the audition starts.
"What we're looking at are two tumors in your stomach the size of small cantaloupes."
Libby reads the lines for every other character in the doctor's scenes. While she and the actor perform the scene, the producers, writer and director scribble notes about the actor's performance. And just like that, his audition is over, and he leaves.
Libby gets hundreds of submissions for each role and it's her job to decide who gets to see the producers. She usually brings in five or ten actors to audition for each part. The other male roles this week include a grieving widower and a handsome young bartender. The female roles being cast today are a woman who is given a diagnosis of terminal cancer and some talking, disembodied heads in glass jars, which appear in a dream sequence. The process moves quickly - about five or six actors audition every 15 minutes.
After the day's auditions are over, Libby spreads the actors' headshots on the floor for the producers, writer and director to review. Together, they discuss who should get the roles. They agree very quickly on most of the parts, but have the hardest time choosing the six actresses to play the heads. A lot of the auditions were good.
In the end, the deciding factor is the size of their heads. Now I know the truth about what it takes to get a break in Hollywood. Talent is important and looks don't hurt, but for six lucky actresses who will appear on the next episode of Six Feet Under, it all comes down to whether your head will fit into a jar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Mortuary Fact
Mark Gruenwald, the influential Marvel Comics editor who helped create Captain America, wanted his ashes mixed with ink and printed into a comic book after his death. His wife followed his wishes, and his remains were printed into a special edition poster of 'Squadron Supreme' in 1996. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
