Barbie Block is vivacious, charismatic, and filled to the brim with gratitude for the position she holds in the industry. Her love of casting is shared by her partner, Sally Stiner, with whom she has worked for eight years.
“Sally and I have a love of actors. We both come from big families and we look at the world the same way. We go into projects in the service of our producer and that means we’ll have more sessions if the producer is not satisfied,” Block explained.
She sees casting as a hands-on job. “Sally taught me that this is a puzzle. You must look at the big picture of how the cast fits with one another. Sometimes someone you want to hire just doesn’t fit with the rest of the cast,” she said, adding, “If you’re not a warm and nurturing person, don’t have my job.” Throughout our breakfast interview, Block made it clear that casting is all about family—being one and working as one.
First casting job
Producing Dance Party USA for the USA Network. “I helped train an 18-year-old Kelly Ripa—along with these other kids with no host experience—as the host of the show. I knew I wanted to be a producer. I’d gone to Rutgers [University] for journalism and then moved back to Philadelphia. The only thing going on there was Dance Party USA. I was a receptionist and I began talking with the producer. He recognized that I knew something and moved me up. I kept getting better titles doing all sorts of publicity, getting the hosts on the teen magazines, and moving up.”
In 1992, Block moved to LA to pursue work as a producer. “I knew one person in Los Angeles: an actor. I had no connections! Someone recommended that I call [casting director] Megan Branman and we did a general. The joy with which she talked about her job had such an impact on me. I don’t even think she knows that! So, after our meeting, I went to the phone book to look up ‘Casting,’ and found one listing: Barbara Claman. I put on my little pink suit and went in with my briefcase, and Barbara said, ‘You may have been a big deal in your other life, but you don’t know shit about casting. Come and be my free intern.’ She was 200% right. I checked my ego at the door and realized I didn’t know anything or anyone, but I recall sitting on the floor with Eyde Belasco—who was a temp—going through photos and learning the actors, learning my options in casting.”
Block moved up through the ranks from intern to assistant in just a few weeks, then stayed only a couple of months with Claman. She went on to work with David Giella on Blank Check and learned from his session notes. “He told me why things worked and why they didn’t work. He was a wonderful instructor.” Block also learned from her next employer, Pamela Basker, with whom she worked on Naked Gun 33-1/3. “I then worked with Amy Lippens on Camp Nowhere, her first casting job. Director Jonathan Prince was very inclusive. Even though I was the associate, I learned so much from being in on conversations and decisions.”
After a few more projects with Lippens, Block began working as associate to Sally Stiner in 1994. “I owe a special thank you to Sally,” Block said of her now-partner. “The dynamic of two women working together can be a really wonderful thing or it can be a really competitive thing. Sally gave me my first opportunity to cast my own show—Boy Meets World. [Executive producer] Michael Jacobs let me have that opportunity knowing Sally would be there if I needed her. It gave me the confidence to work on my own as well as building up the partnership with Sally,” Block said of the assignment that would end up lasting for six years.
Coolest casting gig
Block described a current project—the Fox midseason replacement series The Pitts—which stars Dylan Baker, Kellie Waymire, Lizzy Caplan, and David Henrie. “It’s a live-action Simpsons. This family of four has a different disaster each week.” The Simpsons connection is not an accident. The show is exec produced by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully. “They’re family people,” Block explained of the industry couple with five daughters of their own. She is further gratified by the fact that her top picks won the roles. “They got all their first choices. The network didn’t pass on any of the favorites.”
Best way to get seen by her
Submissions. “We go through every submission. Both of us! We both look at every piece of mail. There is no A, B, or C pile. We categorize by role and know that sometimes it’s the small agency that works its butt off for its actors. We have relationships with agents and managers because I need people who will get me those actors for the one- and two-liners.”
Block commented that she sees as many as 75 actors for a one-line role, explaining that an actor should never shun that opportunity. “We’ve had people go from being co-stars to series regulars. That happened with Two Guys and a Girl, with Boy Meets World, it just happens all the time. Once we cast someone—even with just one line—they’re like our babies. We never forget!”
Currently casting
In addition to casting The Pitts for Fox, Block is gearing up for a couple of pilots with her partner—including both drama and comedy. “We don’t do just one thing. Casting directors get pegged like actors do—but we do everything,” she said.
Proof of that comes from the feature film Hooking Up which Block is co-producing with Roger Pugliese for director Steven Feder. “We’re trying to attach a lead right now. It’s very dark and timely—and there’s a fabulous role for an 18-year-old girl.”
Block is also developing a MOW called The Jackie Johnson Story based on the true story of a murder in Mexico. “This woman’s daughter was killed there and there have been many twists and turns with no cooperation from Mexico. This woman is agoraphobic and the story is hers. It’s going to be an amazing role for a woman in her 40s,” Block said of the project she is casting and co-producing.
Key things she looks for in an actor
A spark. “Actors know I love them. I know their work. If I see a spark in their reading, I’ll give direction, I’ll give them confidence, I’ll have the agent tell the actor to come early so we can talk about the role.”
“Every actor I put in front of the producer is a reflection of me,” she continued, adding that she values training over experience—at least on paper. “I read resumes from the bottom up. [Having] two lines on a sitcom doesn’t impress me. I love to find a well-trained actor and bring them to producers to share their craft.”
Her opinion on cold reading workshops
“We do not do workshops in our office,” Block said, explaining that she and her partner are in the majority—casting directors who do not participate in pay-to-play one-night events. “Instead, we do tons of prereads to meet more actors. We also attend showcases and [scout at] places like the Groundlings and HBO Workspace,” she insisted.
Advice for actors
“Never negate the preread,” she said of the experience so many experienced actors dread. “There is helpful information there and you should want to come get that before going in front of producers. I know what people put into an audition. I know how much time goes into those three minutes in the room. Let me help you by steering you through the preread.”
Another piece of advice comes down to preparedness. “Always have a headshot and resume on your person. Not in your car—which could be all the way across the studio lot—but on you. It’s better to have two headshots and resumes in a casting office than zero,” she said. “And have everything stapled. If you hand me unstapled pages you start our meeting on a task and you don’t want to do that. Oh, and don’t alter your performance between your preread and the producer session. If you do that, I’m sitting there wondering what coach you went to and why.”
Her operating system
Block described an office organized by category (much like the Academy Players Directory categories) and a lack of interest in the office intercom system. “We yell back and forth between rooms,” she remarked of her communication with partner Stiner.
“We keep postcards. That’s the number one way to stay in touch. If you have anything new to say, that’s the best reminder for us. We keep a postcard file and bring people in for generals. I’ll always pull a postcard to show an actor I bring in that the postcard was money well spent.”
Another part of Block’s operating system is her VCR. “I tape television. I watch TV on tape so that I can pause the show and write down names of people I want to meet. Hey, I had to come up with a job where I could put my feet up at the end of the day, watch TV, and say, ‘I’m working!'”
Highlight of her week
Her work with New Leash on Life, a dog rescue program. “I now call casting my hobby,” she joked. “My volunteer work with NLOL.org and fostering dogs when I’m on hiatus has really added balance to my life. I used to be all about the business, but since I got involved with these puppy adoptions a year ago, I have found balance.”
Most gratifying part of her job
“Giving people jobs. There is nothing more joyful than greeting the guest star of the week. I love going to the set and welcoming that guest star. Being the first ones hired on to a project, working with writers to bring their vision to life, and seeing them hear their words for the first time—that’s exciting!”
This interview was conducted on December 7, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.