Brendon Fox, associate director for the Globe Theatres in San Diego, started out in Chicago, where he first developed his sense for what casting really is. “Back then, I used to think casting directors were ones who cast the plays. Now, I liken casting directors to brokers and the play’s directors to house-hunters. I have a client. As a broker, I listen to what that client needs.”
So, if the casting director is the broker and the director is the house-hunter—you guessed it—the actor is the house. “Out of all the houses out there, I have to find a range of different kinds that meet that house-hunter’s needs,” Fox continued. In his role as casting director, Fox behaves as a sounding board for the strengths and weaknesses of each actor the director has seen. “We talk about a connection. We discuss whether they are on the same wavelength about the play.”
That connection has become far more important to Fox than any amount of A-level representation, big-theatre credits, or prior experience within that role.
First casting job
In 1995 as an assistant at the Court Theatre in Chicago. “I did that for a year and then began freelance directing in Chicago,” Fox recalled. His first full-time casting gig is his current one, which he assumed in 1998. “I moved to San Diego from Chicago. They needed me to cast Romeo and Juliet for [director] Dan Sullivan. I ended up flying to New York to scout [actors].”
On Globetrotting
“We do up to 14 shows a year at the Globe. We’re in production year-round. I always need to take into account where the director is based. It’s important to consider where the pool of actors each director is most familiar with is located.”
With three theatres making up the oldest professional theatre in California—Old Globe Theatre (563 seats), Cassius Carter Centre Stage (225 seats), and Lowell Davies Festival Theatre (612 seats)—Fox regularly holds bicoastal auditions to find the best casts. He especially casts beyond the city limits of San Diego for the large Shakespearian shows each summer. “Even so, it is easier to get a lot of people to audition in L.A. in the summer months. I find agents are reticent to let actors loose for theatre at other times of the year because of pilot season,” he said.
Coolest casting gig
Fox named two. First, the Santa Fe Stages’ production of The Cherry Orchard in 2001. “This was starring Marsha Mason and with Tom Moore directing. It was an extraordinary experience, auditioning actors. To get to hear Chekhov all day and then see these actors, to see Tom working with these actors, to see what he gave them to think about—that was extraordinary. Tom is so open with communication.” Although Fox spent several months casting that production, he felt as though each day was a process of discovery worth every moment.
The other favorite project in Fox’s casting career was his first with The Globe Theatres, Romeo and Juliet. “Working with Dan for the first time—in New York—was wonderful. We saw a lot of great actors for that project. Tom and Dan have very different ways of directing actors,” he noted. “I just love to be able to talk to the directors and see the play through their eyes. I end up putting out Breakdowns culled from conversations with the directors. I need to know who these characters are to them so that I can bring the most appropriate people to the roles.”
Currently casting
Fox will hold auditions at the Globe in late January and early February for David Edgar’s Pentecost, directed by Mark Lamos, and then begin seeing actors for the premiere of Knowing Cairo, a new play by local playwright Andrea Stolowitz, with director Seret Scott.
As a part of his 1999-garnered title of associate director for the Globe Theatres, Fox is directing—both at the Globe and in other theatres. In fact, our recent phone interview took place while Fox was in New York, on lunch break from directing the restoration comedy Sir Patient Fancy for Juilliard’s graduating fourth year students. “This is a big cast—60—a very talented group. It’s a very funny farce.
“I find casting and directing to be symbiotic. I bring actors in for other directors and then keep them in mind for my own projects and I remember them as a director and bring them in for other directors.”
Best way to get seen by him
Submissions by mail—but never phone calls—are enthusiastically welcomed. Fox understands that not all great actors have representation. “That comes from having spent a number of years in Chicago where very good actors are not represented. I keep that in mind here. I don’t hold it against an actor because he’s not represented. I open everything that comes in. I’ve brought in people who have agents, don’t have agents, whatever,” Fox said.
One note about the Globe Theatres: the association with the University San Diego, along with its LORT status, requires that any non-Equity actors are either graduate students or local hires.
Beyond that qualification, Fox checks your credits. “It’s very often about the resume—especially due to the classical work that we do. The caliber of directors that artistic director Jack O’Brien brings in to the Globe means that, with actors, the more experience they have—not necessarily that they’ve done that play, but some classical work—the better. It really can tip the scales.”
Key things he looks for in an actor
“I keep files from submissions. I don’t just go off what agents tell me about an actor. In fact, I’ll go back through my files after I’ve reread the play in case someone I already have on file is right. I do get submissions from agents and I always look at that resume—yes, the picture to some degree, but I tend to get a lot of pictures that are more commercial than theatrical, and that isn’t always helpful to me. If the actor has good credits, I’ll contact the theatre or director [of a particularly strong credit listed] and follow up to see how things went with that actor during the run.
“It’s very difficult, though. There are so many roles to cast and sometimes I only have two days. I simply can’t exhaust the director with too many actors. I can’t bring in everyone. I want to, but really for each person I bring in, I’d better have a specific reason why.”
Fox cited an example from last year’s production of Pericles. “I brought in some very different guys—physically and emotionally. I knew I could only bring in five or six guys for that role because there were 13 other roles to cast. I brought in some people I hadn’t seen before, but then—when I do that—I can’t say to director, ‘Oh, I’ve worked with him,’ or, ‘So-and-so spoke of him very highly.’ Those things do matter. I do have to do my research.”
And what does that research entail, for Fox? “The actor’s attitude during performances. Theatres talk. They remember those attitudes. We all keep each other posted, in theatre. I’ll often have an actor come in and ask, ‘How did you learn about me?’ I have done research. That’s how.”
What to expect on his stage
“I know that everyone’s time is precious. I respect the time of everyone involved. I do that by limiting the number of actors who audition. I’ve learned that everyone benefits from my backing off the quantity and giving the director more time with each actor. It’s psychological more than literal. By bringing in fewer people, my directors feel like they have more options to work with the actor during his audition.”
With all the classical pieces put on at the Globe Theatres each year, Fox is spending time during that audition working toward the right fit. “This will be three-and-a-half to four weeks spent together on difficult material. I need to make sure this is the right fit.
“Remember that the time is yours. Everyone wants everyone to succeed. I try to create the most positive environment so that everyone does their best work. After an audition, you should feel OK. Instead of putting all the power in the hands of the people behind the table, walk out feeling like you haven’t just thrown fate up to the winds.”
Advice for actors
Just keep working. “Every show you do—no matter where: upstate wherever, some place where no one’s going to hear about it or even see it—every credit on your resume counts. Give that fact priority over how big the theatre is. Focus on the role itself. When I’m casting Proof, the fact that someone had done Proof—even if it was not at the Mark Taper Forum—matters to me.”
The most gratifying part of his job
“Being surprised in the audition room by an actor’s choice, a moment between an actor and director, a new way of looking at the text or the character. Being in the room with the director, yet getting to be invisible. The actor comes into the room and it becomes about the actor and the director. I get to see risks taken and a dynamic relationship develop between the actor and the director. That’s what I love.”
This interview was conducted on January 11, 2003, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.