Danny Goldman is a character actor. He has appeared in front of the camera on such shows as CHiPs, Happy Days, Soap, The Golden Girls, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. He was the voice of Brainy Smurf and on top of all this, he has been a very busy commercial and voiceover casting director for over 20 years. He still directs theatre and occasionally acts to this day. He knows exactly how to put an actor at ease, as long as you can stand to hear it exactly like it is.
What Makes a Former Actor a Good Casting Director?
“I won’t keep people waiting. People keep actors waiting forever and I don’t believe you get a good audition when people are pissed off for having waited an hour. You’re already schlepping out all over town and spending the day in the car. Actors are treated badly, and I know that, so I want to make sure they have someone on their side, here,” Goldman said.
Pet Peeves
Overdoing it. “Actors asking questions for the sake of asking questions, not to get answers. They work the room when it’s a taped audition. That schmoozing doesn’t translate and it makes the actor look unprofessional.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Him
Come by. “I have a drop-off box in the lobby, so actors can come in and drop off a new headshot, an updated resume, whatever. I go to showcases or the theatre about once a week. I know now what every New York casting director already knows and that’s, ‘You have to go out at night.’ I like showcases and I like to attend comedy and sketch shows. It’s a bad idea, though, to over-hype a bad show. Make sure it’s a show you want me to see before you invite me to it,” he requested.
His Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
“I’m old-fashioned, I don’t care for it. I tried [using an online casting service]. It’s a lot of work. I just don’t want to sit in front of a computer all day. I know people who like it, but I’m just too fidgety! I’d rather go out into the lobby and ask if anybody knows anyone like what I’m looking for,” Goldman said, gesturing toward a lobby buzzing with activity.
Trends He Has Observed in the Casting Process
“Improv, improv, improv! If you can’t do improv in an audition, you’re screwed. That idiot union says not to do improv in an audition, that we have to use sides. Forget it! Improv is the way we see what you can really do,” Goldman explained, noting that producers are looking for improv now more than ever.
Most Gratifying Part of His Job
“We want to book someone we believe in, someone we enjoy. We’ll keep bringing them in until the producers see what we see. Have passion for acting. There’s lots of disappointment, lots of rejection in acting. Do it for the joy of it and not for what you hope to gain. If you’re not passionate about it, don’t do it.”
This interview was conducted on February 15, 2001, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.