From the street, the building that houses Romano Benner Casting looks like any other hospital. But driving into the parking lot, one is met by a guard who asks, “Are you here with background?” Once a functioning hospital, this is now the location for Scrubs, the über-hit of last season, gaining steam in its sophomore season on NBC in the sweet Thursday night 8:30 pm slot after Friends.
On the first floor of this hospital-turned-set is the casting office occupied by partners Debby Romano and Brett Benner. This duo took home the 2002 CSA Artios Award for excellence in comedic pilot casting for their work on Scrubs. The glow of excitement has not rubbed off this Emmy-nominated pair. In fact, they are eager to take on a few more award-caliber pilots in the new year.
First Collaboration
Benner and Romano first worked together at Liberman Hirschfeld Casting. Romano began casting in 1990, working for Buck Edleman Casting. “I was there for two-and-a-half years,” she said, “and then I worked with Denise Chamian for a year-and-a-half before going to Liberman Hirschfeld. Seinfeld was the allure. I was thrilled to get to work on that show,” Romano explained. After working on Grace Under Fire, her “first little baby” with Liberman Hirschfeld was the pilot for That ’70s Show.
Benner came to casting by way of acting. “I’d been studying under Tony Sepulveda at the Groundlings and casting looked like a cool thing to do. Tony brought me to [Liberman Hirschfeld Casting], where I started out as a receptionist. This was the actor’s equivalent of a dream job, really,” he remarked. Benner’s first show as assistant casting director was Party of Five, followed by associate-level gigs with The Drew Carey Show and the pilot and first season of Norm.
When partner Marc Hirschfeld assumed his position as Executive Vice President of Talent and Casting at NBC, the pair decided the time for transition was right. Romano Benner Casting was born in 1999.
How They Work Together
“Really, we learned how to work together over time,” Romano began. “He’s a trained actor—so he communicates really well with actors—and I’ve been doing this a bit longer, so I have a larger database of actors in my head. This job has different challenges for both of us, but together we make one great casting director,” she joked.
“You say that and no one will ever hire us!” Benner exclaimed with a hearty laugh. “I think the best part of being in a partnership like ours is the way we’re able to handle pilot season. There are moments of ‘freak out’ in any casting office. We make sure that, when one of us is freaking out, the other is grounded enough to help us work through it.”
Coolest Casting Gig
Without any hesitation, the pair insisted their current gig is by far the coolest. And how did they get this gig? “By default,” admitted Romano. “Christa Miller [show-creator Bill Lawrence’s wife] had suggested other casting directors who—turns out—had to pass,” she said. Benner explained, “We each got the script, went home, started reading it, and got on the phone to feel each other out. We knew that this was not like anything else on TV.” “We really wanted to do this,” Romano added.
“Bill is an amazing producer. We worshipped him and his process [during pilot casting]. He would ask, ‘What do you think?’ and not mean it as a rhetorical question,” Benner recalled. “The whole casting process was filled with collaborative decisions. The producer could say yes or no, but if there were someone we were passionate about, Bill would listen to us,” Romano explained.
Specifically, those instincts came into play with the casting of veteran stage and feature actor John C. McGinley in the role of Dr. Perry Cox. Benner admitted, “He fell off in his second reading. He had been so powerful, but something went wrong. I don’t know—if we had made the final list based on that read—whether we would’ve put him in. But Bill has great instincts.” “For a producer to be so familiar with actors is really a rarity,” Romano commented. “He completely knew what he could get out of John.”
Key Things They Look for in an Actor
“With Scrubs,” Romano explained, “it varies from week to week. But we’ve built this hospital community in such a way that we like to litter the scenes with familiar faces.” She went on to remark that an actor who had one word in an episode during season one has been brought back repeatedly. “That is nice, because his role has been able to grow.” Benner singled out Aloma Wright, who plays Nurse Lavern Roberts. “She is an older actress who had two lines in the pilot. That’s it. She worked on 19 episodes last year! She is now so identifiable with the cast, and that just proves that there is so much room to grow, here.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Them
Submissions. “We look at everything that comes in,” Romano insisted. “Often, there’s no time for Breakdowns, so we keep extensive files from workshops and people we’ve read before. We’ll call agents directly,” she listed. “We also go to plays,” Benner added. “And watch a ton of television. We watch more hour than half-hour television, but I think that’s just due to our personal tastes. Scrubs is not a standard half-hour ‘ha-ha’ show. We’re looking for interesting faces, interesting types. And we do generals,” he claimed.
As for their favorite type of submission, Romano explained that they are big fans of postcards. “They are the best. They’re like flash cards for us to flip through.” Benner added, “And they cost less. That’s just good business.”
The pair also frequents casting director workshops, despite the controversy on their legality. Romano stated, “We can see 20 people a night in a workshop. Now, we might not have a role that an actor we saw that night is right for for a year or more, but we keep extensive files. Having patience is one of the hardest parts of the workshop experience for an actor.” As evidence of their high workshop casting ratio, Benner offered this bit of information: “With Drew Carey, we had 22 episodes one year in which 19 roles were cast from workshops.” Benner conceded that some actors they see at workshops are not ready for the experience, “and some people may just be off that particular night, but there are people who are with agents and who have worked, but are just not getting out for some reason, so the workshop becomes a casting opportunity.”
What an Actor Should Do in the Room
“It’s important to have the sides in your hand,” Romano insisted. “Actors feel that they’ll look stupid if they have to hold sides. No! Hold them! And don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re in the preread situation,” she added.
“I want to see consistency,” Benner interjected. “If you’re called back, wear the same thing. Do the same thing. Sometimes, the callback happens so quickly, you are back in our office in an hour, so that’s easy.” The mistake actors make, according to Benner, is changing an element of their read between the preread and the callback. “We see that more than anything. I’d like to suggest that—if you don’t know what got you the callback—you ask what you did that got you there. We’ll tell you! We want you to do it again,” he revealed.
Advice for Actors
“Do your homework and know that we’re rooting for you,” Romano stated. “That’s so true,” Benner concurred. “We’re on your side. Casting directors are as individual as actors themselves, and we hear about actors going into a cold room to read, but generally, we are all on your side.”
In addition to knowing that the casting director is rooting for you, Romano wants all actors to take special care in selecting headshots. “Actors’ photos need to look like them. And include on your resume your height, maybe your weight, your hair and eye color. Sometimes we’re looking to cast someone who is not taller than someone else, so those stats are important. But most important: Look like your headshot,” she insisted. “If you’ve grown facial hair, let us know when you’re coming in. And let us know if you’re willing to shave. These things do make a difference,” Benner agreed.
Most Gratifying Part of Their Job
Former actor Benner began, “I’ve gotten to read with so many actors I wouldn’t have read with as an actor. I knew I wanted to do something more than what I could contribute acting. This is it.” Romano commented, “We are so lucky to be able to see actors grow. To see Topher [Grace, whom she cast in That ’70s Show] in Traffic and watch him go toe-to-toe with Michael Douglas was very rewarding.” “We love making those calls,” Benner added. “To hear people scream on the other end of the phone when we tell them they booked the job–that’s a great part of the process.”
This interview was conducted on October 24, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.