Is it possible to have never seen a film cast by Debra Zane? Doubtful. With films like Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, Stuart Little, American Beauty, Pleasantville, Wag the Dog, and Men In Black to her credit, Zane has populated cinematic worlds supported by millions in box office dollars. When Kevin Spacey thanked Zane in his Oscar acceptance speech for his role in American Beauty, he made fans out of the casting community, including – of course – Zane herself.
From her modest offices in Miracle Mile, Zane and I discussed the lack of a Best Casting Oscar, the pending renovations to her office (“When we can be elsewhere for a couple of weeks”), and the elements that make casting a gratifying job, Oscar or no Oscar.
First Casting Job
Assistant to David Rubin on The War of the Roses for 20th Century Fox. “Danny DeVito directed it. I’d worked on the film Men Don’t Leave that Paul Brickman directed. David was the casting director and I was a PA for the last month of preproduction. That’s where I met David. After Men Don’t Leave, he hired me to be his assistant,” Zane said.
“I always thought that I could do [casting]. I loved actors, and that’s all I really knew of it – was actors and their different roles. As a child I was aware of the casting director’s place in the credits of a film. I knew she put actors in different roles,” Zane explained.
Coolest Casting Gig
Zane thought about this question for quite some time prior to answering. “The most fun? For a long time, that was Get Shorty, which I also did with David [Rubin]. That was so much fun. Every day was a blast. [The film] is so good,” Zane recalled. “What project am I the proudest of? There are two: American Beauty and Traffic,” she listed.
Key Things She Looks for in an Actor
That depends on the role. “I make it very role-specific, in terms of what I look for,” Zane explained. “Am I looking for a bartender? Am I looking for the president of the Rotary Club? I’m going to need the most appropriate qualities for that character. I heard myself say on the phone today to an agent, ‘Yeah, of course, she could play the part, but [she’s] not exactly what I’m looking for. [The actor] needs to be more like [this].’ I need to believe [an actor] the most in that role. I need to believe that the actor could live as that other person,” Zane concluded.
Pet Peeves
Unpreparedness. “You can never be too prepared,” she said. And when Zane’s office calls you in, you will have time to prepare. “To be not prepared – that really bugs me. We give people [appointments] days in advance. Today is Friday and we’re booking appointments for Wednesday. You don’t really have an excuse, even if you have three appointments in one day. With us, you’ve had time to go through the material a little bit,” Zane summarized. “Honestly – and I think Cuba Gooding, Jr., said this – your job, as an actor, is to come in and do well at auditions,” she reported.
Advice for Actors
“Stay on top of the business. Read the trades and know who’s who and what’s going on. Don’t expect that your agent will always have you in mind [while looking at the Breakdowns]. If you’re aware of projects going on, you can call [your agent] and say, ‘I hear so-and-so is casting this project. Can you get me an audition? Can I get a script?’ You can even send the casting director a note. You have to help yourself.” Zane stressed that telephone calls are frowned upon. “Actors need to contact us by mail,” she insisted.
Best Way to Get Seen by Her
“I know there are many actors in this town who will tell you that they have been in this office and have been hired by sending a postcard or sending a picture and a resume in the mail,” Zane assured. “No agent, no nothing.”
What about theatre?
“I have to admit, I attend very little theatre these days because I have a new baby, but Erin [Toner], my assistant, does go to showcases that I think look interesting and she will tell me who she thought might be interesting [to bring in].”
Trends She Has Observed in the Casting Process
Internationalization. “It’s a global marketplace, as we all know, but I’ve noticed a lot more international actors in movies, and they’re more and more accepted in leading roles, which is really nice, I think,” Zane asserted.
Her Biggest Casting Challenge
“Chris Cooper’s role in American Beauty was hard to cast,” Zane recalled, thoughtfully. “It’s hard to explain, but it was so delicate, and we knew we didn’t want to signal things by casting it a certain way. But I knew when I read the script that that role would be the tough one [to cast]. Sometimes you can tell right away which roles will be hard [to cast],” she noted.
“Kids are hard. When kids have a big part and you have to do searches, you’re looking at as many six-year-olds as you can find, and then you see a child in the mall and you ask the mom, ‘Can I talk to you for a moment?’ it’s just a funny situation.”
Her Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
Zane’s office does not use any online casting services. “We still pop a tape in the VCR here. We do it all day long. We’re big TV/VCR people.” That does not mean that Zane wants your unsolicited demo reel. “An unsolicited tape is a little tricky, especially if it’s not sent for a specific role. We’re so busy looking at tapes we’ve requested and then editing together tapes of actors to send to directors and producers, there’s just no time to look at an unsolicited demo. It’s not a top priority,” Zane shared.
A goal for Zane’s office is to begin editing sessions onto discs. “We’re big tape-makers right now, but later this year, we’ll be doing editing on the computer and sending out our sessions on DVD.”
What She Would Change About the Casting Process
Zane considered this concept carefully before answering. “It’s a very awkward process, and yet a very necessary process. It’s imperfect, but it is what it is,” Zane expressed. “I’m tempted to say that I’d like more actors to be more willing to audition. But we’re working with directors now whom actors are thrilled to read for. They are happy to do it, eager to do it. Luckily, we’ve got that enthusiasm now.”
Highlight of Her Week
“We like auditions. I bet there are too many casting directors who don’t enjoy sessions. We love them. We really love them! We’re always happy to see the actors, we always thank them for coming, we have a good time, we always wish we had more props for them to play with and could set the stage and rehearse it more,” Zane concluded with a laugh.
Most Gratifying Part of Her Job
“We’re happy whenever a decision gets made,” Zane said with a broad smile. “That, and when we go to the movie and say, ‘Gee. Look at that,’ when it exceeds our expectations.”
This interview was conducted on February 8, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.