Iris Grossman‘s first job as a casting director is her most recent one: Senior Vice President of Talent and Casting for Turner Network Television, where she oversaw casting of all TNT original films and specials. She joined up with TNT in 1993 and worked in a supervisory capacity on projects such as Gettysburg and Frankenstein. She casts by instinct, and is rewarded by doing so.
Road to This Position
Grossman was an agent at ICM for more than 12 years. “The opportunity arose and I decided to make a career change – which wasn’t that much of a career change,” she explained. “Instead of selling a small client list, I now have a very large client list. Now it’s every actor in the city.” The major difference between her job at ICM and the one at TNT is what Grossman qualifies as a “fun” difference. “Instead of telling actors they didn’t get the job, I get to tell actors they did get the job.”
Coolest Casting Gig
Grossman refers to her many projects as her children, insisting, “all my children are my favorites.” Grossman was nominated for an Emmy in casting George Wallace and she won the CSA Artios Award that year. “That was a real turning point in my career,” she said. “I realized that I could do it. The acknowledgment and the validation of working on that project was incredible.”
In addition to the professional acknowledgment, Grossman holds a special place in her heart for her work with Nuremburg. She explained, “the whole concept of the Nuremburg Trials and the Holocaust and the justice that was performed on a humanitarian level was really quite moving for me.”
Grossman continued, “but there’s not any of my kids that I don’t love in their own way. They each were special. Even the ones where I may feel I made a mistake, when I thought I was casting it right but didn’t – when I went with a certain name instead of going with the actor who may have been perfect – [the project] is still one of my kids and I love them all.”
That statement caused me to ask about the importance of instinct in the job of casting director. Grossman’s response was simple, “The job is 85% instinct and 15% luck.”
Key Things She Looks for in an Actor
“I love working with smart actors. I love working with actors who love to act,” she said. “I had the pleasure last year of working on The Mists of Avalon with Joan Allen, Anjelica Huston, Samantha Mathis, Julianna Margulies, Caroline Goodall – extraordinary actresses – and to get to cast a piece for actresses and to hire that many women for such great roles, that was wonderful.”
Pet Peeves
Grossman mentioned the same thing that is on the pet peeve list of every casting director, “People who aren’t prepared, who didn’t do their homework.” Additionally, Grossman wants you to treat the audition process with respect, meaning that you dress for your audition. “I see so much inappropriate dressing; like they’re going to the beach. Dress like a professional. I’m not saying you have to wear a suit and tie, but be clean.”
Advice for Actors
At a recent seminar, Grossman commented that the biggest piece of advice is to be prepared and professional. She elaborated, “Know what you’re doing, make a choice, come prepared, study your craft, and if you’re coming in to read for a nurse, you don’t have to wear a nurse’s uniform. We have an imagination too.”
Doris Roberts, who also spoke at that seminar, gave the “most incredible advice,” according to Grossman. “She said you have to go in with a positive attitude. A negative attitude – they smell it coming through the door. Take the chip off your shoulder, take the negativity and leave it outside, go in, do your best,” Grossman recalled. “In casting, we want you to be the one who’s going to get the part because then the job is done. I want you to come in and get it.”
Continuing her explanation of the damage actors’ negativity can do, Grossman revealed, “When I was an agent, it was my fault that the casting director appeared the enemy to the actor,” and she speculated that this is still the case. “Depending on the level of the actor’s experience, the casting director will never ask a huge star or someone with an extraordinary amount of credits to come read for them just because it’s an ego trip. If a casting director asks them in, it’s to read with them, not for them.” Grossman explained, “I’ve been in enough readings where I’m going to help you with your reading. You have to give the casting director some benefit of the doubt that we’re there to help the actors,” she said. Further clarifying the role of the casting director, Grossman asserted, “we’re not just people who make lists and check off names. If it weren’t for certain casting directors – and a lot of actors acknowledge it – they wouldn’t have had career chances.”
So, what can agents do to soothe the perception that the casting director is not on the actor’s side? “Agents have to be a little less protective of their clients and a little more trusting of the casting director,” she replied. Quickly, Grossman added, “of course, there’s always going to have been one bad experience that makes someone think that all of them are bad experiences. I heard the stories as an agent about the casting director who conducted an audition never looking up, eating lunch, talking on the phone. That’s inexcusable. That’s not somebody who should ever get another job. They have to have respect for the actor and the actor has to have respect for the casting director and the process,” she concluded.
Her Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
Grossman described online services as “interesting, but I don’t think we’re all really savvy on it yet. Do I look at the [Academy] Players Guide online? Yes, but it’s faster to look it up in the book. There are certain websites that are sophisticated, or I’ll go to SAG online to check who someone is with, but as far as those companies that want to come in and make me buy their equipment in order to give me the service that [the actors] have to pay for, I’m not going to do that.” Is electronic casting the wave of the future? According to Grossman, “it’s coming, but not yet.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Her
“I go through agents, I go through managers. I open their submissions.” What about the non-represented actor? “I attend theatre, so you may drop me a note if you’re doing a show. I do have a staff and they’ll go see a great play, as will I. We’re limited, in that we can’t see every showcase, but we’ll hear about it if it’s a good show and we’ll see it,” she affirmed.
What She Would Change About the Casting Process
Grossman quoted the all-time favorite casting director statement from Barbara Miller, “Everyone has two jobs. Their job and casting,” and followed that with a laugh and the comment, “it’s the truest thing!” Grossman said she would change the level of input from non-casting directors. “I would change the fact that people who do not know what an actor’s ability is make a decision on them. When actors are pigeon-holed based on something they [were] in, but I’ve seen them do remarkable theatre work and I know what’s in there, it’s frustrating.” She continued, “We want the whole business to trust that we know what we’re doing, in casting.”
I asked about Grossman’s opinion of the lack of awards for casting, and the potential for change. “It won’t take away anyone else’s glory to give an award to the casting director or to even thank them for the ensemble that they’ve assembled,” she said. “[Those who do get the awards] can’t do it alone. And there are directors that use the same casting director time and time again – they wouldn’t think of doing a film without that person at their side. So, there is some reward for it, but no awards,” she summarized.
Highlight of Her Week
Grossman quickly laughed, “Friday! That’s the highlight of my week. Look at me, going for the joke!”
Most Gratifying Part of the Job
“Seeing an actor come in and nail it. Seeing the actor light up a room and get the job and change their life. Or seeing someone who’s been doing it a long time find a new shade or new level or reinvent themselves. Those discoveries are the rewards.”
This interview was conducted on May 21, 2001, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.