Julie Hutchinson, 20th Century Fox’s VP of Features Casting, is challenged by the need to consider creative and marketing elements when casting. “Casting is not magic. We are satisfying all of the creative entities involved in the project. There are a lot of people who need to be satisfied. While we are looking for talent, we are also visualizing the one-sheet for the film, knowing that profitability is a consideration. It’s a balancing act between art and commerce,” she explained.
Hutchinson acknowledged that there are times when commerce wins, times when art wins, and times when her team strikes a balance between the two. While laughing about the absurdity of it all, she summarized, “We’re basically looking for a star that nobody’s heard of who has the power to bring in an audience and who will work for scale.”
First Casting Job
Hutchinson started out in New York as an associate for now-retired casting director Barbara Shapiro. “I worked with her for five years. I cut my teeth there on 57th St. We cast hundreds of commercials while I was there. We worked on many of [director] John Sayles’ films, which was a magnificent experience for me. We cast a little bit of theatre at the Arena Stage in Washington as well. It was a spectacular experience. It enabled me to learn the business, while starting my casting career in New York. That was just extraordinary,” Hutchinson described.
Hutchinson studied acting at U.C. Santa Cruz. “Clutching my bachelor’s degree in theatre, I went to New York to be an actress,” she recalled. Hutchinson met Shapiro through a friend and started working as an assistant to her right away. “It was perfect. I needed to learn more about the business and I needed a survival job. I frankly did not know what I wanted to do, except to be in New York doing something.” At the time, Hutchinson had no idea that her survival job would turn into her career.
Road to This Position
Hutchinson took a break from casting. “I unsuccessfully explored journalism for a while,” she joked. When she returned to Los Angeles to resume casting, she started off doing freelance casting assignments. She connected with Donna Isaacson, current Executive VP of Casting at 20th Century Fox. “We did [1991’s] Father of the Bride together. Then I went on to work with Amanda Mackey and Cathy Sandrich on Patriot Games,” she recalled. Hutchinson and Isaacson got together again to cast the Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes action thriller Rising Sun from an office on the 20th Century Fox studio lot.
“Donna and I were here, thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if they had a casting department right here at Fox?’ Little did we know at that time that a few years later, we would be here,” Hutchinson said. Before the department opened up, Hutchinson was Director of Casting at CBS for three years. “I spent three to four nights a week at comedy clubs, scouting for our shows. I had a fantastic time learning about television. It’s a totally different world.” Hutchinson, the VP of Features Casting, has been with 20th Century Fox for six years.
Coolest Casting Gig
Hutchinson named her coolest gig in recent history: the feature Unfaithful. “I got the opportunity to be hands-on with that film before we put our casting directors on. I got to spend time in the room with [director] Adrian Lyne, who was fantastic to work with. We got to audition all of these young, up-and-coming and established actors for the lover role [ultimately portrayed by Olivier Martinez]. I love reading with actors, and reading with actors for that role was quite memorable,” she indicated.
Key Things She Looks for in an Actor
Preparedness. “I respect an actor’s need to do the emotional work required for the role, but those choices need to be all worked out before the actor comes into the room. An actor going through the emotional process in the room with us is disruptive,” Hutchinson explained. “That is not to say that we don’t make time for work in the audition process, but an actor needs to be as prepared as possible.”
“It is a good idea for the actor not to be off book when he reads for us. Being off book causes the actor to be locked into the way he memorized the material. We need actors to be fluid. Actors should be as fluent with the material as possible, have their choices ready, know their objective, understand the point of view of the character, but be ready to make changes when directed to do so,” she said.
Pet Peeves
“Tardiness, lack of preparedness, and attitude. We’re remembering this stuff. We are paying attention to the actor as a whole. We can see if an actor is trouble. I’ve said to a director, ‘Great performance, but life is too short [to work with this problematic actor].’ You need to be somebody we want to work with, not someone who is phony or obsequious. The set is an artificial but very intimate situation. We have to figure out how you are going to get along with the whole crew,” Hutchinson explained.
Advice for Actors
“Be prepared. Be on time. Check your ego and attitude at the door. Remember that we want you to be good,” Hutchinson stressed.
She noted that her office is very supportive of actors. “We like actors. We want them to succeed. Our fantasy, as casting directors, is to make a major discovery and stop looking. The way actors can improve their chances for that is to do as much work in advance as they possibly can in terms of figuring out the character: read the script if it’s available, make choices about the character, ask their agent to help getting information on the storyline or character breakdown,” Hutchinson listed.
Hutchinson added that actors should not over-extend themselves. “Don’t ask too many questions. Keep your antenna up when you’re in this room. A couple of concise questions are fine, but if you have a need to really explore the material, you should call ahead of time and go over the details with your agent.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Her
When Hutchinson was in New York, she attended Off Broadway shows and actor showcases three or four nights each week. She is not as actively attending theatre in Los Angeles. “However, if you get in a good play, I will come see it. Here’s my theory: if you are talented, people will notice. If you are not talented, you will go unnoticed. Ultimately, talent will rise. But, truthfully, the best way to get seen by me is through an agent we have daily contact with and we have respect for. There are a lot of talented people out there without representation who deserve to be seen, but it is more difficult. It is up to those actors to figure out how to be seen,” she explained.
Hutchinson recommended that actors keep her updated with postcards and flyers for shows they are doing. Regarding unsolicited headshot and resume submissions, she requested that actors include a professional cover letter, noting, “Since September 11th, we’ve cut down on the amount of unsolicited mail that gets to us. We really do prefer agent submissions. You are more likely to be paid attention to if you have representation.”
Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
“I am sure that’s the wave of the future, but it’s a wave I haven’t caught yet,” Hutchinson mused. “We are still casting the old-fashioned way. I go to my own lists and to the [Academy] Players [Directory] book more than anything else. We have a pretty good handle on the talent pool, nationally. If we are looking for something very specific, or someone overseas, we will go online, but for an average casting assignment, we’re not going to go online.”
Hutchinson justified this by saying that, in 20 minutes, she could have agents send 20 actors over to her office, just by hitting a few buttons on her speed-dial list. The Internet does not give her that level of reliable service at this time.
Highlight of Her Week
“To find an actor for a role and close a deal. To meet somebody I know is going to be a star. My heart will race when I know something is there. My gut tells me. It’s a visceral response to the Star Gene. It’s impossible to define, but I do think you are born with it.”
Most Gratifying Part of Her Job
“To have an actor walk in, nail the audition, and book the role. I also love to see on-screen the growth of an actor I’ve supported from the beginning. It validates my instinct about them.”
This interview was conducted on July 3, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.