Marc Hirschfeld, Executive Vice President of Talent and Casting for NBC Entertainment, began his casting career with Norman Lear’s Embassy Television. In his partnership with Meg Liberman, he assembled ensembles for 3rd Rock from the Sun, NewsRadio, MadTV, and Party of Five, just to name a few.
In 1999, Hirschfeld assumed his current role, in which he developed PS-NBC, an experimental performance space in New York. The geographical choice for this project has generated local controversy [see LA Times, June 21, 2000 and July 10, 2000]. Hirschfeld generously offered his answers to the usual Casting Qs and set the record straight on “edgy theatre” in Los Angeles.
First Casting Job
Hirschfeld was the casting receptionist at Norman Lear’s company in 1980. Yep, he started out at the front desk! At Embassy Television, he and Robin Nassif became assistants for Eve Brandstein, then became casting directors themselves. Hirschfeld worked with Meg Liberman for 11 years before heading off to NBC.
“The first things I cast were One Day at a Time and The Facts of Life. Embassy was sort of a mom-and-pop store, so we kind of did everything. Not only did we cast the guest stars, but we cast the extras. We were de facto casting directors and then we were given the title.”
Coolest Casting Gig
The original casting of Seinfeld. Putting together the ensemble for a “clever little show that no one believed was going to get much of a following” and then seeing that show become the “seminal sitcom of the ’90s, that was enormously satisfying,” according to Hirschfeld.
Key Things He Looks for in an Actor
The main things Hirschfeld looks for are strong persona, charisma, distinct choices with the character, and that intangible star quality. “I don’t care if it’s just one line, I want to see an air of confidence about them.”
His Favorite Audition Tale
When Hirschfeld was casting The Nanny, a woman who read for the part of a high school gym teacher came in wearing sweats. “It’s okay to indicate with clothing, but you don’t want to wear scrubs coming in for a doctor audition. Also, I totally discourage the use of props in an audition. I just think it’s a crutch that people use when they haven’t put a lot of energy into the character.” So, when the woman pulled a whistle out from a lanyard around her neck and began blowing the shrill whistle in a small room filled with people, everyone burst out in laughter. “It was ear shattering! But she felt like she got a response out of it, so she did it again and again, and every time we were like, ‘No! No!’ Needless to say, she did not get the part, but it was one of the funniest and most tragic auditions I have ever been witness to.”
Pet Peeves
Props, clothing that distracts from the performance, not having your headshot and resume ready. “I don’t want to see the actor fumble for it for 15 minutes. Oops, wrong resume! No. This is your job. Get it together. Be ready.”
Actors who stay in the room too long also annoy Hirschfeld. “My attitude is, you go in, you do your thing, and get out gracefully and quickly so that we can start talking about you while the audition is fresh in our mind. Otherwise the audition fades.”
Advice for Actors
Have passion for what you’re doing. Persevere. Take your craft and the business of the craft seriously. Be responsible and prepared. Do your homework. Make strong choices. Don’t second guess yourself. “The worst thing an actor can do at the end of an audition is say, ‘Boy, that sucked. Can I do that again?’ I say, ‘How confident is this actor in their work or their choices?’ If you have a question, ask it beforehand, not after.
Best Way to Get Seen by Him
Get in a good play, showcase, stand-up club. Get a referral from an agent, manager, or another casting director. Send your demo reel. And in that tape, remember, less is more. “I want nice, tight, short pieces that show the different things you can do, not three scenes of you being a hooker or a cop or a nurse.”
The Truth About “Edgy Talent” and Los Angeles Theatre
Truth is, Hirschfeld attends a lot of theatre in Los Angeles, “and not just the major theatres like the Taper and Music Center. I go to a lot of Equity Waiver theatre.” That means, specifically, attending shows at the Coronet, the Tamarind, the Groundlings, ACME, Cal. Arts’ Disney Theatre, the Hudson, Actor’s Gang, Highways. “And, by the way, an inordinate amount of it is inferior. Not the majority, but more than should be, is inferior. But I haven’t stopped going. I still go! I’ll talk to my counterparts at ABC or CBS and they are shocked that I go to these things because a lot of it can be disappointing. But I still go religiously because you never know.”
Yes, Hirschfeld feels that much of the work he sees in Los Angeles is “showcasey” and that the nature of the “See me!” presentation affects the purity of the work. Still, he’s seen a lot of good theatre here. “I’m not lazy and I’m certainly not ignorant. I make an effort. More than most casting directors do out there. The bottom line is, if actors are doing work to be showcased, if their primary interest is they’re doing this to get an agent to be seen – whatever – it is going to have an impact on the work. That is the bone I have to pick. It shows.”
That said, if you’re in something really wonderful, have no fear. Hirschfeld will hear about it. “Word spreads like wildfire. Good stuff is energizing and there’s very little of it. But if there is something good going on, I will hear about it. I will be there.” Hirschfeld believes that many actors put themselves in front of him before they are ready, with sub-par material, or with scene partners who do not complement them. “They’re just shooting themselves in the foot. But I still go. I’ve found a lot of people that are good. There is positive reinforcement. Just remember, [making] no impression is better than [making] a negative one – and a negative one is longer lasting.”
Why Not Start PS-NBC Here?
Since there are already so many venues for showcasing and even developing talent in Los Angeles (such as HBO Workspace), Hirschfeld targeted the “lightening rod for artists of all kind. They may not have the ability to harness what they do. We give them a venue where all they need is the creative idea and we provide the technical expertise, the space, and the audience. We don’t pay these people. And we don’t charge them either. All we ask is a 30 day period in which we get to negotiate a deal with them in good faith. In New York, there isn’t a really big presence of talent executives and agents, so we can help develop these performers kind of under the radar. One of my beefs about Los Angeles is that if you’re a stand up comedian with three good minutes of material, suddenly you have a development deal because everyone is so hungry to sign the next big thing.”
His Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
“It’s gonna happen. Online is gonna happen. I personally want to be on the leading edge of technology. I’m on the wireless web. I have the PalmV with the OmniSky wireless modem. I can surf the web wireless. We’re changing our department so that 50% of the things we do in this department are going to be on the web. This is the wave of the future.”
Most Gratifying Part of His Job
Hirschfeld supervises casting for the entire network and develops talent for each new season, so amidst plenty of gratifying experiences, the most gratifying is going to the table read of a new series. Hirschfeld’s involvement in putting together the cast rarely gives him the satisfaction of seeing the actors all in one place, doing what he’s hired them to do. In addition to the table reads, he loves the discovery process that the public goes through in connecting with these actors.
“The American public discovers them and loves them, even the guest stars on Seinfeld like Newman and The Maestro and J. Peterman, they became icons. It’s very exciting to me. I love finding actors and making them into TV stars!”
This interview was conducted on August 4, 2000, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.