Mark Teschner is a former actor. His main piece of advice on choosing a career in acting? “Do it because you have to act. Do it because you love acting. That’s the only reason to do it. Don’t do it for fame, for money. Those are things you have no control over and they either happen or they don’t. If you act for the craft, the art, you always have that with you. That’s the only reason to be an actor.”
From his office in the General Hospital building on the ABC Television Center lot, Teschner and I discussed the volume of work that exists for a soap opera casting director, the new daytime Emmy for casting (Teschner was nominated for the award in 2002), and what it takes to show up on his radar screen.
First Casting Job
Teschner began as a casting assistant in New York 20 years ago. “My first desk was two saw-horses and a wooden plank. We were in a one-room casting office, with as few frills as possible. I came on to do one small job [for casting director Elissa Myers] and we became partners. It took one day for me to go from actor to casting director. Two years of acting in New York had drained me, and casting seemed like the logical leap. I could get agents on the phone who wouldn’t talk to me before. Acting feels like another lifetime for me,” Teschner said.
As is typical with this industry, one job led to another for Teschner. “Eventually, I left my partnership to go to ABC full-time to cast [the New York-based soap opera] Loving. It was supposed to be a six-month job and I ended up doing it for four-and-a-half years,” Teschner recalled.
“I love the pace, the feel, the sensibility of daytime. It feels electric,” he explained. Teschner has been with General Hospital for almost 13 years. The Manhattan native now considers Los Angeles his home, from which he casts Port Charles as well.
Coolest Casting Gig
“General Hospital. I get to work on a show that has such a broad canvas to cast for. There’s no one thing that we’re looking for. We cast so many actors a year that I get to meet hundreds and hundreds of actors. It’s very exciting. General Hospital is a prestigious show. I’m working with the show that I grew up watching. Here it is, the show I grew up with as a kid, and I’ve cast one-third of its 10,000 episodes,” he calculated proudly.
Key Things He Looks for in an Actor
Truth. “I look for an actor with a strong inner life. Those actors find a way of making the material come to life in a way that feels unique to them. There’s a sense that the material speaks to them and that they are the actor that was meant to play that role. That’s all it really is,” Teschner summarized.
Pet Peeves
Actors who do not look like they do in their headshots. “The picture should not be how they’d like to look, just how they are at their best. It’s very frustrating when an actor walks into the room and I look at their picture and I can’t connect the actor to the picture. It says to me that the actor doesn’t know who they are. Sometimes an actor will give a wonderful reading, not be right for the role, but I’ll be hesitant to save the picture because I feel I won’t be able to remember the actor because they don’t look like their picture. For every audition that they get based on a misleading picture, they’re losing out on the audition that they would’ve gotten as themselves,” Teschner insisted.
Teschner added to his peeves list, “Unprepared actors. Actors need to make strong choices and bring that role to life in a short period of time. You’d better make your time with me count.”
Advice for Actors
“Love acting. The money, the fame, these are not tangible elements. It’s the craft. Remember, there’s a lot of down time, so you’d better love what you do, not the rewards. Hang in there. Do not take rejection personally. It’s often not about talent, but about who’s ‘more right’ for the role. Just let it go and trust that you have something unique and when it’s your turn, it’s your turn.”
“Make a strong choice with the material so that you really connect with it. If you play it safe, there’s nothing at stake, and you have no commitment. If the actor cannot commit to the material, I cannot commit to the actor. If I see something in an actor, I can always make an adjustment. I want to go along with the actor. I want to go with their energy. The minute they walk in the room, the actor comes in with an energy. An actor needs to come in with confidence,” he said, noting that confidence is not the same thing as being cocky or arrogant.
“If you’re nervous, you can’t let that get in the way of the work,” Teschner continued, noting that a nervous audition makes him nervous about hiring that actor.
Teschner continued to list a few things that have a tendency to get in an actor’s way. “Do not give your power away. When an actor tries to please me, that actor will not get the job. When an actor comes in to do good work, that’s what I’ll remember. Talent and dignity are the only two things an actor really brings into the room. There are so many factors that go into the mix as to why an actor doesn’t get the part.”
After going through the 1500 submissions he receives per contract role, Teschner brings in 200 to 300 actors to audition. “That doesn’t mean that other actors [who didn’t book the job] didn’t leave their mark. Trust the work will stay with me. An actor’s skill is what they bring into the room and the legacy they leave behind. You have to trust that if you do a good job, that will stay with me. And if I don’t cast you for this role, there may be something else. Don’t try to be anyone else. While you’re busy trying to be someone else, you could miss out on the role that you would get as yourself.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Him
Being submitted by your agent or manager for a specific role he is casting. “I get 350 unsolicited headshots per week. I do open every piece of mail I get. I look at them all, and if someone is right for something I’m casting or something innately interesting jumps out at me, and I want to meet that actor, I will put that picture aside.”
“It is possible to get seen by me without an agent or manager, but it is hard to build a career without an agent or manager who knows what’s being cast, who has access based on relationships that they’ve built over a number of years. It’s not enough to send your photo out. You have to be in the middle of it,” Teschner advised.
How does Teschner advise actors to be in the middle of it? Theatre. “I think theatre is a great opportunity to see actors doing what they are supposed to be doing. One of my favorite things is to go to the theatre, see an actor in a play, and then hire them for a job. There’s something very pure about that. Actors need to act. Actors need to get out there and create an opportunity to be seen. Remember that everyone was non-union at some time. Everyone had no agent at some time. Do theatre and get seen,” he advised.
Note that Teschner prefers to attend theatre performances that will allow him to see as many actors as possible. “It just makes sense for me. I will go anywhere where there’s something that draws me. I’ll go to a night of one acts or big-cast plays so that I can see a lot of actors in one evening,” he said.
To get Teschner to attend your show, send him a flyer. “It’s really difficult to get through to me on the phone. Send a flyer, which is a great marketing tool. Make it look like there has been some investment in this production. Treat it like a business in terms of the marketing of it and the craft of it. Know that every other production is competing for the casting director’s attention as well,” he insisted.
His Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
“Some people use Internet casting. I try to be aware of what’s out there, but I do casting the old-fashioned way. I like to have the photo in my hand and look at it, process it. We have all of the technical capabilities but those services aren’t at their full potential. Plus, I’m just set in my ways,” Teschner said, indicating a stack of headshots and resumes.
His Biggest Casting Challenge
Teschner explained that every role is a challenge to cast. “We’re looking for that combination of talent, charisma, and sex appeal. We’re looking for someone the viewers will want to watch every day and go on a journey with.”
Teschner shared the joy he felt in a recast he did for the role of Lucky Spencer. “Jonathan Jackson had won two Emmys for playing that role. I brought in Jacob Young to continue the role and when he won the Emmy this year, it made me think that I did a good job of selecting an actor who could continue the sensibility of what was so popular about the character but not be a clone.”
What He Would Change About the Casting Process
Timing. “We’re shooting 254 episodes a year. I’ll see 35 to 40 actors a day when we’re busy. The realities of the time constraints make it very difficult to see every actor that I’d like to see when I’m casting three and four roles at a time.”
Most Gratifying Part of His Job
“Once we finally get the part cast, being able to watch [the actor] on the screen. Seeing the meshing of the right actor in the right role, the right timing… you just know you’ve really hit paydirt.”
This interview was conducted on February 21, 2001, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.