Marnie Saitta is the casting director for CBS’s The Young and the Restless, now in its 30th year of production.
Saitta knows that an important part of her job is the ability to assess the actor’s needs, in terms of the amount of direction or interaction they require in order to provide a strong read. Saitta explained, “I am only as good as the actors I cast. I wish that more actors would know that. Casting directors are at the mercy of the actors we bring in. Actors are my body of work; a representation of me. When an actor comes in and feels nervous, I want to say, ‘Hey, you’re doing me a favor, coming in here and making good choices. You’re inspiring me.'”
First Casting Job
This one. Saitta began working with The Young and the Restless as an intern during her last year of college. “I had studied acting in college. Actually, I studied acting most of my life,” Saitta said. “Casting was a way that I could still work with actors without acting. I love acting, but I don’t like people looking at me,” she revealed.
I loved the show and when my internship was ending, they asked me if I’d be interested in working for the show. Of course I said yes. I knew I wanted to be the casting director for Y&R even though I wasn’t interning in the casting department.
Saitta worked as an intern while Jill Newton was at CBS. “She was everything I could ever want to be as a casting director. She was inspirational and only influenced my decision to go into casting even more,” Saitta recalled. She also worked with Meryl O’Loughlin. “I worked in her department and she brought me up through the ranks and showed me the ropes.”
Key Things She Looks for in a Soap Opera Actor
“Acting is acting. A soap is no different than any other medium. I look for an actor who breathes truth into the material. All acting is in pursuit of the truth. That is magic to me. That’s what I’m looking for; not a specific look or a specific type of person. I let the actor dictate that to me,” Saitta explained. She finds that the actors she least expects, in terms of looks, will provide the most dynamic choices. “They’ll bring [the role] to life in a way I wouldn’t have thought of without having seen their performance,” she said.
“If anything, daytime acting is more challenging in that the stories don’t have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You’re creating the day-to-day reality and so many times you have to generate your own back story. You may not know where the character comes from or where the character is going. You are making choices based on the scripts that are coming in every day. It parallels life so much sometimes. Extremes of any emotion are sometimes the easiest part of acting, and you’re not always doing that in soaps,” Saitta continued. “You’ll sometimes have to regurgitate information for viewers who may have missed a show and you have to find a way to do that very naturally. Your rehearsal time is virtually none and there is no luxury of multiple takes.” Saitta underscored the importance of the amount of material covered in soap operas. The Young and the Restless is on hiatus only three weeks per year (one week in May and two in December).
How She Casts Contract Players
“We issue Breakdowns using the writers’ description. That description is usually pretty broad. We receive anywhere from 2000 to 4000 photos per role. I sort through them, and if I have three weeks to cast, I’ll see 400 or 500 people. If I only have a week and a half to cast, I’ll still try to see 300. I’ll bring eight of those people to producers and then three of them will screen test. Depending on the what the producers want to see, sometimes all eight will screen test, sometimes none do, if the producers make a decision right there in the room,” Saitta detailed.
It is important for Saitta to bring in actors who can handle the rigors of the soap opera shooting schedule. “Our contract players are on set two to three times a week on average, but sometimes every day. I try to make actors as comfortable as possible. I admire what they’re doing, and when they’re comfortable, we get better work from the actors. In the end, that’s what we all want. We’re all reaching for the same goal.”
Pet Peeves
While she mentioned the usual peeves such as actor unpreparedness, tardiness, and unprofessionalism, Saitta indicated a peeve of much larger scope: bias against soap opera acting. “It’s an uneducated opinion from people who have no idea of the caliber of talent that works behind and in front of the camera at every aspect of the show; how utterly challenging it is. It makes me upset. I don’t think daytime gets the respect that it deserves. An agent will call me and say, ‘I have an actor who is so green and hasn’t done much but she has a great look, she’ll be great for daytime.’ This is not a place where someone can do seven or eight takes for one scene. Daytime has been seen as a stepping stone for so long, but that is changing. I can tell from the level of people who are submitting, from those who are open to doing daytime, the opinion is changing. People are realizing that this is a very respectable, challenging medium.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Her
If you don’t have an agent, get in a big play. “Do as much local theatre as you can. Send a postcard and tell me you’re in something, even if I haven’t met you. I do tend to see a play with a larger cast,” Saitta clarified, noting that she hopes to see many actors at once, when attending plays. So, while a one-person show is a fantastic showcase of your work, it is not what will draw Saitta to the theatre.
Saitta mentioned that she also accepts unsolicited submissions. “Any time I have downtime, I do try to hold generals, but if I kept all of the submissions I receive, my files would fill four rooms,” she explained, noting that her cupboards are filled with the headshots of those actors she has seen and knows she wants to hire. “I do look at every piece of mail, though. If you submit a headshot as a general submission, I will see it, but I don’t know that that is the best way to get seen by me,” Saitta insisted. However, Saitta requested that actors not send demo tapes.
Her Opinion on Alternative Submission Methods
Simply put, Internet casting has not become a factor at The Young and the Restless. “We’re not linked like that here,” she admitted.
Her Biggest Casting Challenge
Recasts. “Especially when the role was originated by the person you’re recasting, it’s tough. We need to stay true to the essence of the character that was created, and in a lot of cases, that means staying true to the first actor who played that role. It’s very limiting. Viewers are loyal to the actor who originated the role,” Saitta clarified. “I try to make the transition easy on the actor taking over the role and on the viewer. We try to stay within the vision of the role, but those are usually incredibly big shoes to fill.”
What She Would Change About the Casting Process
“There’s not that much that I would change about it, really,” Saitta happily revealed. “We don’t put actors through unnecessary hardship here. We keep the number of times the actor comes in for a role down to a maximum of three; me, the producer, and the screen test,” she listed. “I like how it goes down here. I have to be aware that I am always casting to the executive producer’s and head writer’s tastes, not necessarily my taste. I’ve been very fortunate, in that, most of the time, that will mesh. What we all agree on, at Y&R, is that we never sacrifice ability for looks. That makes me proud.”
Most Gratifying Part of Her Job
“Knowing I’ve put the right actor in their perfect job.” Saitta hesitated, then added, “I love getting to work with actors every day. I like being a part of their process. It’s great to feel that I’m positively influencing that artistic endeavor, assisting in the artist’s journey. I admire actors. I enjoy meeting them and watching them create magic.”
This interview was conducted on May 10, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.