Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd (IMDb) as interviewed on Casting Qs (IMDb) in 2011.
Twinkie Byrd brings it. She shows up, dressed in orange, larger-than-life. Her personality fills the room and her positive energy touches everyone she meets. This isn’t some act. Byrd, who has cast music videos for everyone from Whitney Houston to Nine Inch Nails and from Hoobastank to Natalie Merchant, brings it—and that’s exactly what she asks of actors. When she finds actors who do that, she knows she has done her job. “My goal is to make my director so happy that he wants to pee his pants!”
While Byrd’s style is upfront and irreverent, her work is all business. Her resourcefulness and willingness to speak up for what she wants is what got her into casting and what has kept her there. Known for casting some very high-profile music videos, Byrd has also worked on several national commercials, TV shows such as MTV’s Lyricist’s Lounge and Becoming, and films like Blow and The Joy Luck Club. Her ability to see every casting task as a journey and to identify an actor’s raw talent has given her staying power. And that’s what she wants to see from the actors she casts: Staying power in this business.
First Casting Job
In 1991, Byrd was working a day job at Essence magazine and interning for a New York public relations firm in her free time. “[Show PR rep] Teri Williams and I went to the set of Def Comedy Jam in the first season and I saw them working with some dancers,” Byrd recalled. “I said [to the producers], ‘I can do that! I can get you dancers!’ Just like that. I have a lot of nerve,” she laughed.
Byrd’s brother, Jeff Byrd (who is currently directing a film for Showtime) was an independent filmmaker and music video director in New York at the time. “That’s how I knew that community,” Byrd explained. Just days after speaking up to the producers of Def Comedy Jam, she was casting their dancers for the first two seasons. “They called and said, ‘OK. Do it.’ I held auditions. I made my first cast list. I just did it.” Following that gig, Byrd cast music videos in New York for several filmmakers, including Brett Ratner [Rush Hour, Red Dragon] before “things slowed down in New York.”
“Jeff had a gig in LA for a couple of months, so I flew out here. I did not know a thing about LA,” she admitted. Still, Byrd cast a music video for H Town using her New York-style tools. “I didn’t know anything about Breakdowns. I just grabbed Ross Reports and flipped to the LA Agents section in the back. I went through that book. I started making calls and people showed up dressed correctly and looking the part,” she marveled. “My brother said, ‘You’re so resourceful.’ And I said, ‘Hey, we’re from New York.’ He told me to blow off the second half of my plane ticket and stay. I slept on his couch for three months while I looked for an apartment. I started casting from there. I had no phone, so I would give out the number of the payphone on the corner and run down to book the sessions. That was my office! I started making deals to cast where I would require a cell phone in the contract,” she fondly recalled of her LA start-up days in 1997.
How She Learned the Craft of Casting
Two words: Megan Foley. “Working with Megan—casting commercials—was amazing. She is a truly loving person and she loved me for me: big, flamboyant me. She taught me [how to use casting scheduling software] Master Caster. I was a babe and Megan brought me up to divadom. I messed up a session import in Master Caster and lost everything. I thought she was going to fire me right there,” Byrd recalled. “Instead, we stayed late, we worked together. I learned so much. I will love Megan ’til my dyin’ day!”
Coolest Casting Gig
1998’s posthumous Notorious B.I.G. video “Sky’s the Limit,” with 112, directed by Spike Jonze. “I had three days to cast little kid lookalikes. I found kids to play Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Kim, Faith, Snoop Dog, four boys to be the members of 112 as kids, Puffy, all of them. I love working with kids,” Byrd insisted. As for the work of finding lookalikes, Byrd explained that it was not all about a look. “It’s important to match the overall feel, the essence of these artists. That’s why casting this video was so exciting.”
Currently Casting
Having just finished casting dancers for a major Alias promo, Byrd is populating a music video for Ice Cube. “He’s doing the soundtrack for Friday After Next, the third in the Friday trilogy. Marcus Raboy directed the film and he’s doing the music video. They’re putting together clips from the film with the actors I’m casting in the music video,” she said.
While Byrd loves her work casting music videos and national commercials, she is looking forward to branching out a bit. She worked as the casting assistant for Moesha in the late 1990s and hopes to return to TV soon. “I’d be great doing something in-house with Nickelodeon, MTV, Disney,” she listed. “The music video world has permeated every part of our culture. Commercials and TV have adopted a lot of the nuances of music video. So, just a shout-out to all of my music video directors who have moved on to TV: I’m comin’! Bring on the TV!”
Key Things She Looks for in a Music Video Actor
“You need to know how to work the room. Know how to slate. Know how to apply your commercial classes to your auditions. I check resumes. I look to see where you’ve trained. Do you have Meisner on your resume?” Meisner? Really? “Yes! You have to have chops to do music videos. There’s a story there. And even if you’re not delivering dialogue, you are still a big part of the storytelling. You need to be directable. You have to know how to work the camera. You need to bring your own backstory.”
The reason for that, according to Byrd, is the lack of a storyboard, at the time of casting. “I’m given a three-page treatment. An actor who brings it is really helping to develop the story. If you are given an adjustment in the audition, ask a question to clarify. Be sure you understand and then make the adjustment. Show me what you can do with the moment.”
Best Way to Get Seen by Her
“Through agents. Through agents I trust. I have no prep time,” Byrd admitted. “We’re casting a music video in a week. In five days, sometimes.” But she finds many actors for the music videos she casts in shopping malls. “I scout at the Beverly Center, at Fashion Square Mall, I scout hostesses at restaurants! And it doesn’t matter if you’re out with no makeup. If you’ve got ‘it,’ I can see it,” she assured.
Byrd also holds model searches across the country. “I found a great girl from Oklahoma at a search in Dallas. We flew her out for a Puff Daddy video. She went home and was an instant star in her city. That’s fun. Now, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, at those searches, but the ones who are ready, I love to bring up.” How does Byrd spot the ones who are ready? “They bring it. They are ready to book. I can always tell the ones who are going to draw in the director. They are locking in on the camera and hypnotizing. I love bringing those actors up and seeing them go on past me. I want to see you go on and do films.”
Working on a music video could mean you are already working with a busy filmmaker. “These are not just guys from the neighborhood who lucked out and got a chance to direct a music video. These are filmmakers now,” Byrd assessed of the current caliber of music video director.
How to Market Yourself
As for what should be on your resume, Byrd believes it is important for an actor to have a separate resume that lists music videos and commercials. “Don’t just list ‘conflicts upon request.’ I need to know what you’ve done. If you don’t have it listed on your resume, then I’m going to spend time in the session asking you to list what you’ve done, writing it on your resume, and then that takes away from your time to show me what you brought.”
Regarding submissions, Byrd does not want to see a demo reel or hear a voiceover reel, but does want to see your headshot and detailed resume. “You should even list your print work for me,” she added. “I’ll look at a comp card, if you have one. I’m specifically always looking for 18-25 year olds. You can be beautiful, you can be pretty, you can be gorgeous. I’m sometimes looking for specific kids, based on the needs that come up. I look for dancers. I look for people who can do circus work or contortionists for specific things. I need all races, all ethnicities, all types,” she insisted.
Most Gratifying Part of Her Job
“Seeing these people go forward. I cast Sharon Leal in a D’Angelo video years ago, and now she’s a teacher on Boston Public. I see that and I go, ‘Yeah!’ That’s what’s great.”
This interview was conducted on October 2, 2002, and it originally appeared in Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie, available at Amazon.