Explore every episode of the podcast Killer Casting
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Come See A Play!!! "Brooklyn's Way" is Opening Soon! | 03 Sep 2024 | 00:28:29 | |
Lisa sits down with the creative team for “Brooklyn’s Way” a play she cast that is premiering at Theatre 68 in North Hollywood starting SATURDAY SEPT 7th, running through October 13th. “Brooklyn’s Way” is a funny, sharp, painfully romantic story based on Sam Henry Kass' real life as a jaded television writer who is blindsided when he meeds a young, smart writer’s assistant on her way up in the world while he is determined to spiral down. Director Ronnie Marmo talks about why he wanted to producer this play. Sam talks about why he wrote it, and actor Jonathan Freeman talks about what it is like to play such an indelible role based on the actual playwright. Please come see this special show! Details below. Tickets online at: www.theatre68.com Theatre 68 and Brooklyn's Way on NohoArtsDistrict.com! @nohoartsdistrict https://nohoartsdistrict.com/noho-theatres/brooklyns-way/ Written by Sam Henry Kass Directed by Ronnie Marmo ✨️Theatre 68 presents BROOKLYN’S WAY… A world premiere production by critically acclaimed playwright Sam Henry Kass. Ronnie Marmo will be directing the irreverent dramedy that opens September 7 - October 13, 2024. 📍at Theatre 68 Arts Complex @theatre68artscomplex 5112 Lankershim Blvd. NoHo, CA 91601 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theatre68artscomplex 🎟 Friday & Saturday @ 8pm and Sunday @ 7pm General Admission: $25. (Preview: $20). Running time 80 minutes Tickets online at: www.theatre68.com For more information go to: www.theatre68.com 📖 SYNOPSIS They met on a studio lot. He’s a quirky veteran writer, emotionally fractured by his belief that he has “sold out” creatively… She’s a young and fierce writer’s assistant, intrigued by his talent, and fearful of his inability to avoid self-destructing. Two people now aligned forever, yet separated by life and the circumstance they both face. One needing desperately to confront his past, the other trying to define her future. "BROOKLYN'S WAY...." An impossible choice with life-long regrets and repercussions.
THE CREATIVES: 🎭 Amye Partain – Brooklyn @amyepartain Jonathan Brooks – Scoot Sam Henry Kass – Playwright Ronnie Marmo – Director / Producer @ronniemarmo Matt Richter – Lighting & Projection Design Casting Director - Lisa Zambetti @lisazambetticasting Taylor Abbay – Stage Manager @taylor.abbay Sandra Kuker-Franco – SANDRA KUKER PR - Publicity Theatre 68 – Producer @theatre68co
Instagram: @theatre68co Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theatre68co Twitter: @theatre68
Directed by @ronniemarmo Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronnie.marmo Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RonnieMarmo.Actor Twitter: @realronniemarmo | |||
| Mid-Summer TV and Film Catch Up | 31 Jul 2024 | 00:59:15 | |
Midsummer Media Mania: From House of the Dragon to Reality TV Lisa and Dean are back with a Mid-Summer check in on all they are watching and all they anticipate to watch this coming fall season. They dive into the most recent episode of Season 2 of "House of the Dragon", Lisa reviewes her current fav British show "The Responder" starring Martin Freeman, Dean gets super jazzed about the upcoming installment of the Alien franchise called "Romulus" and they tangent into all kinds of other things they have seen this summer. 00:00 The Call to Face Dragons 01:51 Welcome to Killer Casting 02:14 Catching Up on Life and Work 04:24 Discussing TV Shows and Movies 07:08 House of the Dragon Deep Dive 15:46 AI and the Future of Entertainment 27:55 Anticipating Alien Romulus 32:29 Amazon Prime Day Deals 33:22 The Responder: A Must-Watch Series 38:28 Reality TV Guilty Pleasures 43:50 Glenn Powell's Rise to Stardom 49:49 Unique Cinema Experiences 51:52 Upcoming TV Shows and Projects 55:04 Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up | |||
| True Detective: Night Country | Episode 04 | Recap | 08 Feb 2024 | 00:55:36 | |
QUESTIONS: Are Rose, Liz and Eve actually seeing these ghosts or is it a mental illness ? Is it Danvers or Navarro that executes William Wheeler ? Has Hank accepted his inner Catfish? Will Liz and Ted find an even MORE uncomfortable ways to have sex ? Where do all these tropical oranges come from in the Arctic tundra ? Can Peter find even more ways to toast his marriage to the exceedingly patient Kayla? Why is Ted’s motel room painted like a green screen ready for the next Avatar film ? Since we are now at Christmas Day, can we officially rank Night Country alongside Die Hard as a Xmas movie ? ANSWERS: You want the truth ? YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH ! Okay, well, the truth is: How the hell do we know ? That’s why it’s called a ‘mystery’. We’ll all have to keep watching for two more hours peoples. Seeya later alligator for Episodes 5 and 6. | |||
| 016: Promising Young Woman - Part 2 - The Professors | 08 Mar 2021 | 00:52:18 | |
Warning. This episode (and the film) deals with the trauma associated with sexual assault. It may be very triggering. Please look after yourselves. In our "Promising Young Woman" follow-up episode, Lisa and Dean are joined by Professor Emeritus Tania Modleski and Professor Caroline Heldman. They bring their unique and highly experienced perspectives to an in-depth discussion of the sociological elements and impact of the film. We needed their big beautiful brains to help us continue to break down this exceptional piece of work. Professor Modleski is an American feminist scholar and cultural critic at USC. Her expertise is in American studies, gender studies, feminist theory, and film and popular culture. Her research efforts focus on women in film, women in popular culture, women in literature, and soap operas. See https://www.oxy.edu/academics/faculty/caroline-heldman Further reading; Emerald Fennell talk in detail about the various. options considered for ending the film.https://variety.com/2021/film/news/promising-young-woman-ending-spoilers-2-1234885400/ Laverne Cox interview https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/14/laverne-cox-interview-trailblazing-trans-activist-i-can-be-so-hard-on-myself | |||
| 015: Promising Young Woman with Jim and Laura from RCP ! | 24 Feb 2021 | 00:59:27 | |
Cross over episode!! Lisa and Dean are joined by Real Crime Profile Podcast’s Laura Richards and Jim Clemente to breakdown the incredible film 'Promising Young Woman' written and directed by Emerald Fennell, starring Carey Mulligan in a performance for the ages. Jim and Laura bring a law enforcement perspective to the plot and they have many insights into the behaviour of each character in this ground breaking film. Warning!! This episode (and the film) deals with the trauma associated with sexual assault and may be very triggering. Please look after yourselves. This episode also (unavoidably) contains massive plot spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film, please pause and come back to us after you have watched it. Laverne Cox interview https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/14/laverne-cox-interview-trailblazing-trans-activist-i-can-be-so-hard-on-myself | |||
| 014 : Bonus episode | The History of (Simulated) Sex on TV and Film | 15 Feb 2021 | 00:11:48 | |
Dean and Lisa return to talk about some factoids and other stuff that we couldn't fit in to our previous episode on simulated sex in film and TV. | |||
| 014: (Simulated) Sex | 07 Feb 2021 | 01:04:54 | |
Lisa, Brian and Dean are joined by famous Casting Director, and now Intimacy Coordinator, Marci Liroff. TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE Scene from Bridgerton: When you touch yourself, you do touch yourself. When you’re alone you can touch yourself. Anywhere that gives you pleasure especially between your legs. When you find the feeling you particularly enjoy you can carry on with that, until the feeling grows and then eventually you reach pinnacle, a release that should help you. Lisa: Hello, welcome to Killer Casting, I'm Lisa Zambetti. I am a casting director probably best known for my work on the long running show Criminal Minds. And I've cast victims and villains and cops and doctors and lawyers and everything in between. But apropos of today's topic, I've also cast many actors to play lovers, to play roles in adult situations. And I've even cast those very, very difficult roles where characters engage in sexual violence and who are sometimes the victims of sexual abuse. So given that, I wanted to give a little trigger warning, I wanted to warn our listeners today that we're going to be talking about sex. Sex in cinema, sex on screen, we're going to be using very explicit language possibly talking about things that could be triggering to you. And I want you to take very good care of yourselves and know your boundaries because this is going to be a great conversation, but probably a very frank conversation. And I have a very special guest I cannot wait for you to meet, but I want you to please exercise care if you need to, okay. So with that said, let me just say hi to my ever loyal sexy beast Brian Allan Hill, how are you today? Brian: Doing great, how is everybody out there? Lisa: And Dean Laffan the wonder from down under, how are you doing? Dean: I'm very well, thank you. Good to see you again, Lisa and Brian. Lisa: I'm hoping that I get to make Brian and Dean blush today. I'm really looking forward to that. So let me just lay it out there y’all. I am a very sex positive person when it comes to sex on screen, I'm not just talking about adult erotica, but sex in TV shows and cinema whether it's a consummation of “will they, won't they” get together, slow burning passion between the leads with this delicious animosity and chemistry that leads to sex, or more importantly sex that is about a very specific and difficult context. Sex that's born of grief, of pain, of secrets and lies and sex that moves the story forward, or just deepens your understanding of the character. Whatever the sex is between consenting adults on screen, no matter the sexual identity, orientation, and no matter if they have classically beautiful bodies and fantastic faces, or if they look like me, just the average everyday person grinding it out? I'm here for it. I am absolutely here for it. And some people may say, oh sex scenes are gratuitous and some people may have issues with nudity and that's fine. But indulgence means different things to different people. And for me, done right, sex is a very powerful and necessary thing. But those performances of simulated sex come at a price. And it's the actors on screen, they pay that price. And in the past, sometimes sex scenes are highly choreographed and a lot of times it's a lot of illusion camera trickery. Maybe people aren't totally nude, maybe they are. The fact of the matter is these scenes make those performers very vulnerable and in the past, in the very sad past of our industry in Hollywood and abroad, it's easy for that trust to be broken. It's easy for lines to be crossed and boundaries to be forgotten. But I have here today a very special guest who's going to talk us through something new that has come into our industry that is so needed. I can't even believe that we never had it before. I want to introduce to you an immensely successful casting director. She has cast some of the most important movies of my childhood and my premenstrual sexual Tween hood. She was on the casting team for ET. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, St Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, Mean Girls, I could go on and on but I'm not going to because she in the last few years has become an Intimacy Coordinator. Please say hello to my queen Marci Liroff. Marci Liroff: Hi am happy to be here. Lisa: Oh Marcie, thank you for jumping on. And I know you are on the East Coast right now and you are instead of casting this show, you are the intimacy coordinator for this show. Do you want to tell us a little bit about this show, what you can tell us? Marci Liroff: Sure. I'm working on a series called “High Town” and it’s in its second season and we're in Wilmington North Carolina on location. We've been here since October and it's a very dark and thrilling show and it centers around Provincetown which is known to be a wild vacation town in the summertime. But this focuses on the people that live there, and addiction, basically kind of the deep dark secrets that go on from the working class people that live there. Lisa: I haven't seen the first season, but it sounds amazing. Marci Liroff: Yeah, it’s really, really good. Lisa: I'm sure a lot of our listeners have never heard the term intimacy coordinator before. It is a new role on the call sheet and I really just want you to just dig in, tell us what it is. Tell us why you turned to it after this amazing career as a casting director, I'm sure you still are casting. But what made you want to turn to this and just educate us on what it is and what you do? Marci Liroff: Well, let me start off by telling you what the job is. So it is a newish job and I'll tell you how it came to be. There's a TV series called “The Deuce” on HBO. And they were going into their second season and it focuses on sex workers. And Maggie Gyllenhaal stars in this show, and the series regulars were going back to work and one of them, an actress named Emily Meade was feeling very vulnerable in these scenes, because they would have to do these scenes with guest stars that were coming in, not series regulars, day players that were coming in and as you said, these are very highly vulnerable scenes and she felt like she was kind of working without a net, so to speak. And she and some of the other actors went to HBO to describe what it is that they need it. And kind of somewhat invented the job because this job had existed in theater for a bit and in film and television what we're doing is collaborating with the filmmakers to help get their story on the screen in an authentic way. And then working with the actors as well, as their liaison and as their advocate for these scenes to make sure that they stay safe and to talk about things like consent and boundaries ahead of time so that there's no surprises on the day and everybody feels safe and we get what we need, but it's in a very safe way, consent is really the cornerstone of this job. In the old days, actors would have a nude scene or a simulated sex scene -- and we do say simulated sex because we really want to clarify that they are not having sex. Some people if it's shot well, it looks like they are. We want to make sure that people know that this is not real. And so in the old days, actors would be wrapped in a sheet. They would show up and like, hi, how you doing. And the director would say, okay, go for it. And they don't know, there was no plan, there was no choreography and we're very similar in a way to a stunt coordinator. And if you think about a stunt being done when actors show up and they're putting that could be a dangerous situation and someone says, okay, go for it. I mean stunts are rehearsed, there are safety meetings, it is choreographed, and it is a very serious venture. So the same thing is applied to simulated sex scenes and nudity. So as I said, we collaborate with the film crew and actors, the actors advocate on set and in preparation for the scenes. So that's kind of the short answer and we can get into more of it. And how I came to be doing this is I've been casting for 40 something years and producing and coaching actors, which I still do. And I've been looking for my next act and I've kind of become a unicorn in a way that I'm kind of the master of reinvention. I also design jewelry, so I do a lot of things. Lisa: That’s why we should shout out, you design the beautiful jewelry, so we'll definitely post that in our show notes. Marci Liroff: So as I said, I was looking for my third act. And it's been a while that I've been trying to figure out what else can I do. And I read some articles about this new position and I thought this is so up my alley. This just is kind of the amalgam of all the things that I have been trained to do so far, because I love working with the actors, I love working with filmmakers and I'm kind of one of those righteous people that wants to protect people that don't have a voice, that's always been my thing. I am always the people's advocate. And when I heard about this job, I just thought this is so interesting and this job is really multifaceted, which we'll get into, because we cover so many things on set. And so I did some research and found a woman in Los Angeles named Amanda Blumenthal who is kind of the, I would say the premier IC -- we call them ICs. She's the premier IC in the United States and lives in Los Angeles, and she was starting some training. And so I was accepted into a very small group of about seven people and we trained for six months in 2019. And I was certified by her organization called Intimacy Professionals Association. And I started working at the end of last year, started 2019 and then got a bunch of jobs the beginning of January of 2020 and then as we know, COVID hit and everything was shut down. So I had gotten the series, The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and a bunch of movies, and so all of this went away. And then a miracle happened and I got a call about this series and I relocated to Wilmington, North Carolina and I've been here since October. Dean: It's time for a clip -- you'll be listening to Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan. They're talking about the filming of sex scenes in the very sexy and very popular Outlander. Here we go. Sam Heughan: You know, we've always tried to approach them with something more and show that it's something to do with show the development of their relationship or and obviously it is a part of the show that we have to deal with. Caitriona Balfe: I think we've always tried to make it further the story along, but it's not just there for titillation or just sticking in a sex scene for sex scene sake. When we started this show, the way the sex scenes were sold to us. Ron was very adamant that he didn't want to do typical TV sex and that he wanted each time there was a sex scene, it had to say something about the couple or the story. And we've tried to make sure that that has maintained throughout the seasons and yes, this couple is very passionate, it's an integral part of their relationship, but unless it has also something else to say, it doesn't really work I think. Sam Heughan: And we're a couple now in our latter years, probably the prime actually. Caitriona Balfe: But I think that's also beautiful to show that this far into a marriage that a couple can still be as passionate and is romantic and as much in love with each other as they were from the beginning. I mean it changes and evolves. Sam Heughan: Doesn’t mean it’s less intimate or anything, you're just evolved. And I think other TV shows they don't show that. Lisa: So Brian and Dean, have you ever heard any of these horror stories about things that have happened to actors and actresses in these sex scenes? I mean, and I'll tell a story of my own when I was an actor what happened. But do you recall any of these famous scenes where, you know, a lot of people think that hey, you're an actor, you should be able to do all this, but people have been put through so much fucking garbage on set. Brian: Well the one that comes to mind most readily is Last Tango in Paris. That seems to me to be the most infamous and I think the one that damaged Marlon Brando's reputation to some degree, but not to the degree that he didn't get work again, you know what I mean, like he continued to work. Marci Liroff: Well quite honestly at the time it didn't damage his reputation because no one knew about it until pretty recently. Lisa: So Maria Schneider was in this love scene, whatever it is, a sexual scene, explicit scene with Marlon Brando and basically Bertolucci was like, we want to shake this actress up. We want to get her real reaction and they didn’t bother fucking telling her what was going to happen in the scene and so he has to simulate anally raping her and she's going along with it because that's what you had to do. If you're with a big powerful director and a big powerful actor, you go along with it, right? This is pre Me Too, and that sets the tone for the industry. I mean, don't you think? Brian: One of my favorite documentaries is Hearts of Darkness about the making of apocalypse now and the scene that I always go back to and that is Martin Sheen on his birthday, getting more and more progressively drunk as the day is going on in the hotel room. And he smashes the mirror and cuts himself and he’s bleeding, that's not what acting is. And yet Coppola lets it go. And I mean, to some degree, Sheen says he needed that, he needed to exercise those demons, but there's too many of those kinds of stories and I think that's kind of foundational to the whole Me Too movement. And what people who aren't in the industry don't understand, if you say no, if you decide I'm going to take a stand, and I'm going to say “no” a lot of times you're done, that's it. You get a reputation as being difficult, and then it's like this thing that you want to make your career and your job, it evaporates. Because like we said, a handful of powerful people hold the strings. Marci Liroff: You hit on something very important, and that's the word no, because nois a very powerful word. And I think we have been trained, especially women that we can't say no. And so part of my job as an IC, is to disrupt the power dynamic on set, because an actor has a very hard time saying no to someone that has hiring and firing power. You almost can't. And when you brought up the scene of Martin Sheen, and he had a heart attack after that scene and they had to shut down production, and it's all in the name of cinema creativity and it's revered and respected and I call bullshit on that. In my job right now, which really follows on the heels of the Me Too movement which really helped accelerate this job for sure. It was 2017 that this all happened. We are giving actors their voice back again and I really believe that we will not go back to the way it was. I don't think that we’ll ever go back to that. And so I said a lot of my work is really built around the idea of consent, and part of my process is the filmmakers tell me their thoughts for what they like this scene to be. And then I take those notes to the actor and have a private one on one discussion with them to see how they feel about it. See if they have any ideas and they are in an environment talking to me where they can say no. And unless I get enthusiastic consent, this is what my trainer, Amanda Blumenthal taught me is that you don't just get consent. You have to get enthusiastic consent, because if anybody is wobbling on it, I'm going to take that as a no. And you don't have to qualify why you are saying no, you don't have to give any reasons. And I will take that back to the filmmakers and see if there's any notes that they have when we come to a mutual agreement on how the scene is going to go. Now, one of the things that exist in the sack after contract that many actors do not know appropriate to scenes like this is that, if they've agreed to do this, they have signed a writer because there's an addendum to the contract that explains what they've agreed to do in terms of nudity, and what they've agreed to do in terms of simulated sex, you're shooting the scene and then all of a sudden you feel things going sideways or you could get triggered by something that you don't even know triggers you. Like, let's say it's nibbling on your ear and all of a sudden it triggers some horrible memories. And I'm now trained also in trauma response because I'm sitting by the monitor watching them. And if I see an actor starting to have a meltdown, I have to stop things and go help them. So you're in the middle of a scene and you suddenly go, I can't go on with this. The actor has the right to say, I can't go on with this scene, and then we will then try to compromise on something and make it work for both parties, or we will then have to replace you with a body double and the body double can only do what you have put on your nudity rider. So we can have the double come in and suddenly do like these wild things that you would never agree to representing your body. So most actors don't know that you can say no, even after they’ve agreed to do it. Lisa: Right, and the agent is going to read the script and they're going to flag all of this. And when Marci says nudity rider, literally I've negotiated, are you going to show the side of the breast the nipple, how much of the areola, like everything, are you going to show the bush, are you going to show, what are you going to show? It's just there in black and white. And that's to not be crude but to protect people so they know what to expect and the producers know what they're going to get. Marci Liroff: It’s very specific. And so what has been happening is actors will get there on the day having discussed what the scene will be or loosely discussed, whatever, and the producer or the director will come on set and say, “No, I need to see you totally naked and fucking him”. And you're like, well, huh? I was not prepared for that. Well, you did it in your last movie. And so that's the notion of consent. The consent exists on the day in the moment. So you could have consented something yesterday and then today. I mean, I ask every day, are you good with this scene because consent is in the moment and it has nothing to do with what you did in a film two years ago with a different story with a different director and a whole different script. Lisa: We shouldn't make assumptions that the men don't have any vulnerability too. I'm sure maybe people like, oh they're going to be in there and going to be into it, they don't care. Marci Liroff: Yeah, I mean, men are taken advantage of just as much as women and they're expected to go along. And we're also talking now that story lines are so inclusive. We're talking about the LGBTQ community, which my training takes a very deep dive in. We're seeing shows with trans-actors and there has to be some respect and sensitivity to who these people are, including their pronouns. We are here to help the crew sometimes understand what to refer to people as. I've worked with a costume designer that would not use the proper pronounce when dealing with an actor, and it just doesn't show any respect and it makes them uncomfortable. It does in fact make a hostile workplace and they could sue me for harassment. Lisa: It's so funny because I've been in the audition room, reading an actor who's going to be doing a sexual violence towards my character. The actor will really be getting into it and he'll be like spitting on me and calling me a whore and everything and getting closer and closer and closer to me, and like the director isn't saying anything. I'm just the reader. I mean, I'm the casting director, but I'm the reader and maybe they touch me and it's like, come on, where is the boundary? And I remember one time my assistant was being the reader and I was kind of sitting in the backrow kind of watching and this actor picked her up and put her against the wall and I just stopped. I said, no, no, no, no, no, this is not how this is happening, I'm sorry. And that's a big risk to object to what's going on in a producer session. But please, and that sets the tone. It has a trickle-down effect on everybody else in the production. Marci Liroff: Sure. I mean as a casting director, I've been involved in a lot of those scenes where I had an actor literally like pull me out of the chair on the ground, straddling me and chocking me, or pull out a gun and pull a knife. These are the old days before 9/11 when you certainly couldn't get on a studio lot, you know with a gun because they have metal detectors now. But now we talk about it beforehand, I make sure to set the boundaries like, don't touch me and let's just act this out as if. And also the intimacy coordinators now have a committee that work with Sag Aftra and we helped them draft some of the new clauses of the 2020 contract that includes protocol for auditioning for auditioning naked, which was very unclear and very blurry before and you can't audition naked. You have to have the minimum of what's considered like what you would wear on the beach for a woman would be a, you could wear pasties and a bikini bottom and the men have to be wearing the equivalent of a tuxedo. But this all has to be done with a written request signed ahead of the audition so that nobody asks you in a room to take your top off. You know about it ahead of time and you're going to have some protection and they can't keep giving you call backs. So there's a lot of now new information in terms of protecting actors in the audition situation. I never picked these scenes anymore, like I never have, but honestly, I don't - this is a very weird, awkward scene to put in for an audition and you don't really need to see it. Dean: Okay, well, in this clip we've got to genuine megastars being Idris Elba and Kate Winslet and there on the couch in the hilariously funny Graham Norton show, talking about a sex scene between the two of them, here we go. Graham Nortan: It was Elba, you would think, we think Idris Elba’s a leading man, ladies’ man, but you haven't actually done that many love scenes. Idris Elba: No. Graham Nortan: Why is that? How is that? Idris Elba: No, I just haven't had the opportunity. I've done a lot of films where there's a lot of guys. Chris Rock: That's no excuse. That’d be a real good movie. Graham Nortan: But the director had never directed a love scene, is this right? Kate Winslet: Yeah, that's true. I'm afraid I had to get quite bossy because so I've done a few of these kinds of scenes before. And so we get there and poor honey our director is such a lovely man and he was really quite nervous and he had an extensive shot list and I'm thinking, oh my God, we are absolutely never going to get all this done. What kind of scene is this? Anyway there's like 25 shots and an Idris was, you were a little bit nervous, weren't you? Idris Elba: Not really, no. Kate Winslet: Okay. Idris Elba: That was my game, you know, it's getting there. Kate Winslet: Anyway, so everything was moving quite slowly and I'm like, look, we need to really start filming this. What's with all this kind of chat, and honey said, oh actually, I'm really kind of nervous. I've never done this. I actually never, I really haven't shot anything like this before at all. And Idris said no, and I haven't done much of it either and I went, okay. Put the camera over there and we're going to do this and we're going to do that. And then Idris said keep your socks on and I'm like, keep my socks on? Everything else is off, what’s with the, I said, no, I've got a foot thing. Idris Elba: I got a thing. Lisa: Brian, I wanted to sort of check in with you because Marci’s working in the professional world with Sag-Aftra rules and all that stuff. But like when you and I were in college and you do a scene from Pick a Sam Shepard play will you. Brian: We’re like doll's house where you're in a marriage situation where it's Nora and Torvald. Lisa: I was doing a college production of extremities, which I don't know if you remember that play Farrah Fawcett, and it's a near rape scene and you have college kids rehearsing together alone and no fight choreographer forget about that. And even though we know we're acting, your body doesn't know you're acting by the way when you're touched in a certain place. And this guy, he was very nice guy, but he got very into it, throwing me on the floor, grinding his, his junk against me. And at one point he's like, oh, maybe would it be fun if I took this carrot and I like tortured you with it and I'm like, check please, like no, there's nobody to protect you in that situation. And it's just like, what have we come a long way since then guys? I mean, is this I just want to protect everybody out there no matter if you're a “professional actor” or not, that we have to have boundaries. You can't just assume that you can just jump on somebody no matter what your gender, what’s your orientation. I mean, Brian did you have an experience like that? Brian: Yeah, well, so let's unpack it just a little bit. So conversations that I've had with people about the profession, there is an industry standard. Once you get to a certain age I think, or once you decide, okay, I'm a professional actor, right? You behave in a certain way in talking to Lisa, I've contended that I don't care how big the theater community is, whether Chicago or Dallas or LA or New York, whatever. It's not that much different than a high school theater department with all the kind of incestuous relationships and quickly and let's go to the bar and at least that was the culture that I was a part of when I was in theater. And so you would get involved in these plays with people. And let's say there was like a romantic connection that people allowed themselves to kind of fall into. So I guess my I do have a question for you Marci on that front of like separating. So when I was in college, when I was first starting to act doing doll's house, I had an older actress, she was three years older than me. But I was 18 at the time playing Torvald, I mean, which is what college is for. But she was having a tough time finding the relationship. So she involved me in her process and as an 18 year old kid, I was like all for it, let's I was - I jumped right on in it was like heaven. And then closing night, we're all tripping on acid and that's when she dropped the hammer and said, yeah, I just kind of did that for the play, sorry. Lisa: Wait, when you say involving in your process, you mean she started fucking you for real? Brian: Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. And that I had no idea, like, the damage that would do. I mean, like, I almost decided I don't want to do that. If this is what it's going to be, then I don't want to fucking do it. And so this is the question that I have in your role. Do you caution actors to like, this is a fantasy, this is pretend that we're doing right? You have a job to do. Your body is going to be telling you something different potentially in this moment. Is that part of the job of the coordinator as well to like keep things separated because we've heard plenty of stories where actors get involved in a project together and then they divorce wives and husbands and get married, you know what I mean? And then it's like, oh that wasn't real. Marci Liroff: There are a couple of things that I would talk about. We get hired to help minors with the first kiss. Because that can also be like, imagine having your first kiss ever on screen, or your first screen kiss, when you're 16 years old. I mean there was stories about the actress Millie Bobby Brown on “Stranger Things”. She had her first ever kiss on screen and the Duffer brothers, sweet as they are were teasing her about it, and they didn't realize how traumatic it was for her. And she's done so many interviews talking about how embarrassing that was. So they hire us to help out young actors and scenes like that. So one of the first things I worked on was in the film were two 16 year old kids. The girl was seducing the boy and she threw on a chair and straddled him and was kind of grinding on him and trying to take his pants off and kissing him. And neither of them had ever done that. I talked to the boy about you might have a physical reaction to something where your mind is telling you one thing, but your body is doing another thing and that's totally fine if that happens because that's very natural and if there's something like that happens, we'll stop and wait until things calm down and don't be embarrassed about that, it's totally natural. But I think it's really important to what you're saying Brian is to stop this notion of romanticizing it and doing it for art. We have to really get into it and really do it, which is bullshit. It's absolute bullshit. I mean you were taken advantage of, I mean at least you were 18 and an adult-ish, but we've certainly seen this happen and if the role was reversed and it was a guy doing this to a young girl that's criminal activity. And women kind of get the pass on that in a weird way. But yeah, I do absolutely try to guide people through these situations like that they are doing a very violent scene. I talk to the actors to make sure that they're going to be, maybe they've had experiences like this and they're worried about doing something like this as it may trigger them and so we talk about it very deeply. And I also want to make sure that we talk about keeping this in a container, so to speak so that once we finish the scene, we close that container and I don't want to send them home without knowing that they're okay psychologically with this. And so we talk about an after plan, we talk about what they're going to do when they leave the set. Do they have some support? Do they need to talk to somebody about it? Like have they really closed the container so that they're not walking around like an open wound from just stirred up all of this stuff. Lisa: Oh my gosh, that's so important. And you just made me think of how many things could get triggered. I mean, as you said with this underage couple that you were coaching. Their sexual orientation and identity may not be formed yet and it may be very confusing to them to be in a scene like that, you can't make assumptions on somebody else and thank goodness that you're there for that. I don't know if you've had to encounter that or if these are not just heteronormative scenes that Marci is going to be working on certainly. Marci Liroff: I'm not a psychologist. However, there are several intimacy coordinators that do have that background and it really definitely helps the job. I'm not going to pretend that I have that training, but I as a psychologist, as a licensed psychologist, but that is part of our training to make sure that everyone stays healthy and safe in terms of what could happen psychologically from a scene like this. For instance, the woman that trained me, Amanda Blumenthal did the series Euphoria. And I don't know if you've seen Euphoria, but it's very raw. And all teenagers and it is very intense. And they were kind of breaking new ground for things like that. And there's a trans-girl and it's a lot. I mean the subject matter was very dark and very intense. Lisa: And the whole reason that we even I even thought about doing this episode with you is because Dean last week was teasing me about Bridgerton and saying that that was my mommy porn. He was making a joke, but I was thinking about it that when I was watching those scenes, I was thinking they had to have had an IC. I mean, there are explicit scenes, I mean not just body parts, but the pleasure is and that's a fair that's even more intimate seeing somebody's face and the pleasure they're experiencing. What's for both the actor and the actress. Marci Liroff: Well, one of the things I didn't mention that we also are trained to do is the choreography of these scenes and its different every set. Some directors know exactly what they want and they'll have its story boarded and some directors treated like hot potato, like, I don't want to have anything to do with this, you do it. And I was really fortunate on the first couple of projects I worked with that the directors are like you do it. So I got to choreograph a lot of these scenes. With Bridgerton absolutely they had an IC a very good IC named Lizzie Talbot and there are so many articles, interviews of the actors from Bridgerton talking about her and how much fun she made these scenes and how they couldn't have done it without her and how appreciative they were for that she was there because it can be very awkward with a camera that's close to your face and you're meant to have an orgasm fires. It's very, very rough and hyper sexual and she'll guide them through that to make them feel comfortable and then able to walk away feeling like they did a good day's work and it’s done. Lisa: God bless you. I'm so glad that you're doing this. You seem like this is a perfect match for you. Because as you say, not only do you know how to talk to actors, you know how to talk to directors, you know how to talk to writers, and it takes a whole team to have this kind of sensitivity and understanding. I think that's amazing. Marci Liroff: You really have to have set experience to do this. You cannot learn on the job. There's a whole different world language and set etiquette and it's really not something that we can teach you. I have produced several shows, I've been a casting director for several years, so I know how to deal with all these personalities, because I'm dealing with the producer, the director of the network, the legal department, the actors, the ADs. It's a lot. Dean: You just mentioned directors and Marci I wondered how receptive obviously can't talk specifics, but just in general we've been discussing the dynamics between the actors themselves, but we all know that myriad of stories and you would know many more than me about directors and we can name them. But do you think of somebody like Bogdanovich who was serially fell in love with these actresses, Luc Besson the same infamously left one wife literally on the set for another, that he fell in love with. And what's the feeling with directors, are they fully on board with this? Or do they need to be sort of coached as well? Marci Liroff: Since it is a new position, yes, there's definitely a learning curve with directors because some are grateful to have us there and there's an education process that we need to do to help people understand what the job is, because some directors feel like we're kind of stepping into their territory, you got to read the room. And so I will lay back more in a situation like that where they feel like I can do this, I don't need you. However, if there's abuse going on, you know, I don't like to be the sex police and a lot of people see this job as the sex police or that we are where HR and that's really not what it should be. But if there's abuse going on, then certainly that's something that has to stop. But I'm not seeing that as much the Me Too movement trickle down and rose up and it gave people their voices. And I just don't feel like it's going to go back in time. I feel like we've now found our voices and we're not going to be taken advantage of anymore and we have backup. There are now things in place so that, that can't happen anymore. Lisa: Hopefully the old serial misogynist director, hopefully they're dying breed, they're dying out. But even just as recently as Blue is the Warmest Color, which is a movie, I adored that movie. For me, it was just a very important movie to watch it personally. And later to hear the actresses in this highly lauded movie come out and say, yeah, we really felt pushed and abused by our director. And these are, I mean, Lea Seydoux is like not a nobody in her world. I mean she probably had the power to say, I'm not doing this, but it just shows you that when you're on the set and you're exhausted and you're pushed that you can still be taken advantage of. Marci Liroff: And you can't say no to the people that have hiring and firing power, that's the problem. And so I'm there to make sure that that doesn't happen. Lisa: I was just reading something that really shocked me. This is a story about Paul Haggis during Crash. Thandy Newton has recently said that, this is the sneaky thing Marci in these scripts, it's a very like an oblique scene, maybe it doesn't specifically say that there's something sexual going on, it's just like implied. And so that kind of gives the director creative license to just have something happen. And how Thandy says that Matt Dillon was instructed to stick his hand up her skirt and simulate assaulting her, but she didn't know that that was going to happen. Again, it's wanting to see the real reaction of the real woman being really humiliated. We have to call it out. Marci Liroff: We are. Lisa: Yeah, really. Dean: Okay. Bear with me folks. I do need 60 seconds of your valuable time just to set this clip up so that you fully understand what's happening. Absolutely visuals. All right, this clip comes from a mini documentary of a movie titled “Keep Breathing” and we'll put a link in our show notes to this and all of the other clips that we reference in this episode. The first voice you hear on this clip is from one of the actors of the film guide called Damien Moloney, and then you'll hear from the IC in this film Aidan O'Brien. You'll hear snatches of conversations also from other actresses talking about sex scenes, Reese Witherspoon and Amy Schumer. And just for context, the movie that Aidan references about a minute and a half into this little snippet is the notorious scene that was filmed for Last Tango in Paris, where Bertolucci and Brando pretty much conspired to surprise in the actress Maria Schneider about Marlon’s use of a bar of soap that he used, unbeknownst to her as a prop for lubricant for a simulated anal scene”. The comments from Aidan echo very accurately, what Marcy covers in much more detail in this podcast episode with that as a setup, here we go. Damien Moloney: The first few intimate scenes you do is actually you're so terrified, because you have no idea what you're doing really, or how you'll be judged. You're thinking the whole world is going to look at it and think, oh my God, that's how he does this. Speaker_1: The sex scenes were the hardest thing for me to do, honestly. Speaker_2: It's always awkward. You got 20 crew members standing around who you had also met that week. Speaker_3: He's like, do you want our first kiss to be on camera? And I went, yeah. Speaker_4: So if you’re doing the kiss and relax and you'll receive it great. And intimacy coordinator is somebody who brings a clear structure and a process when choreographing intimate scenes both in theater, TV and film. So historically actors have been vulnerable in intimate content because whereas with a fight, the injury that you're taking care of can be physical, with intimate content, the injury can be physical, but it also can be emotional and psychological. And call your personal and private intimate body at play, and of course, if you're touched in those personal private places in a way that is not right for you, that might be abusive to you or might be triggering all of that needs to be taken care of. We had a young actress approached by two men, the director and the costar springing a scene on that person that they weren't expecting and also talking about preparing a lubricant for the scene and that actress talking about feeling that she felt a little raped. That incident really having severe repercussions that actress never acted again. Speaker_5: So I've been aware of practice in the industry to date, which variably the intimate contact wasn't spoken about clearly. Actors were left to sort of just work out themselves or just go for it, just improvise. And both of those situations leads the actor in a situation where it stops being professional and there’s that awkwardness of just trying to work out and then that's where you have the personal body being in play rather than making sure that you're serving character and the physicality you do is really serving the storytelling. Speaker_6: The scene in The Night Manager, Elizabeth Debicki spoke afterwards about how she felt the best case scenario was that you got on well with your other actor. And that they did the scene in one take and they met up at the tea caddy as if it never happened. Already that thing of going into shame, we don't want that, we want our actors to be able to feel comfortable and open the feeling that they've done a good day of work in real presence, with the work that they were doing. Dean: Hi there listeners. You know we love putting the pod together and we certainly hope that you enjoy hearing from us, but we would love to hear from you. How do we do this you say? Well, if you visit our website, www.killercastingpod.com, you'll see a widget there for a little service called speak pipe and you can record a message and send it to us as an audio file. So whether it's a question about an episode we've already done, maybe you've got a suggestion about a topic or a film or a series that we could jump into. We would love to hear from you, and you can be on the pod, we'll hear from you soon, bye. Lisa: Is there anything else you want to tell us about your experiences so far in this very important position. And then I just want to talk about our favorite sex scenes basically. Marci Liroff: Well, one of the things I've noticed since I started is I come home feeling really good. Like, feeling very useful and very appreciated. And it's been a long time since my work has given me that because as you know as casting directors, everyone takes credit, they'll take credit for what we do. How many times have you heard of directors say, I found so and so after looking at thousands of girls, it's like, no, you didn't actually. I looked thousands of girls and I brought her to you and jumped up and down on the table to get you to hire her. So I feel like I come home at the end of the day and I feel appreciated the actors pulled me aside afterwards and say thank you so much. There's so many thank you’s going on and there's relief going on with these actors that I'm there. Now, mind you, there are some actors that are like, I don't need you, stay out of my grill and I need to know to step back and let them do their thing, because again there's a learning curve there because they're like, this show did not have an IC the last time. So there was definitely a learning curve with me coming on. And I need to know when to step back. The problem is sometimes an actor will not want me around, but their partner wants me. So that's very tricky. Lisa: And do you help the crew to understand what kind of privacy that's needed. And because I did it, once where I was a rape victim and I was left nude on the stage, I just had my socks on. I was so not taking care of like getting there, getting off the stage, getting back to my dressing. I mean everybody like everybody just, you know what I mean? It was just all out there. Marci Liroff: So I'm glad you brought that up. So another huge part of my job is enforcing the closed set rules because we guarantee these actors that it will be a closed set. And what that means exactly is that we have only essential people on the set. And then nowadays we have monitors everywhere, all over the set. And so we have to make sure that all those monitors are a tinted or flagged. So the crew can't be walking by and be watching the monitor. And also, and that's part of the new set contract, is that this is one of the things that the ICs help them put into the contract, is that the costume people have to be standing by with a robe or cover up so that every time we cut in between takes they throw a robe over them and they're very conscientious about that. So I work with the ADs, the assistant directors to make sure that all the monitors are locked up before every scene. And so it is a little bit like the sex police where I'm running around the set trying to make sure you can't be standing here, and to make sure we're the costume people are providing them with robes. And I also cover background actors. Anytime they have a nude scene stimulated sex to work with them well and make sure that they understand the writer and what that means before they sign it and make sure that it gets signed. Lisa: Oh, that's amazing. Guys, any other questions on this topic that I just want to talk about sex. So I'm just very curious for all of you. A lot of people learn about sex on TV and in movies and how to treat the other people and what's allowed and what I mean, I just remembered, I think that The Big Easy, there's a scene in The Big Easy where Ellen is, she's getting fingered or something. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't like the traditional thing that we always see this Hollywood clutch with the man on top and the woman on bottom, and I was just like it was so scandalous to me and she's completely clothed but like it's happening under her skirt and I was like damn, you know, that was like really erotic for me and very empowering in a weird way. Like it just, it just wasn't the A B C by the numbers. Marci Liroff: It wasn't conventional at all and it was very raw. It's probably very raw for that time. I didn’t see any skin and it was still erotic. Lisa: Exactly exactly. And I just wonder if you have other movies or moments that really stick with you. I mean I'll never forget Monster's Ball was just like. What a traumatic if you haven't seen it, Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton are having sex and they're both very wounded people who have big secrets that the other doesn't know and they're coming together. I mean something I'm just wondering if each of you have any things to share? Brian: Coming up in the 80s when cable was just becoming kind of getting into households. Like, I remember my grandparents had cable and I remember when I got to a certain age when I got to be a teen and they would go to bed and I would be in the living room. It was moving the chair in front of the TV just in case and keeping the volume really low so that if they did come around, it was just like, it wasn't like I had a remote either. It was the console, you remember the console? You had like the trigger that with the triple, it had multiple numbers on or whatever. So like having a memorized of like okay, I'm going to move to this channel, like I knew where to go. So as a kid, I was thinking about this so like 48 hours was one of those movies where it was like female nudity. But I haven't thought of this movie in decades, but The Lonely Lady Pia Zadora. No? No? Nobody knows? Nobody remembers this? Dean: I didn't see it. But yes, I went flash. I think I said the title card. Brian: Holy shit. So as a kid, like 12-13 watching that. I mean, it's a terrible fucking movie first of all. I think it's based on a like a really bad romance novel or whatever they made in to a movie. But she's like, I think she gets raped with a hose. I mean she's not married. Like she's kind of a hostess at a strip club. There's something at the end of the movie and she wins an Oscar for best writing. She goes, I guess I not the only one who had to fuck my way to the top and she saunters off the stage in victory. And it's just like, but as a kid, all I cared about was the nudity. And I still remember those babysitter jobs where it's the snow, like you land on the channel that they didn't have access to, but it would be snowy, but every so often it would like come into focus and so it was just like waiting in like anticipation of a moment. I was like, okay, I caught it, that's my story that's it. Lisa: Okay, Dean. Dean: Only until recently did we get cable over here, but we didn't grow up with cable as you describe it. But there was a period in the eighties where the federal government funded a thing called the SBS the Special Broadcasting Service and this was basically ethnic television. So all of a sudden on free to broadcasts, we've got all these French and Italian movies and there's full frontal nudity and there was just all this stuff happening, which didn't happen in Australian TV at all. So that just blew people's minds. So that was just flashed on that. Okay, so not so much scenes but films that I liked. And it's ironically so that you just mentioned The Big Easy because the director of the Big Easy Guy called Jim Mcbride is one of my favorite directors. He also made Great Balls of Fire with Dennis Quaid, yes. But one of my favorite films of all time is a movie that probably no one's ever heard of. It was made in 81 by Jim. It was called Breathless and it was a remake. Yeah, brilliant movie. And talk about killer casting. Lisa: Richard Gere and that young girl I can’t remember her name. Dean: I'll never forget it. Don't worry. Valerie Kaprisky. Lisa: Valerie Kaprisky. Dean: So it's this doomed romance set in LA and it’s just perfect casting. Richard Gere is just handsome as fuck. He's just absolutely at his peak and she is just gorgeous. And the chemistry between them is unbelievable. So they have a few sex scenes but it's just whenever they're in those scenes, it's just so hot. It's brilliant that for me was a great film. Also a film that I think even today is just still holds up is Lawrence Kasdan, I think it's 1981 as well, Body Heat which is an amazing film. It's so sultry, it's set in hot wet sticky Florida and that's kind of how the movie rolls and it's an amazing film and looking at it recently, it was Kathleen Turner's first role and she just owns the movie. Absolutely owns it. And it's an odd film because the two leads were almost unknown. So she was unknown. William Hurt had done Altered States for that Cronenberg I think. So they were the two leads and really the biggest name in it was Richard Crenna. You know, it's a beautiful one of the best Neo Noirs ever made. But apparently they turned up and there was a shooting schedule and then there was a change in the shooting schedule. Marci you would have had a heart attack. So they've got this fully naked face to face sex scene. They go, I'm sorry we've got to do this on day one. Day one there into this full on sex scene between the two of them and they hadn't met before the film. But so credit to them and to cast on who wrote and directed it because as it turns out, it's just absolutely fantastic. There's a couple of hits for me that really I never forgotten just made me go, wow. Lisa: You brought up something really interesting Marci, do you have any say in how soon the sex scenes will be shot? I mean it's so it's all based on location and schedule and everything. Do you try to get together ahead, obviously ahead of time before. Marci Liroff: Well new SAG Rules, which also we accomplished a lot on this contract. The new SAG rules say that we have to give the actor and the representatives a draft of the nudity rider, at least a minimum 48 hours ahead of the scene that we're going to shoot it. Because it used to be that we would give it to them on the set to sign. And what they would try to do is like add things to it on the day. And so this way, with the 48 hour rule, they can't add anything new to it. If the producers want to add something new to it, it starts the clock over. So it kind of keeps it so that these are the things that are on the rider, this is what we're sticking to. We can always make it less, but we can't add new things to it. Some things that I get concerned about is a lot of actresses won't eat when they have a nude scene. And so if they make the nude scene at the end of the day, they're going to be feeling pretty rough and cranky and low blood sugar and things like that. So I will talk to the ADs about that in terms of scheduling, yes, it does come down to location and shooting schedule and things like that. Some of my movies or shows that I remember there are a lot of really great scenes in Euphoria if you take a look at it, it was very interesting and very well done. There's a little indie movie that took place eons, Desert Hearts, and it had two women in a scene that I thought was very erotic. And it stuck with me for one reason or another. Another scene when you talk about actors saying this has to be real and genuine is word has it that on Officer and a Gentleman, there is a really beautiful love seeing simulated sex scene with Richard Gere and Debra Winger and they say that they were actually doing it. Lisa: Hmm, never heard that, wow. Marci Liroff: And then just stylized just hot stuff, which is Nine and a Half weeks of course. Lisa: That's on my list. Marci Liroff: Of course. I mean Adrian Lyne really knows how to shoot that stuff and he has a terrific eye in terms of certainly cinematography, but also like I saw him once taking, I'm forgetting what movie it was, that he was taking actress around shopping. Like he has a great eye for costuming and music and all that stuff. So I mean, those scenes were very 80s, 90s, whatever it was. Lisa: Very introducing people to kink light because I think nowadays we look at the film and go, yeah, whatever. That's like that's a Tuesday for me. But do you remember the big controversy in Blue Valentine? Because Ryan Gosling was like going down on Michelle Williams. And it's like people were in shock that he was going down on her and it’s like really? Really why is that shocking? Why is that controversy? Yeah, it was like a really big deal and you know, how many times have we seen women - Yeah, exactly. But I'm a big fan Unfaithful, Brokeback Mountain, that's a very romantic movie. I love that movie. Boys Don't Cry, Secretary, High Art and Out of Sight, Dean loves that movie Out of Sight. Dean: Yeah, great film. Lisa: And most recently, if you guys watched Mrs. Fletcher, there's some incredible, incredible scenes and of course, another Kathryn Hahn, “I Love Dick”, love it, love it. Just great sex, great stories, great and on the downside, I mean Handmaid's Tale is so grotesque, but it's a very necessary story. I mean, nobody loves to see sexualized violence, but sometimes those stories really need to be told. And I think The Handmaid's Tale just blows it right up. Marci Liroff: I agree. I mean, I think it's very obvious, at least to smart people like us. We can tell what is gratuitous and what is not, and what really makes sense to the storytelling and like you said in Handmaid's Tale, it's very rough to watch, but it is telling a story that needs to be told. Dean: Well certainly somebody that could give a master class on how to deal with sex scenes would be the gorgeous Emilia Clarke who of course played Daenerys Storm Born on Game of Thrones, and here she is talking with actor and filmmaker Jay Duplass about that first season of Game of Thrones take it away Emilia. Emilia Clarke: Season one of Game of Thrones, everything just did it all. I got raped, I came out of the fire, I was butt naked, fights all of it, I was pregnant and then lost it, and then kind of gave birth to something else. And so season one was the most challenging out of everything. But the naked stuff is always difficult. It's always hard because it's just uncomfortable for many, many, many reasons. Jay: So many reasons, yeah. Emilia: And you have to like, it's weird as the actor, I feel like you have to be the one who comes on and says, it's okay, guys everything's going to be fine. Well you guys can chill. It's not a big deal. Jay: No one ever told me that. Emilia: You've all seen it. You know, everything is going to be fine. Jay: It is really weird though, because it's one of the few times where you can't just be in the moment. Because it's like the most choreographed stuff that you have to do and nothing really is going on. So you have to, it's basically like doing Pilates for a long time without any reward to come. Like that's what you don't realize when you're having sex, there's a reward that's coming at the end of this, when you're not, you're just like, God, my core sucks, everything sucks, right? It's a weird thing. Emilia: It's weird. It is weird. Lisa: Brian what do you have? Brian: What I was going to say was, I can't imagine being a teenager in this day and age where you could just hop on the internet and have ready access to pornography just like that. And I'm not saying that the way that I approached sex or trying to find naked scenes in 1980s movies like Porky or Porky's II. Marci Liroff: I cast those movies. And the same man directed a Christmas story, which I also cast. Bob Clark. He directed all these movies. Brian: There's a kind of innocence about seeking out those movies, because it's tricky and I grew up in Texas in a pretty conservative evangelical household. So my idea of sex from word go is already kind of like things that I've had to work through. I don't know what this is related to or but there is something about the innocence of like those 80s movies of like going to your best friend's house for to spend the night because like I said, 48 hours is on. And there's a nude scene, you know what I mean? Marci Liroff: Imagine being a young boy or girl having such readily ready access to porn and that is your education to sex and there's so much violence against women, men in porn and that's how they're learning to treat women is really scary. Dean: Before we get emails and people start pinging… Altered States was Ken Russell, I've just remembered not Cronenberg. And Brian talking about access to sex as teenagers back in the day. At one point I think we were 15 or 16 school holidays. We wanted to go into the pictures, right? The cinema. And see a film and where you look at the paper, the old printed paper, what's on. And we're looking there was not much on. So we saw this movie and it stars Al Pacino. So we're like, oh Al Pacino, you know he's a cool guy, Serpico and all this. Marci Liroff: I know what you're talking about. Dean: Great so here we go. Marci Liroff: Cruising. Dean: Oh yeah, yeah. So we walk into the cinema with three 15-16 year old boys. We sit down, we're looking around going, well there's like just all these guys in here, because we didn't know what the film was about. We thought it was like Al Pacino is searching for a killer and we're like, okay great sitting there eating our popcorn and the opening scene is a male, it's this guy screwing a guy in the ass and the guys tied up, it's a bondage scene and we're sort of looking at each other, because we're totally white bread and we're like, what the fuck is this? And then of course the guy whips out a knife and it's very graphic and just brutally mutilates and stabs this guy to death. And all these old guys are looking at us and we're looking like we're too scared to move. We’re shocked by the content, were shocked, like, “uhhh” so we're whispering right, if anybody makes a move, we're going to punch them and run. So we sat through the whole movie, which is a very important movie and a great movie. But as soon as the credits were up, we were like, let's just get out of here and we ran like hell, but that made an impact. I haven't forgotten that. Lisa: I love all that, I could talk about sex forever, but we don't have forever. Marci, you're my queen. I'm so grateful that we met each other, I'm so glad that we connected and I hope that you continue and what you're doing is so important. I'm so glad to educate our audiences about it and hopefully get the word out. So this becomes the norm and much healthier place. I want you to stay safe out there. Marci Liroff: You guys too, nice to meet you all. Dean: Nice to meet you Marci, thank you. Lisa: And so for now this is Killer Casting signing off. Brian: Killer casting is a concept created and produced by Lisa Zambetti. Audio engineering by Dean Laffan, mobile art by April Laffan. Website and big fat opinions courtesy of me Brian Allan Hill.
[End of Audio] LetsTranscript Transcription Services
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| 013: Lupin | 27 Jan 2021 | 00:49:37 | |
Since released in January 8 2020, this French language thriller/action/heist/fantasy has taken the world by storm. 70m households in two weeks ! Bigger than The Queen's Gambit or Bridgerton ? .... Sacre Bleu ! Review at the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/television/lupin-netflix-omar-sy.html As mentioned in the pod, this original stories written around the true of the 20th century have been updated repeatedly in France. But in 1974 Japanese Director Hayao Miyazaki (later of Studio Ghibli/Spirited Away fame) produced an animated take on the character ! Trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJudurbkv1E Courtesy of our listener Ren, via SpeakPipe, here is the info on her recommendation 'Money Heist', also available on Netflix. If you really wan to get you Eurotrash binge on, check out this list of Top 11 (not a typo) International shows to stream right now, yes RIGHT now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/04/16/fauda-money-heist-international-tv-shows/
And finally. The modern day man described as ‘The Gentleman Thief’ in today’s world. Apollo Robbins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-dWSIUNF10 His INSANENLY jaw dropping TEDx Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-dWSIUNF10
Hey does anyone even read this stuff ... ? ;-). If so, please et me know on our Speakpipe widget, just go to , say your piece and you're done ! https://www.killercastingpod.com/contact Click the buttonRecord your message and we'll put you on the pod. | |||
| 012: Cobra Kai | 07 Jan 2021 | 00:57:05 | |
When we asked Bob to be on the show, we were stoked to hear his favourite show was Cobra Kai. We sit down with him and also Lisa's dad Bob Zambetti who has more black belts than you have had hot dinners. When Lisa would say at school "Oh yeah ? ... well my dad, could beat up *your* dad ... she wasn't kidding. Great interview with Pat Morita explaining the back story of how he was cast in Karate Kid https://youtu.be/MoBeHY1Rvs0 Hilarious (and thought provoking) fan movie recut of Karate Kid, positioning Johnny as the good guy and Daniel as a spoilt bully. https://youtu.be/C_Gz_iTuRMM Ralph telling the story of how they shot the fly and chopsticks scene with a fly tied to a string ... no really ! https://youtu.be/EUG6FjvVo1M Martin Kove talks about Karate Kid and Pat Morita https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix5oKfQirAk Multiple stories about Cobra Kai at ET Online https://www.etonline.com/latest/tv/cobra-kai About the Bobs .. Bob Ruff is currently investigating the double homicide of Fort Worth couple Agnes and Lloyd "Smitty" Courtney. The Truth & Justice Podcast recently wrapped up Season 7 (The Murder of Bill Little), and Season 5 (The Forgotten West Memphis Three). The podcast investigates a new potential wrongful conviction case every season. Bob asks listeners to help with the investigation, in an attempt to prove who actually committed the crimes and free the wrongfully convicted. Truth & Justice is a true crowdsourced investigation in real time. Professor Zambetti is a 6th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo and 6th Dan Black Belt in Judo. He retired from active instruction at CSU East Bay (formerly CSU Hayward) in 2004 and is now a Professor Emeritus. He currently resides in Northern California. | |||
| 011: 2020 Wrap Up ! | 01 Jan 2021 | 01:06:00 | |
Yeah yeah .. .we KNOW that technically some of these films have 2019 release dates, but we *saw* them in 2020 and … c’mon give us a break please #2020
BREAKING! Lisa has been working with acclaimed director Taika Waititi (Thor, Jo Jo Rabbit, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) to cast his new series Reservation Dogs.
And now, on with the show .. Lisa’s special mentions for 2020 include: ‘The Great' https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2235759 ‘Small Axe’. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3464896/ ‘The Old Guard’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7556122/ ‘Palm Springs’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9484998 “Bridgerton’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8740790
Brian gives his big Texan love to; https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4116627225?playlistId=tt8134186&ref_=tt_ov_vi https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4234919449?playlistId=tt7939766&ref_=tt_ov_vi
Meanwhile, Dean was riveted by the retro-modern Tom Hanks WW2 drama ‘Greyhound’ https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3256991257?playlistId=tt6048922&ref_=tt_ov_vi
And if you enjoyed that movie you will LOVE this hour long deep dive (sic) interview with Tom on the AMAZING Dan Carlin’s podcast Hardcore History Addendum. Check that out here https://podcastnotes.org/hardcore-history/ep12-wolf-pack-hunting-with-hanks-tom-hanks-on-dan-carlins-hardcore-history-addendum/ https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3668033817?playlistId=tt12888462&ref_=tt_ov_vi
And ‘Last Breath’ https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3035282457?playlistId=tt9056818&ref_=tt_ov_vi And finally for Dean .. how do you film a movie about an “Invisible Man’ ? Well you put Leigh Whannel behind the camera, and Elizabeth Moss in front of it, and all is good. A cracking modern thriller with very topical themes of Domestic Violence and Coercive Control. Ted Danson vehicle ‘Mr. Mayor’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10662034 And Carey Mulligan in ‘Promising Young Woman’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9620292
‘The Sound of Metal’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5363618/ Keep an eye out for Eric Bana in a taut Aussie thriller called ‘The Dry’ His unrequited crush Denis Villeneuve, is releasing his much anticipated version of Dune, attempting to expunge the hideous red-headed step child that *was* David Lynch’s version with Kyle McLachlan https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160419 Ray Shoesmith was right. The new guy is good. Connery rocks. Moore sucks. The rest are irrelevant. Finally, check out the Guardian’s round up of Best pics of 2020 that you may have missed https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/29/the-best-films-of-2020-that-you-havent-seen
That’s your lot then for 2020. We’ll see on the GOOD side of the decade !!! | |||
| 010: Christmas Special ! | 17 Dec 2020 | 00:43:52 | |
Here on Killer Casting we voted that it is INDEED not properly Christmas, until Hans Grüber falls off the Nakatomi Building. | |||
| 009: Even MORE of our interview with Joe Mantegna, talking House of Games & the art of the con | 08 Dec 2020 | 00:21:09 | |
Yes it features cards and gambling but its more about human nature and the con. "The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent." David Mamet | |||
| 008: More of our interview with Joe Mantegna talking Homicide & David Mamet | 08 Dec 2020 | 00:28:38 | |
We talk all things 'Homicide' David Mamet's 3rd film as Writer/Director and all three featured Joe. The opening scenes set you up for 'seen it before' cop buddy film, but Mamet being Mamet, that snot where we end up, detouring down dark alleyways that include arson, murder, anti-semitism, and neo-nazis. | |||
| LEAH MCKENDRICK IS "SCRAMBLED". Writer, Director and Star of Lionsgate's new film joins us. | 02 Feb 2024 | 00:56:16 | |
LEAH MCKENDRICK - WRITER, DIRECTOR AND STAR OF THE NEW LIONSGATE MOVIE “SCRAMBLED”. One day you are an actress in Los Angeles, grinding away, trying to get that first TV co-star credit, fast forward through some bloody, sweaty and tearful years and BOOM you are STARRING in a feature film for Lionsgate that you WROTE and also DIRECTED. Please welcome my guest actor/director/writer Leah McKendrick whose new feature film “Scrambled” hits theaters this week. This movie is based on Leah’s true personal story of her journey freezing her eggs, a process that turned out to be scary and painful, but also wildly funny and full of absurd ironies as she (in her character of Nelly) faced some major milestones in her life. Leah shares what it took to get her script on the screen, the twists and turns she’s had as a Hollywood studio writer and how she has finally found artistic freedom. "Scrambled" also stars Andrew Santino (I’m Dying Up Here), Ego Nwodim (Saturday Night Live), Laura Ceron (ER), and Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption) as well as other very special cameos. Get out there, take your gal pals, you guy pals, your gramma, your mamma and your sisters and go see this wonderful film. Check out the trailer here! | |||
| 007: Interview with Joe Mantegna talking Queen's Gambit and Searching for Bobby Fischer | 08 Dec 2020 | 00:38:28 | |
Dive in with us as we go deep into Joe's career, beginning with his outstanding performance in the classic 'Searching for Bobby Fischer' the 'based a a true story' of a boy genius chess player and how his father struggles to come to terms with his son's gift. | |||
| 006: Fargo Season 4 Finale "Cue the Oranges" | 08 Dec 2020 | 00:39:25 | |
The episode is titled 'Storia Americana' which Dean's basic Google Translate efforts, seems to suggest that the literal translation is 'A History of America'. Which makes sense because ut brings us full circle back to Ethelrida's History report ... the one which informed the breathtaking 25 min opening scene from Episode 1. | |||
| 005: Fargo Season 4 "We're not in Kansas City anymore" | 08 Dec 2020 | 01:36:50 | |
Lisa, Brian and Dean recap the penultimate episodes of the bold Fargo Season 4. Things are coming to a head ! Lisa is still in love with it. Brian's patience is starting to wear thin .. and Dean takes a comfortable position on the fence. | |||
| 004: Fargo Season 4 Recap with Dr. Douglas Flowe | 28 Nov 2020 | 00:57:38 | |
On today's episode covering Fargo Season 4 we bring in the big guns! Douglas Flowe's research is primarily concerned with themes of criminality, illicit leisure, and masculinity, and understanding how they converge with issues of race, class, and space in American cities. His new book released in 2020 is titled ' Uncontrollable Blackness: African American Men and Criminality in Jim Crow New York Watch Fargo Season 4 Trailer https://youtu.be/OQUc1l8uv7Y #fargo #chrisrock #noahhawley #hulu #jasonschwartzman #jackhuston #benwhishaw | |||
| 003: We dive headlong into Kansas City in 1950 for Fargo Season 4 | 23 Nov 2020 | 00:57:37 | |
Lisa goes all-in on Fargo Season 4, waxing rhapsodic about the first episode's incredible prologue, the structure, the casting, the costumes. But Brian is not having it … and he’s a bit grumpy about the do's and don'ts of mafia cannon. Dean as usual, pulls some rabbits out of his hat, with observations neither Lisa nor Brian noticed ! #fargo #chrisrock #noahhawley #hulu #coenbrothers #SBSOnDemand Fargo Season 4 Trailer Available in the US on Hulu and in Australia on SBS On-Demand Chris Rock interviewed about Fargo on GMA Quick 5 minute interview on ET Canada The evolution of behavioural profiling in crime fiction Interview with Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris ... his first in 46 years ! Interview with the OG of Criminal Profilers John Douglas The scene that got Dean all foaming-at-the-mouth for his cold intro ... | |||
| 002: We conclude our wrap up and review of Mr. Inbetween. | 30 Oct 2020 | 00:37:18 | |
Hollywood Casting Directors Lisa Zambetti and Brian Hill are joined by crime movie and TV buff Dean Laffan to discuss the shows we all love, which feature killer casting. | |||
| 001: We review the top Aussie crime drama Mr Inbetween | 24 Oct 2020 | 00:43:23 | |
Hollywood Casting Directors Lisa Zambetti and Brian Hill are joined by crime movie and TV buff Dean Laffan to discuss the shows we all love, which feature killer casting. | |||
| True Detective | Episode 3| Recap | 02 Feb 2024 | 00:50:38 | |
Lisa and Dean delve into the depths and profundity ofTrue Detective: Night Episode 3. How is Kali Reis in her third only role SMASHING it, up against the legend that is Jodie Foster ? Peter wants to know ‘Who is Mrs. Robinson ?” (Snicker) WT ACTUAL F is going on with Liz and Eve at William Wheeler's crummy, homicidal shack ? When Navarro slips on the ice and has a vision of Liz’s son Holden, why is he reversed/flipped horizontally ? Why …. Oh FMD … too many questions and not enough answers! Tune in to get our take on what we think so far. Credit to the following; BrainPilot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyb8SPoZHFU https://www.vulture.com/article/true-detective-recap-season-4-episode-3-part-3.html https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-recaps/true-detective-night-country-episode-3-recap-jodie-foster-kali-reis-issa-lopez-1234953858/ https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a46553371/true-detective-season-4-episode-3-recap/ Pete Peppers YT recap (the best !) https://youtu.be/5yeyJ4jT6wM?si=ixXDk5ObhFMpsskf Think Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0vU8pOU1AI https://collider.com/true-detective-season-4-episode-3-recap/ Sedna Mythology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(mythology) Oranges in The Godfather as a harbinger of death https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/67749/were-oranges-an-intentional-use-of-symbolism-by-filmmakers/67756#67756
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| True Detective: Night Country | Episode 02 | Bonus with Dean | 25 Jan 2024 | 00:20:31 | |
We all know how much Dean likes to run his mouth and be a smarty pants, especially with all the minutiae that he jazzes on joining dots hither and yon. There was SO much to unpack in Episode 2 that even though we spent an hour with the legend Joel Montgrand, we still couldn’t cover all the twists and turns in that episode. So if you don’t dig the digging deep, give this one a miss. But of you like getting down and dirty (or frosty) with all the easy-to-miss connections and fan theories looking ahead … then dive in ! Let us know what you think and ask Dean followup questions on our True Detective: Night Country Fan page on the Book of Faces here https://www.facebook.com/groups/3518353335092244 Episode 3 Preview/Trailer REPEAT OF LINKS FROM PREVIOUS EPISODE Joel’s own podcast on First Nations talent in tv and film is called ‘Actors and Ancestors’ check it out here Here’s a terrific interview with Jodie Foster and Showrunner Issa Lopez https://www.gamesradar.com/true-dectective-night-country-interview-exclusive-jodie-foster/ All about Kali Reis the astounding actress playing Evangeline Navarro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Reis A wonderfully readable article on the locations used in this seasonhttps://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/entertainment/a46439515/true-detective-night-country-filming-locations/ Here’s a Buch of RECAPS from the likes of vulture, NYT, Variety and more … https://www.vulture.com/article/true-detective-recap-season-4-episode-2.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/arts/television/true-detective-recap-episode-2.html https://www.theringer.com/2024/1/21/24046238/true-detective-night-country-season-4-episode-2-recap https://screenrant.com/true-detective-night-country-episode-2-recap-story-reveals/#the-researchers-have-spirals-on-their-foreheads https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a46410144/true-detective-premiere-recap-season-4-episode-2/ https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/true-detective-night-country-episode-2-recap-spoilers-questions-theories-1235880441/ A brilliant resource called TuneFind which lists all the music used in tv and film and most importantly WHERE it occurs in the show ! All about The Tuttle Cult as er Season 1 … and now introduced to this Season 4 Horrific true life inspiration for the ‘Corpsicle’ of scientists from Tsalal. And finally the IMDB page for Night Country with the complete cast list for this season, in case you need to remind yourself who is who … lord knows we do ! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29314270/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm | |||
| True Detective: Night Country | Episode 02 with Joel Montgrand ! | 24 Jan 2024 | 00:54:17 | |
You knew that Lisa and Dean were already VERY excited about True Detective: Night Country … but today that excitement was ramped up to level infinity because we are joined in the pod today by one of those actors who despite their role being nominally a recurring co-star, they simply steal your eyeballs in every scene they are in. And don’t take our word for it … after his filming was finished and he was back Stateside, Showrunner Issa López thought so much of his performance that she wrote extra dialogue for him and flew him back for more filming. Today, we are talking about the amazing actor Joel Montgrand ! Better known to viewers as Qavvik, Navarro’s hunky, convenient, sex toy and proprietor of the local brewhouse called … err … Qavvik’s. Joel covers his scarcely believable path to acting, his background as a proud Cree man from Saskatchewan and we dive into his experience on this season with some cool stories of his time in Iceland for principal filming. That’s right folks, it was shot in Iceland not Alaska ! Wanna know why ? Just listen along to find out. And when you are done with all that ear candy from Navvaro's eye candy, then (like Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop) you can go deep, deep DEEP! undercover … with the extensive links below: OK, deep breath … and away we go: Joel’s own podcast on First Nations talent in tv and film is called ‘Actors and Ancestors’ check it out here Here’s a terrific interview with Jodie Foster and Showrunner Issa Lopez https://www.gamesradar.com/true-dectective-night-country-interview-exclusive-jodie-foster/ All about Kali Reis the astounding actress playing Evangeline Navarro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Reis A wonderfully readable article on the locations used in this season Here’s a Buch of RECAPS from the likes of vulture, NYT, Variety and more … https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/arts/television/true-detective-recap-episode-2.html https://www.theringer.com/2024/1/21/24046238/true-detective-night-country-season-4-episode-2-recap https://screenrant.com/true-detective-night-country-episode-2-recap-story-reveals/#the-researchers-have-spirals-on-their-foreheads https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a46410144/true-detective-premiere-recap-season-4-episode-2/ https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/true-detective-night-country-episode-2-recap-spoilers-questions-theories-1235880441/ A brilliant resource called TuneFind which lists all the music used in tv and film and most importantly WHERE it occurs in the show ! All about The Tuttle Cult as er Season 1 … and now introduced to this Season 4 Horrific true life inspiration for the ‘Corpsicle’ of scientists from Tsalal. And finally the IMDB page for Night Country with the complete cast list for this season, in case you need to remind yourself who is who … lord knows we do ! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29314270/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm | |||
| Fargo Season 5 Finale | Recap | 19 Jan 2024 | 00:51:48 | |
Aaaaaaaand that’s a wrap folks !
To breakdown the operatic finale of Fargo Season 5, Lisa and Dean are ecstatic to be joined by the man, the myth, the legend himself, renowned acting coach/teacher Terry Knickerbocker.
From his incredible Brooklyn based studio, Terry has worked with actors from beginners, all the way to Hollywood A-Listers such as; Chris Messina (Newsroom, I Care A Lot, The Mindy Project), Oscar Winner Sam Rockwell (Moon, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Seven Psychopaths), Abbie Cornish (Somersault, Sucker Punch, Jack Ryan) Yul Vasquez (Severance, Magic City, Whitehouse Plumbers) Gretchen Mol (Boardwalk Empire, Life on Mars, Manchester By the Sea) and so many others.
Lisa, Terry and Dean wrap up this wild season by discussing the overarching main themes, the fate of various characters, the performances of this stellar cast and where this season sits in terms of the Fargo universe. Join us! Subscribe and please take a moment to leave us a 5 star review wherever you get your pods.
You can learn more about Terry here https://terryknickerbockerstudio.com
Here are some recap/breakdown links to further your Fargoddiction for rounding out this excellent Season Five.
https://www.vulture.com/article/fargo-finale-recap-season-5-episode-10-bisquik.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/16/arts/television/fargo-recap-season-5-finale.html
https://tvline.com/recaps/fargo-recap-season-5-finale-episode-10-ending-explained-1235113875/
https://www.avclub.com/fargo-season-5-finale-review-bisquik-1851169777
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| True Detective: Night Country | Episode 01 Recap | 17 Jan 2024 | 01:09:19 | |
Lace your snow boots up nice and tight, snuggle into that down parka and scrunch your hat on good and proper because Lisa and Dean are leading you into their recap of the first episode of the much awaited fourth season of True Detective. So many questions ! Listen in for the answers. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/14/arts/television/true-detective-recap-season-4-episode-1.html Vulture'True Detective' Premiere Recap, Season 4, Episode 16 hours ago Collider'True Detective Night Country' Episode 1 Recap — "She's Awake"6 hours ago Need to kill an entire weekend by going down more rabbit holes than Alice and a White Rabbit ? https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/26/king-in-yellow-true-detectives-hbo-weird-fiction | |||
| Everyday Superheroes - Meet 3 Extraordinary Actors who Perform with Disabilities | 16 Jan 2024 | 01:02:24 | |
Lisa is thrilled to be joined by three wonderful actors who you need to know about! Carey Cox recurs on “The Handmaid’s Tale” as Rose Blaine, Joseph Kibler has acted on shows like “Criminal Minds” “Good Trouble” “Chicago Med” and Leah Rachel is model, dancer, actress performing all over London on both stage and screen. What do these three artists have in common? In addition to being talented, they are all performers with disabilities and advocates in their own unique capacities. Carey, Joseph and Leah have so much to share with us, not just about their career challenges but also about their wins and their view of the changing landscape of visibility, accessibility and inclusion for performers. Joseph’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_wSQDC60FRxjUxdrjGRHVA Joseph’s Insta https://www.instagram.com/josephakibler/ TikTok - Josephakible Joseph Kibler’s blog - www.fancywalker.blog Carey’s Insta https://www.instagram.com/careyleighcox/?hl=en Leah’s Insta https://www.instagram.com/leahrachel99/ Leah’s other Socials @LeahRachel99 Website: https://www.leahrachelcaplan.com Leah Rachel is an Access Coordinator, Disabled Actress, and a Medical Ethics Researcher currently based in the UK Carey Cox is a New York based actor. Originally from El Paso, TX, Carey has a BFA in Musical Theater from Santa Fe University of Art and Design, and an MFA in Acting from UNC Chapel Hill. Carey has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in regional theater. She was a writer and performer for the 2022 Viacom/CBS Diversity Showcase, and she plays Rose Blaine on The Handmaids Tale. She also stars in the upcoming Indie feature Where Did the Adults Go?. Other passions include visual art, playwrighting, stand-up, singing, guitar, and volunteering. Carey has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and advocates for disability inclusion. She has three cats and one dog with her husband Joe. Joseph Kibler is a born disabled and HIV positive actor/writer/content creator living in New York, NY. Joseph has appeared on shows such as Chicago Med, Good Trouble, Criminal Minds and CSI Cyber along with several National commercials from brands like Wells Fargo, Toyota, National Association of Realtors & United Healthcare. He was a long time member of Upright Citizen Brigade as an improviser & sketch comedy writer and was on the MessHall Team Fetch. Joseph has also produced and was the subject of an Award Winning Documentary called Walk On. Walk On follows Joseph's journey training to walk 6 miles in the LA AIDS Walk. It was produced by Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson, Hugh Jackman, Steve & Nancy Carell and won best documentary at Burbank International Film Festival & Timecode: NOLA. Alongside his HIV & Disability activism and writing his own spec films/tv shows, he enjoys his days with his spouse, Carey Cox and their four senior pets. Here is the rundown: 01:29 The Reality of Being a Disabled Actor 02:29 The Importance of Authentic Representation 07:23 The Struggle for Equal Opportunities 09:52 The Isolation of Disabled Actors 12:57 The Role of an Access Coordinator 15:35 The Challenges of Accessibility on Set 27:48 Carey's Character in The Handmaid's Tale 29:58 Character Research and Backstory 30:27 Wheelchair Barbie 31:47 Impact of Representation on Younger Generations 32:28 The Struggle for Representation in Children's Media 35:49 Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Disability in Performance 37:04 The Importance of Representation and Accessibility in Media 40:49 The Need for Disabled Creatives in the Industry 55:00 Future Projects and Hopes for Increased Representation | |||
| FARGO SEASON 5 | EPISODE 9 The Useless Hand Recap | 12 Jan 2024 | 01:00:16 | |
Here we are in the penultimate episode of the season and the forces are amassing for the big showdown. Tillman’s lost his mojo and maybe his mind as all the chess pieces make their final moves. Lisa and Dean break it all down. One of us thinks the tension is delicious, one of us thinks the episode may have lost the plot in some key moments. Join us for the conversation. Subscribe and share! Please leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. #tvrecap #podcast #actors #acting #directors #directing #wardrobe #wallpaper #screenwriting #streaming #casting #castingdirectors #jonhamm #junotemple #noahhawley #hulu #fx #joekeery #davidrysdahl #lamornemorris #jenniferjasonleigh #richamoorjani #davefoley #Fargo
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| FARGO SEASON 5 | Episode 8 "Blanket" Recap | 04 Jan 2024 | 01:02:53 | |
FARGO SEASON 5 - EPISODE 8 “Blanket” Recap TRIGGER WARNING: Due to the graphic depiction of domestic violence and coercive control in Episode 8, our discussion contains equally graphic descriptions that may be upsetting. Please exercise caution when listening. Lisa and Dean react to this traumatizing and powerful episode which delivers the confrontation we all knew was coming: a death match showdown between Dot and Tillman. As Tillman’s obsession with Dot increases, so does her desperation to escape his control. We analyze Tillman’s malevolence and the amazing writing of this character. We also breakdown the metaphor of Dot being chained in the barn which symbolizes so tragically the literal chains that many victims of domestic abuse carry with them, no matter how far away they get from the abuser. Can a survivor ever really be free of these binds, psychologically, spiritually free? We certainly hope so for Dot's sake. Lisa and Dean also shout out Lamorne Morris’ portrayal of good Trooper Witt Farr, whose decency and depth elevate the show. Join us for so much more discussion on this complex episode. Subscribe and leave us a review wherever you listen. Here is the Run Down: 01:51 Upcoming Special Guests and Future Podcast Plans 03:38 Discussion on Podcast Rankings and Reviews 05:08 Analysis of Fargo Episode 8 09:49 Discussion on Domestic Abuse and Power Dynamics 17:43 Indira's Discovery 32:25 Dot's Escape Attempt and MacGyver Skills 32:51 The Debate and the Mockery of Tillman 33:51 Tillman's Humiliation and Loss of Control 34:39 The Strategy Against Tillman and Its Consequences 36:08 Dot and Gator's Emotional Exchange 37:17 The Reality of Dot's Dream and Gator's Transformation 42:50 The Fate of Danish Graves 58:00 Dot's Hopelessness and the Bleak Ending of Episode #tvrecap #podcast #actors #acting #directors #directing #wardrobe #wallpaper #screenwriting #streaming #casting #castingdirectors #jonhamm #junotemple #noahhawley #hulu #fx #joekeery #davidrysdahl #lamornemorris #jenniferjasonleigh #richamoorjani #davefoley #Fargo #DomesticAbuse #CoerciveControl #Murder #TV #Series | |||
| Yes Chef! Adam Shapiro from “The Bear” is HERE! | 22 Jun 2024 | 01:00:58 | |
Yes Chef! Adam Shapiro from “The Bear” is HERE! The hilarious actor (and pretzel king) Adam Shapiro is here! Well, not just here on Killer Casting, he was there at UCLA to speak with Lisa and her amazing senior acting students about his prolific career in film ("She Said", "Mank", "Steve Jobs", television ("Never Have I Ever", "The Continental", "The Affair") and theatre. Lisa asks Adam the secrets to his success, what his approach to “branding” is, and they tangent into a million other topics. Adam talks about working with director David Fincher (Lisa promptly faints), how he landed his role in the Broadway musical “Waitress”, and how Henry Winkler gave him the best advice of his career. Do not miss this great interview.
Find out more about Adam’s acting here where you can see his reel:
Order Adam’s yummy pretzels here: https://www.instagram.com/shappypretzel/
Find out more about IAMA Theatre Company here:
Follow Adam on his socials. | |||
| BONUS EP! Dean's Twixtmas Movie List - "Just in the St. Nick of Time" things to watch before New Year! | 28 Dec 2023 | 00:22:48 | |
Just in the St. Nick of time! Whilst we are still enjoying our “twixtmas” haze on the couch lounging around scrolling for something fun to watch with family and friends before the New Year is upon us and we are back from holiday break (if you were lucky enough to have one!) here is THE DEAN’S LIST of holiday movies to enjoy before all is said and done. Dean has listed from “Nice” to “Naughty” his recommendations of Christmas movies to watch, starting with his favorite classics, moving to the the “middle” era of holiday fare, on through some worthy Christmas musicals to be on the look out for as well as “Christmas ADJACENT” films set at the holiday time, wrapping up with some truly dark and twisty takes on Santa. Add these to your queues and enjoy. In this episode, hosts Lisa and Dean Laffan discuss a wide range of Christmas movies, from traditional classics to alternate, horror, comedy and Christmas-adjacent films. They delve into films like 'It's a Wonderful Life', 'Die Hard', 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas', 'A Christmas Horror Story', and 'Bad Santa', among many others. They also chat about some obscure choices such as 'Tangerine' and 'Violent Night'. The conversation also includes Lisa's reluctant watching experiences and Dean's detailed reviews and recommendations. Here is the Run Down: 01:00 Family Switch Movie Review 04:39 Four Christmases Movie Review 07:51 Muppet Christmas Movie Review 08:28 Elf and Scrooged Movie Review 09:08 A Christmas Story Live and Christmas in Connecticut Movie Review 11:22 Discussion on 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' 12:28 Opinions on 'Miracle on 34th Street' 12:48 Christmas Adjacent Movies: 'Die Hard' and Others 16:43 Alternative Christmas Movies: 'A Christmas Horror Story' and More 20:31 Christmas Slasher Movies: 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' and Others 20:52 Unique Christmas Movie: 'Tangerine' 21:47 Conclusion and Sign Off#classicchristmas #Christmasmovies #Holidayfilms | |||
| FARGO Season 5 | Episode 7 LINDA Recap | 28 Dec 2023 | 00:52:26 | |
Life is a dream, well at least for Dot much of this episode IS which causes Lisa and Dean to have MANY thoughts about the story telling conventions that Fargo Season 5, Episode 7 is putting us through. We are on the road with Dot (Juno Temple) as she desperately searches for the one person she thinks can help her stop Sheriff Tillman (Jon Hamm) , that being his first wife, the mysterious Linda. (Kari Matchett) We’ve been speculating all season, where is Linda? What happened to her? Is she dead? Is she also hiding under a false identity with a new family? Or is she a sensibly dressed, pseudo cult leader-therapist of an all female domestic abuse survivor commune living in an alternate Linda-verse? Join us as we discuss all the revelations in this topsy turvey ep. Want to talk about this ep? Follow us on Insta @killercastingpodcast or on our Facebook Page Killer Casting KILLER CASTING is proud to support “WE AUDITION” the incredible website and app for professional actors to help them find a self tape reader ON DEMAND. A tool that no actor should be without. No more asking your mom or your roommate to read with you for your auditions. On We Audition, there are readers available 24/7. All around the world, whenever you need them. So you could pick the right reader for the genre or the type of role (age, gender, accent) you're reading for. And it's so simple. You just click onto the website or the app, select the reader that you want to use, and they'll come right up on video chat. This is a company run by actors, for actors. Right now Killer Casting pod listeners can get a 25% off discount code. Just use the code word “Killer” when you sign up at https://www.weaudition.com Here’s the Run Down: 01:53 Introduction to Episode 7 03:01 Discussion on the Episode's Plot 03:04 Analysis of Key Scenes 05:15 Exploring the Episode's Homages to Original Movie 05:38 Exploration of Easter Eggs and Symbolism 12:11 Exploring the Episode's Musical Choices 21:12 Discussion on the Episode's Dream Sequence 26:09 Handmaid's Tale Comparison 27:06 The Matriarchy of the Patriarchy 28:11 The Cult of Lindas 29:46 Wayne and Scotty's Heartbreaking Scene 33:06 Gator's Preparation for Revenge 37:22 Dot's Puppet Show: A Disturbing Backstory 46:35 The Truck Accident and the Return to Reality 49:10 The Aftermath and Predictions for the Future | |||
| Fargo Season 5 | Episode 6 Recap (The Tender Trap) | 21 Dec 2023 | 00:49:01 | |
AGENT JOAQUIN is in the house! Joining Lisa to breakdown Fargo Season 5 Episode 6 “The Tender Trap” is none other than actor Nick Gomez who recurs as FBI Agent Joaquin this season and who got a front row seat up close and personal in the Jon Hamm in the Hot tub scene. Before we dive into this episode, Lisa talks about casting Nick on Criminal Minds as a Detective and the behind the scenes process. Nick then reveals how he landed Fargo and his first day on set as well as giving us his unique insights on the series. Nick and Lisa analyze the shifting power plays in this week’s episode, the revelations and the deepening relationships between all of these incredible characters. Oh and Lisa floats the Wizard of Oz theory past Nick. Join us, subscribe and be sure to leave us a review. You can follow Lisa on Insta @lisazambetticasting and weigh in on what you thought about Fargo’s Ep 6. KILLER CASTING is proud to support “WE AUDITION” the incredible website and app for professional actors to help them find a self tape reader ON DEMAND. A tool that no actor should be without. No more asking your mom or your roommate to read with you for your auditions. On We Audition, there are readers available 24/7. All around the world, whenever you need them. So you could pick the right reader for the genre or the type of role (age, gender, accent) you're reading for. And it's so simple. You just click onto the website or the app, select the reader that you want to use, and they'll come right up on video chat. This is a company run by actors, for actors. Right now Killer Casting pod listeners can get a 25% off discount code. Just take a listen to today’s ep (at minute 18.36) and hear the special code for 25% off. Check out “We Audition” at https://www.weaudition.com Here’s the Rundown: 01:45 Nick's Audition Experiences 06:06 Nick's Role in Fargo 10:58 Nick's First Day on Set 19:37 Discussion on Episode Six 23:42 The Dynamics of Deputy Olmstead's Marriage 24:12 Deeper Dive into Characters' Personalities 25:52 Exploring the Scene with Sheriff Tillman 26:58 Analyzing Wardrobe Choices 27:33 Exploring the Scene with Wayne 28:03 Sheriff Tillman's Increasing Violence 28:41 Analysis of the Scene with Gator 30:46 The Wizard of Oz Theory 32:12 The FBI Agents' Interrogation 36:34 Sheriff Tillman's Deal with Ole 39:47 Discussion on the Scene with Lorraine and Deputy Indira 43:37 The Final Scene at the Strip Club 45:03 Thoughts and Future Expectations | |||
| Fargo Season 5 | Episode 5 (The Power Suit) | 14 Dec 2023 | 00:44:15 | |
("The Tiger" aka The Power Suit Episode) Helping them cover Fargo Season 5, Episode 5, Lisa & Dean are thrilled to be joined by special guest Scott Winant, a two-time Emmy award-winning director and producer who has worked on high-profile shows like Breaking Bad, True Blood, Yellowjackets and …Season 1 of FARGO! (How many people get to say they’ve directed Key and Peele as FBI Agents? Well Scott has!) Scott shares his unique insights on the Fargo series given his former director of photography was none other than Dana Gonzalez who directed this week’s episode “The Tiger”. As usual, we dissect the cinematic choices, the wardrobe (Lorraine and her intricate power suits), the unfolding origami of the story and the showdown between our two favorite villains. We also take a moment to remember the wonderful actor André Braugher who sadly we lost this week. Scott directed him in the pilot of “Men of a Certain Age” and shares his remembrance of this powerful performer. KILLER CASTING is proud to support “WE AUDITION” the incredible website/app for professional actors to help them find a self tape reader ON DEMAND. It is a tool that no actor should be without. No more asking your mom or your roommate to read with you for your auditions. On We Audition, there are readers available 24/7. All around the world, whenever you need them. So you can pick the right reader (age, gender, accent) for the genre or the type of role you're reading for. And it's so simple. You just click onto the website or the app, select the reader that you want to use, and they'll come right up on video chat. This is a company run by actors, for actors. Right now Killer Casting pod listeners can get a 25% off discount code. Just take a listen to today’s ep (at 23.54) and hear the special code for 25% off. Check out “We Audition” at https://www.weaudition.com #Fargo #FX #Hulu #Recap #JunoTemple #JenniferJasonLeigh #JonHamm #NoahHawley #DavidRysdahl #DaveFoley #RichaMoorjani #JoeKeery #LukasGage #WizardofOz The Rundown: 01:13 Discussion on Scott Winant’s Career and Projects | |||
| Fargo Season 5 | Episode 4 Recap | 07 Dec 2023 | 00:47:14 | |
Hosts Lisa Zambetti and Dean Laffan dive into 'Insolubilia’. Dot’s confrontation with Gator goes down pretty much as expected, but how is she going to explain her way out of a burned down house, an electrocuted husband and a pesky State Trooper who is convinced she is the gas station ninja angel who saved his life? And how did she get Wayne and Scotty to go up into the attic in the first place? Lisa and Dean pick it all apart including the significance of all the Nightmare Before Christmas symbology. Cue the disastrous consequences of trying to become something you are not and desperately trying to change the world into what you want it to be. Will Dot’s philosophy she imparts to her daughter Scotty work?: basically “If we can’t see the bad guys, they can’t see us? If we don’t talk about them, they don’t exist? ” And Lisa has to shout out the extraordinary work of David Rysdahl’s “Wayne” who’s layered sweet, sad vulnerability as the hapless husband gives this hard candy show the soft center it doesn’t want to need. Join us! #jonhamm #junotemple #noahhawley #hulu #fx #joekeery #davidrysdahl #lamornemorris #jenniferjasonleigh #richamoorjani #davefoley #Fargo #NightmareBeforeChristmas #Halloween 00:35 Discussing the Episode Title 06:28 Discussion on the House Invasion Scene 15:06 Sheriff Roy Tillman's Monologue 17:51 Dot's Philosophy and Survival Strategy 19:33 State Trooper Wit's Investigation 20:22 Analyzing Film Techniques 20:41 Character Analysis: Lorraine Lyon 21:19 Exploring the Use of Audio and Video Overlap 22:01 The Power Dynamics in the Show 22:28 Lorraine's Reaction to Family Crisis 22:57 Hospital Scene Analysis 24:49 Dot's Manipulation and Gaslighting 28:07 FBI Investigation into Sheriff Tillman 37:36 Sheriff Tillman's Visit and Confrontation 41:42 Final Thoughts and Predictions KILLER CASTING is proud to support The Hollywood Winner’s Circle, a fantastic Business Academy for Actors founded by manager and acting coach Wendy Alane Wright. If you are just starting out as an actor and are unsure where to turn, HWC will give you concrete steps and a support system toward a future as a professional. You can find out more here: | |||
| Fargo Season 5 Episode 3 (The Yellow Sweater) | 02 Dec 2023 | 01:01:09 | |
Cheese Puffs, a 44 Magnum and The Yellow Sweater Before we delve into the third episode of Fargo Season 5 first we side bar into a review of the latest David Fincher movie “The Killer” starring a very enigmatic Michael Fassbender playing a rather bungling hired assassin. Then we get on to analyzing this (in Dean’s words) audacious episode 3 where wagons start to circle around our brave heroine Dot and her family. When your grocery list includes juice boxes, cheese puffs and shotguns, you know things are about to pop off. Lisa also has some good wallpaper talk and the gives a special shout out to some excellent sweater work by Dot’s yellow cardigan. #jonhamm #junotemple #noahhawley #hulu #fx #joekeery #lamornemorris #jenniferjasonleigh #richamoorjani #davefoley #Fargo #recap #streaming #Hulu #tvpodcast #nipplerings #yellowsweater 00:52 The Struggles of Waiting for New Episodes 01:21 Personal Anecdotes and Casual Conversation 02:27 Discussion on the Theme of Running Away 04:49 Discussion on Alien Franchise 09:13 Review of 'The Killer' 18:04 Discussion on Fargo Episode 3 Continued 28:50 Analyzing the Artful Editing and Visual Storytelling 30:06 Exploring the Character's Wardrobe Choices 31:29 Unpacking the Intense Bedroom Scene 37:35 Diving into the Intriguing Flashback Sequence 45:46 Discussing the Tense Confrontation at the Gun Shop 49:46 Breaking Down the Climactic Halloween Night Scene 55:41 Reflecting on the Episode's Themes and Revelations | |||
| Fargo Season 5 | Episode 2 | 25 Nov 2023 | 00:51:21 | |
Reviewing Fargo Season 5 Episode 2: Hamm in a Hottub
#jonhamm #junotemple #noahhawley #hulu #fx #joekeery #lamornemorris #jenniferjasonleigh #richamoorjani #davefoley #lukasgage #Fargo | |||
| Fargo Season 5 | Episode 1 | 24 Nov 2023 | 00:55:53 | |
Hosts Lisa Zambetti and Dean Laffan reunite for a review of the opening episode of Fargo's fifth season now streaming on FX Hulu. They discuss the key characters, the various plot directions and themes, providing deep insights into the roles, potential narrative direction and analyzing the alignment with the original Fargo movie. They also talk about casting choices and performance dynamics. The two hosts scrutinize the plot's development from the opening sequence, the intertwining storylines, down to the episode's culmination. They give a detailed blow-by-blow analysis of the episode while pointing out their areas of discontent, predictions, and highlighting exciting moments.
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| 088 Miranda's Victim | 07 Oct 2023 | 00:35:50 | |
“Miranda’s Victim” is a new feature film thoughtfully directed by Michelle Danner with a heavy hitting cast starring Abigail Breslin, Mireille Enos, Emily VanCamp, Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Andy Garcia, Donald Sutherland and Kyle MacLachlan. If you’ve watched any crime show, chances are you’ve heard the Miranda warning which starts “You have the right to remain silent…” But do you know where it came from and who “Miranda” was? If you thought Miranda was an innocent victim who was perhaps falsely accused of a crime you’d be mistaken. Lisa sits down with executive producer and writer George Kolber of “Miranda’s Victim” to talk about the true story of who the real victim was at the heart of the ground breaking legal challenge. In 1963, 18 year old Trisha Weir was on her way home from her job at a local Phoenix Arizona movie theater when she was abducted off the street, driven out into the desert and raped by Ernesto Miranda, a man who already had a history of crime including stalking and sexual assault. The police were able to zero in on Miranda, bring him into a line up where Trisha identified him and shortly thereafter he wrote a full confession to the crime without the presence of an attorney. Miranda was convicted, but later his verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court who found that his rights as a suspect had been violated. The film tracks Trisha’s journey as she tries heal from her trauma and still pursue justice. | |||
| 087 Kurt Yaeger | 15 Sep 2023 | 00:49:45 | |
Today we get to interview the incredible actor Kurt Yaeger who has been in more tv shows and films than we can name including a recur in Sons Of Anarchy, all the NCIS franchises, Another Life, Shameless,…and who is also an actor with a disability. Kurt is a unique performer because sometimes the roles he takes feature his below the knee amputation and sometimes they don’t. Regardless he is able to kick ass doing his own stunts motorcycle riding, running, jumping, fighting, shooting, and getting exploded. Kurt tells us about his journey from being a professional athlete to his accident, his rehabilitation and his determination to act no matter what. You will truly be inspired to hear how he got cast on SoA. Plus he shares his insights on what needs to happen to get more inclusion and representation for more performers with disabilities in the entertainment industry. Also, Dean and Kurt bro it out on all kinds of levels. His website https://www.kurtyaeger.com/ His career in porn ! Don't panic its a tounge-in-cheek book' called 'Porn for Women and TOTALLY safe for work and kids. No nudity. Think men fully clothed doing housework and cooking ;-) https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/porn-for-women.html/ | |||
| Baby Reindeer with Actor David Rysdahl | 03 May 2024 | 01:03:52 | |
The Netflix series “Baby Reindeer” written by Scottish comedian Richard Gadd based on the true story of a period in his life when he was stalked by a woman whom he gave a free cup of tea while working as a bartender in London, has been burning itself into the eyeballs and psyches of millions of people. Lisa was fascinated by the hit show’s unflinching honesty, style, structure and incredible performances by both Gadd and Jessica Gunning. Joining Lisa and Dean to break it all down is another incredible actor, David Rysdahl. You may remember David from this season’s “Fargo”, playing sweet “Wayne” the husband of Juno Temple’s “Dot”. His other credits include “Oppenheimer”, “Black Mirror” and he is currently shooting Noah Hawley’s new “Alien” series in Bangkok. David shares his reaction to “Baby Reindeer” and the aspects of Gadd’s character “Donny Dunn” that he identifies with. David performed for years in New York as a clown and was part of the “alt” comedy scene. We talk about Hollywood predators, the insecurities of fame…and so much more. Join us for the conversation. You can read Dawn Glen’s insightful article about “Baby Reindeer” here:https://www.thecustardtv.com/netflixs-baby-reindeer-is-an-unflinching-look-at-abuse/ If you or someone you care about needs support contact In the U.S. In the U.K. In Australia Stalking Safety Planning resource: Stalking Prevention Awareness Here are some of David’s favorite organization doing great work to help save the environment. Please check out https://www.urbanoceanlab.org/sandy-community-resilience | |||
| 086 John Frank Levey - Casting Icon | 04 Jul 2023 | 00:55:30 | |
Lisa sits down with an absolute icon in the casting world. Love The West Wing? E.R.? Shameless? Southland? Well then you have loved the work of the wonderful, inspiring John Frank Levey who put some of the most amazing actors into some of the most iconic tv shows in history. John’s new book “Right for the Role” dives deep into his career, sharing his journey navigating Hollywood as well as the origin stories of how the casts of his shows came to be. In their conversation, Lisa asks John about how casting has changed, and they compare notes on some of their favorite performers.
You can get your own copy of John's book here: https://amzn.to/3JHcwBc #castingdirectors #casting #actors #Hollywood #characters #thewestwing #ER #Southland #Shameless #roles #losangeles | |||
| 085 The Strike - The Real People Behind the TV & Film Writers Union Strike. | 06 May 2023 | 01:08:35 | |
Joining Lisa today are two veteran television writer/producers Ted Sullivan (Riverdale, Star Trek Discovery, Supergirl, Revenge, Rizzoli & Isles, Law and Order Criminal Intent) and Elizabeth Benjamin (Dead to Me, The Flight Attendant, Bridgerton, 13 Reasons Why). Lisa asks them about the current Writer’s Guild of America strike which is impacting all levels of production. Ted and Liz talk about their careers and how working conditions have deteriorated for writers who love this work, yet who have been pushed to the breaking point. This is not about getting a guaranteed big payday, it is about the most basic things like making your insurance and feeding your families — all the while Studios and Streaming companies are making record profits. Also at stake is the creative process itself, which draw so many people into the profession in the first place. **** Production Note: Unfortunatley Liz' internet connection had a couple of spotty patches, so please bear with us. Also, Lisa flubs the name of her union, she accidentally says Local 99 instead of Local 399 (Go Teamsters!). Lastly, per usual, Lisa is very "salty" with her language. So protect your delicate sensabilities. Thank you! | |||
| 084 The Art of Casting Reality | 09 Mar 2023 | 00:53:13 | |
And now for something completely different, love The Great British Baking Show but deplore The Kardashians? Hate/watch The Bachelor but ride or die with Dr. Pol? Project Runway, Top Chef, Selling Beverly Hills and Indian Matchmaking are shows that gave Lisa an insane amount of joy. Today, Lisa pivots to talking to her esteemed colleagues in the REALITY / UNSCRIPTED casting world. Join Lisa and her guests Reality Star turned Reality Casting Director Rachel Reilly (Big Brother, Traitors), Casting Director Kristen Moss (MasterChef, Big Brother, Reality Television Awards) and Emmy award winning Casting Director Jeffrey Marx (HBO's We're Here, Love on the Spectrum, Real World, Project Runway). We talk about how unscripted casting directors do their jobs, the differing genres within unscripted (competition, lifestyle) how they find people, how they champion people with evocative stories, and what positive change Reality shows bring to the world. And OH yes, we talk all the tea about Vanderpump Rules Ariana, Tom, Raquel of it all! | |||
| 083 It's Oscars time again ! | 01 Mar 2023 | 01:00:11 | |
Lisa's love-hate relationship with Oscar reaches another year. This time we focus on the Best Actress race. So yes we cover Michelle, Michelle, Cate, Andrea and Ana, but we range far and wide as Lisa and Dean are joined by Oscars uber-nerd Paul Sullivan who brings his unique encyclopaedic brain to the party. | |||
| 082 Saturday, Pancakes and Elvis | 05 Feb 2023 | 00:59:44 | |
Today Lisa is in the kitchen banging around making blueberry pancakes in the background while Paul tells her what he thinks about Baz Luhrman’s “Elvis” movie and how Austin Butler’s performance compares with the real thing. Do we think he will win the Oscar? Listen and find out. | |||
| 081 A little gift of relaxation from Lisa | 04 Jan 2023 | 00:22:41 | |
Happy 2023 from Killer Casting! That is why Lisa wanted to offer this special mediation that she hopes can help. Relaxation and visualization are cornerstones of many actor trainings. They are used in voice training, physical training and all kinds of acting methods to open your emotions and instrument. But today, Lisa wants to use this mediation to help you wherever you are in your journey, wherever you are on your path, wherever you are in your day or evening. Hey, even if you are not in the entertainment industry but want a new relaxation visualization exercise, stick around, we think you will feel really really good afterwards. So sit in a comfy chair, lay on your couch or bed, you could even settle into the seat of your parked car or your airplane seat … and get ready to breath, let go and let Lisa carry you for awhile | |||
| 080 The Women of 'She Said' | 21 Dec 2022 | 00:58:05 | |
In light of the recent episode we recorded on the extraordinary Universal film “She Said” Lisa and Dean are honored to be joined by none other than Rowena Chiu who’s story about being assaulted by Harvey Weinstein is depicted in the movie. | |||
| 079 She Said | 30 Nov 2022 | 00:59:52 | |
When Lisa went to the special private screening that Universal held for the film “She Said”, there was not a dry eye in the house when the lights came up. The audience was moved by the story of how two determined female reporters for The New York Times (played flawlessly by Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan) finally got victims to go on the record about how they had been assaulted and harassed by then mega powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. | |||
| 078 When You See Us | 24 Nov 2022 | 01:07:47 | |
Lisa and Dean sit down with phenomenal actors Marilee Talkington and James Immekus to talk about Access for Actors with Disabilities. Both have had incredible careers in television, film and theatre. But it has not been an easy road. Both Marilee and James are actors with low vision (also referred to as visually impaired) who each have remarkable stories to tell about their journey “to be seen”. What do Actors with disabilities go through in order to train, audition and work in an industry they love? What do casting directors, producers, directors and writers need to do to make sure these talented artists are included? We need them, and they need access. Join us for this honest and sometimes painful conversation. Subscribe and share. | |||