What a Casting Director Actually Sees

You are not being judged on your face. That decision was made from your digitals before you walked in.

What happens in the room is a different question entirely: can this person take direction, and will they be pleasant to have on set for eleven hours.

The first six seconds

There is a hallway, and then there is a door, and the moment you come through it someone is already forming an opinion. Not about your bone structure — about your posture, your voice, whether you looked up.

The technical work is assumed. The room is assessing whether you are easy.

I have watched extraordinary-looking people lose jobs because they arrived apologetic. I have watched ordinary days turn into bookings because someone asked one intelligent question about the brief.

What to actually prepare

Know the client. Not in a flattering way — in a useful way. If it is a swimwear campaign shot in February, someone is going to be cold and it is probably going to be you, and saying so with good humour tells them more than a perfect walk.

Bring your own heels. Bring a nude strap-free. Bring the comp card even though they have your digitals, because the one time you do not is the time the printer is down.

The part nobody says

Most castings are a no, and the no is almost never about you. Budgets move, briefs change, someone's cousin gets the job. The people who last are not the ones who book the most — they are the ones who stop reading rejection as information about their worth.