Video games. Football. Relationships. Friends. Bank holidays.

It's so easy in this industry to get carried away & involved in "the bubble" & forget about real life, real things happening with real muggles (none industry related folk, yes Harry Potter reference again!). It got to a point where I would be sat in conversations at family gatherings, talking to people & not really have anything to talk about apart from who is in what show, what year this musical first came out or knowing everything about an actor down to their shoe size.
My everyday routine would be to wake up 7:30/8:00, make my way to the casting studio or to my laptop if working from home, work all day casting, go to see a show, see the cast after, miss the last tube home (thankyou Uber!), get home, print out CV's for the next day. Get to sleep around 1/2am. To start it all over again. This was when I realised I needed to stop being so in the bubble & have some "me" time. We get so involved in our own industry that we forget about real life & how important it is to look after yourself.
I now have 2 days a week dedicated to playing football, yes with industry folk but it's something different. I'm not very good at it but yolo & it's a laugh.
I play Xbox, follow the footy every Satuday, spend time with my fiance & try to see friends. The last one i'm trying to do alot more & things like Whatsapp groups make this a whole lot easier now.

The purpose of this post is to try & help people, to help them realise that it's all a bubble. Don't be afraid of stepping out of that bubble at times & giving yourself some you time. By doing so you will find yourself a hell of alot calmer & a nicer person to be around. Being stagey isn't the be all & end all. Life is there for us to experience.

Auditions……

Here is an example of a creative team totally stumped on choices. We stood for 3 hours deliberating one role. Different opinions from different creative team members of which actor was perfect for it in their eyes.

Everything was discussed from height, build, eyes even before the actors talent was mentioned. All to try & fit that jigsaw we call casting.

Voices were raised & strong emotions were spilled by different members of the team each wanting their reason to be seen over the others & fighting for who they thought should be cast. The difficulty this time was our options for our leading lady, as all so were so good. Ultimately the final decision rested with the director & the producer.

I think what i'm trying to share with you is that it really does sometimes come down to the tiny things, it's not always the most talented actor that wins the role as upsetting as that may be. But if she fits with her opposite more than the other choice does then.....there we go.
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This is just a small part of my daily life as a Casting Director that I will soon start sharing with you. I want to give people more of an insight into the life of the so called "gatekeepers". Please follow the blog to be kept upto date.

Enjoy.

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