Robert J. Ulrich began his career as a stage actor, but realized he would not be successful. He moved into casting and says he learned more about acting his first time behind the table than in his previous career.[1][2]
Known for casting musical television series, Ulrich told The Hollywood Reporter that "it's so much more fun when you're doing a musical, because people are singing and your day's suddenly better".[3] He developed this musical casting process for the show Rhapsody, which did not get greenlit. Initially, he would have auditionees sing a cappella or with a backing track, but insisted on bringing a live pianist for the callbacks, saying in 2020 that "great singers are better with a piano and less trained singers are much better with a piano".[4] He has also said that having live piano sets actors at ease.[1] The pianist he found for the Rhapsody callbacks was Brad Ellis, whom he would use for subsequent musical auditions as well as integrating into shows like Glee. Ulrich's musical casting process has not changed since Rhapsody, and he encourages actors to showcase themselves. He has also opined that for television, he considers acting ability above singing[4][5] and that actors from the stage "should bring it down for the screen".[1] Sometimes for auditions later in a show a pianist will not be used.[1]
Ulrich became involved with Glee through his business partner Eric Dawson, who had worked with creator Ryan Murphy on multiple occasions; Dawson suggested Ulrich should be involved due to his musical background.[5] While working on the show he helped develop the reality series The Glee Project, which he described as an extension of the comedy-musical's casting process.[6] In 2021, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Ulrich does not find musical casting challenging, as he has many connections with triple threat performers; for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist he cast several actors he had seen for prior auditions, including Jane Levy, who had previously auditioned for him for The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, and Michael Thomas Grant and Alex Newell who had been contestants on The Glee Project.[3]
In over 30 years in casting, Ulrich and his company Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting (UDK) have been nominated for over twenty Artios Awards and eight Emmy Awards.[9][10]
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenplay, or teleplay. This process may be used for a motion picture, television program, documentary film, music video, play, or advertisement, intended for an audience.
The Casting Society, formerly known as Casting Society of America (CSA), was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1982 as a professional society of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and commercials in Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa, and the United States. The nonprofit organization announced the name change from Casting Society of America to Casting Society on February 10, 2022. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represent most of the major casting directors and associate casting directors in Hollywood. Members use the post-nominal letters "CSA" when credited for their work.
Russell Boast is a South African and American casting director for film and television.
Shayna Markowitz is an American casting director, who is the recipient of the inaugural BAFTA Award for Best Casting in 2020 in recognition of her work on the film Joker. She works across film and television, and casting director credits also include Dash & Lily (2020), The Best of Enemies (2019) and Ocean's 8 (2018), amongst others.
Cindy Tolan is an American casting director and producer. Her career began in theatre, before she transitioned to television and film. She was awarded a BAFTA for her work as casting director of West Side Story in 2021. For the film she auditioned 30,000 people in order to create an authentic cast with performers of Latin descent. She is credited with the discovery of Rachel Zegler and for encouraging Ariana DeBose to audition for the production.
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