Ultimate Guide: How to Cast Excellent Actors for Low-Budget Films
The more films I make, the more I find learning how to cast actors for low-budget films is one of the most difficult parts of making a good film.
I also find that casting actors is a part of the process that I want to rush through when I should be spending more time making sure I have the best actors possible for my roles.
We filmmakers are so often on a tiny budget that we cannot afford high-end casting directors or actors who are known to be very good. Subsequently, we must do what we can with local actors of varying skill, who are also learning.
I believe the key to cast actors for low-budget films lies in three things:
1. Find people who are similar to your characters
2. Find actors who are ‘natural gems’ in your community
3. Use good casting processes and techniques to attract excellent actors and natural gems
I’ll explain what I think works best to cast actors for low-budget films and what to look for. Keep in mind that I have far from mastered casting – but I think it is incredibly important to cast the right people and have been working on my casting technique for the past couple projects.
Find people who are similar to your characters
The first method to cast actors for low-budget films is known as casting ‘non-actors’ – though you can cast actors who happen to be similar to the characters as well.
This approach takes advantage of a person’s real-life skills, temperament, and personality. Since they are already similar to the character, they can act quite naturally without much difficulty.
The challenge with this approach comes in helping the actor behave naturally and not feel the need to do other than what they normally would. I think it means you need to be flexible as to how they perform lines of dialogue and react to things.
There’s a good article about casting non-actors here.
They are going to want to react as they would in reality, which is generally why you are casting them in that role.
This means that you can find these people in your everyday life. Dentists, doctors, and nurses can easily play themselves. Need a Soldier, police officer, lumberjack, stonemason?
Cast one.
They know all the lingo and know their job – all you are doing is taking their personality and experience and placing it into a fictional scenario.
Find actors who are ‘natural gems’ in your community
The second method to cast actors for low-budget films is to locate those talented, raw gems in your local acting pool.
This is a common route – and I think you can use it in conjunction with casting non-actors. For example, I need to cast a merchant character at some point. Someone who runs a business or shop might do very well because they are used to dealing with customers and know how to react to them.
For my merchant role, finding a salesman-type that works with customers one-on-one would be even better, because they are more likely to be outgoing and conversational.
However, that approach may not work for every role.
So, you must find the people in your community who are naturally talented actors. Like most in your community, these actors are still learning the craft of bringing characters to life, but they have a great knack for it and are ahead of their peers.
That being said, you might be surprised at the level of talented and experienced actors in your local community who may be willing to work with you for a low price – if you have a good story and interesting character that grabs their attention.
Don’t discount this possibility. It also helps if you are enjoyable to work with. Your reputation counts for a lot here.
However, if you can’t offer any pay, unless you have a relationship with those actors already, they are likely not going to submit for an unpaid project. It’s nothing against you – they just have busy schedules already and will probably not submit.
So back to natural gems…
How do you figure out who these people are?
It lies in the casting process as a whole, as well as in the stages of auditioning.
This brings us to point 3.
Good casting processes and techniques help you attract excellent actors and natural gems
Now, I’m going to break down my casting process, things I’ve learned to find better actors, and how to identify those gems.
I’ll cover everything from writing the character descriptions and the casting call sheet, sharing your casting call online and getting submissions, how I organize submissions, conduct my casting, evaluate performances, and weird stuff like how to cast for roles that have no dialogue.
The process matters.
Filmmakers think of casting as our interview process to determine whether this or that actor is ‘good enough’ to win our role.
While it is true that you are interviewing actors to determine whether they ‘have what it takes’ to fill your role properly, that’s only part of the puzzle.
Have you ever thought that you are also auditioning as a director?
Your casting call notice, your reputation, your audition approach – they are all your calling cards.
How you present yourself and how you advertise your roles is going to affect how many actors, and what type or skill-level, will apply to audition.
The first step in attracting excellent actors for your low-budget film is your reputation.
1. Your reputation is a recruiting tool
In my opinion, living a moral life is the way of behaving that leads to a good existence for all people (fulfilled, honorable, dignified).
Now hang with me here – I have a point.
Moral behavior is incredibly practical, unless your aim is to make others (and ultimately yourself) miserable.
It’s really easy to want to cut corners if it benefits you. Many people do it.
In any event, the reason this is relevant is that engaging with other filmmakers, crew, and actors in your community in an honest, respectful manner as a matter of habit is not only the right way to work with others (and the most enjoyable in the long-run), but very practical.
For the most part, if you treat people well and you mean it, people will reciprocate.
They will want to work with you not only for the opportunity or money you are giving them, but because they respect you and enjoy working with you.
This reputation won’t come immediately. It comes after working many times within your community and being consistent in your treatment of others.
Over time, people will talk, though you may not know it. Actors tell each other whether a director is good to work with, or whether the director doesn’t follow through on promises to provide a copy for their acting reel.
Crew members will warn each other of a manipulative director who doesn’t pay when he says he will or flies off the handle and is a pain to work with that isn’t worth the money.
Beyond simply doing the bare minimum of ‘proper’ or ‘professional’ behavior as a filmmaker – which will keep your name out of the whispers of those in the community – if you go above and beyond in treating everyone with respect, people will actually speak of you to others in a positive light, which is good for you.
Good word of mouth is a fantastic thing, but you have to genuinely earn it.
Until you gain that communal respect and have worked with enough people, you will be unknown. However, it is up to you to gain the respect of the community through consistent good behavior. You’ll be glad you did.
“What if I don’t have a public reputation yet?” You ask.
Well,. you may not have a public reputation yet, but you can set up the next-best thing for yourself:
How to establish professional credibility using online presence
A helpful tool in your journey to cast actors for low-budget films is to establish some professional credibility. One approach is to create an online presence where people can find you, discover a real person, see that you have good taste, and see that you are a serious filmmaker.
1. Social media
Social media to promote your professional image as a filmmaker (keep things clean and professional, but genuine) could include a Facebook page, production company page, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Social media isn’t necessary but in my experience, people in my community know who I am despite never having met or worked with me, and that may stem from my presence on Facebook (my director page) and in local Facebook groups, as a lot of the local film community lives in those groups where I work.
2. Personal website
More importantly, this means having a personal website that touts you as the serious filmmaker you are. This is a good place to promote yourself and your professional image to potential clients, producers, crew, actors, and anyone who you’d like to take you seriously.
It can be simple. It should be aesthetically pleasing (you are in the arts after all), say a bit about who you are, show off your best assets, and have a way to contact you. Your personal contact info is even better, because it looks more genuine to local people, especially if you have the same area code phone number.
Case in point, here is my prior portfolio website. It wasn’t even a separate site, just a few pages on my production company site that were hidden, but by using Google domains, anyone who went to nicklarovere.com would be forwarded here: https://www.occulusfilms.com/nicklarovere
This is another director’s site that I really like – though his work is what impresses me most.
I can tell just by looking at it that he used Squarespace to build his site. This is what I recommend for you. I built this site recently in about 4-6 hours using Squarespace, having never used it before. A somewhat distant 2nd place choice for a simple website is Wix.
Stay away from WordPress unless you like a steep learning curve and things not always working like you want them to.
2. How to craft a casting call that attracts great actors
I won’t focus on where to put your casting call. That’s largely dependent on what actors in your area frequent.
There are a variety of casting websites that list casting calls free for the filmmaker, there are Facebook groups, there is social media, and you can submit your casting to local acting agencies – get creative.
The key is to get the widest distribution possible. The only caveat is that unlike big-budget films, when you cast actors for low-budget films, you should restrict it to local actors only, as your budget likely won’t afford travel, housing, and pay for an out-of-town actor.
However, it’s not enough to post a hastily constructed casting call. How you put your casting call together, from visual presentation to content, matters.
Use high-quality visual presentation
Your casting call should generally meet the following criteria:
– Heading is bold and obvious (1st call to action, tells people what it’s about)
– Draw attention (visually interesting, use some color)
– Be aesthetically pleasing (Use no more than 2 or 3 fonts, keep visually balanced, use an interesting but not distracting background)
– Be easy to read (space everything out, keep contrast high, make text big enough to read, make titles and sections stand out, use a legible font)
– Look professional (not blurry, pixelated, not childish)
– Contact info is readable and stands out (2nd call to action)
See the below casting call for “Artificial Intelligence” as an example. It’s not the most visually interesting as far as color, and I’d prefer it be a bit less dense with text, but I think it’s still pretty good.
Now here is an example of how your casting call should not look!
Why? It’s ugly, awkward, hard to read, confusing, has an unclear call to action and audience, looks unprofessional, and certainly doesn’t inspire confidence. It’s just… offputting.
These are the sort of things actors will wonder while reading this casting call – and yours:
“Is it an open casting call where anyone can show up? It says email invite only, so why do I need the location? Is it a ‘meet the cast’, or an audition? Why is it also a photo shoot? Does it start at 12am… they must mean 12pm, right?
Are they asking me to contact them and ask for an audition? What should I send, if so? Is sending the email even worth my time if I’m only looking for a paid gig (and can’t tell whether it is paid or not)? Is the casting in Williamsville, but the shoot is in Pennsylvania?
I have no idea if the shoot will be somewhere I can be at – wait, when is the shoot? Am I even available? I don’t know because they don’t have an estimated shoot date here.”
I’ll stop beating a dead horse. I’m sure you get my point.
It’s a mess. Unfortunately, I see this sort of stuff constantly.
Since I mentioned many of the content flaws of the above casting call, that brings me to my next point.
The content of your casting call is just as important as getting people to read it.
Write clear, enticing information for your casting call
Now that actors are reading your casting call, you must entice the kind of actors you want to complete a call to action – send you a photo and resume, or whatever you want – and send it to the correct place.
How do you do that?
1. Answer actors’ questions before they ask them
The more questions you leave unanswered that allow them to know whether they are available for your project, available for the audition, and want to try out for a role, the less likely they are to submit.
Why? Because they will now have to take extra time to reach out to you and ask the question you left unanswered. This is simply a practical matter that you must make easy for them to figure out.
I won’t go into the weeds about the exact info you should put on your casting call. You can reference the above example for “Artificial Intelligence” to see what I provide. I try to provide a total picture of what the project is, where, when, what they will get for participating, and what they need to do to submit.
I find that works for me, but you may need to adjust based on your area.
2. Identify whether a project is paid or volunteer/unpaid
Don’t be misleading – this goes back to your reputation and integrity. Yes, if you put ‘unpaid’ or ‘volunteer’, or ‘credit only’, some people simply won’t submit.
That’s a reality of casting actors for low-budget films. However, you can make your film appear as enticing as possible by telling them exactly what they will get and not leaving it to their imagination.
I write something like…
“What’s provided: meals (every 6 hours), water/drinks, snacks, great shooting experience
Compensation: IMDb credit, screen credit, and digital copy for reel”
I’m making it very clear what I will give them. If it’s paid, I add ‘paid’ or ‘paid same-day’ to ‘compensation’. I do not specify an amount, as I am willing to pay a more experienced actor more, and a less-experienced one or smaller role less.
If you put the pay amount – especially if it is very low as indie roles often are – you can get flak for it and fewer actors will submit. I recommend not putting the amount in your casting call.
HOWEVER – be honest and don’t waste the actors’ time.
If the pay is very low (I’d say $100 or less per day) you should tell them before you ask them to take a bunch of time to audition for you.
Then they can decide if they are still interested.
You can also make your film/roles enticing to actors (even those who normally only do paid roles) by doing the following…
3. Write character descriptions that attract good actors
This is something I am still learning and applying, but learned from director Peter Marshall in his book “Making the Magic Happen: The Art and Craft of Film Directing”.
In fact, I highly recommend his whole book.
Basically, what Peter teaches is that you should keep your physical descriptions vague – only put what is absolutely necessary. For example, it isn’t necessary to put ‘large, burly man, late 40s, heavily muscled’ for a biker role.
Actors will self-select for roles that fit their appearance and temperament. While there are exceptions (which I still find strange), most actors won’t submit for a role if they don’t think they’d fit it well. 65 year-old women won’t likely submit for that role, nor 5-foot-2, 100 pound men.
By keeping the physical description out when you can though, you open it up to other people that may fit the role but aren’t exactly what you pictured in your mind. It also allows skilled actors who can fit the role but weren’t exactly what you were originally thinking of to audition.
If it’s too restrictive, they won’t submit, and you lose out.
However, if the physical characteristics are essential to the character, you should put them.
For example, if the role is for Michael, a black teen, the member of a struggling family living in 90s Los Angeles, then you obviously need to identify the age range and ethnicity. His blood relation to his family and his ethnicity are important to the character and story.
Likewise, if you are casting for wise old wizard Gandalf, you probably don’t want 20 and 30-year old men submitting, right? So identify the age range, or at least make it clear ‘who this role is for’.
“Gandalf the Grey: An ancient and wise sage who has traveled around the world advising Human kings since the beginning of Human reign, even if they don’t always listen to him – at their peril.”
See what I mean?
As I did above for Gandalf, you should also use the character description to give actors a peek into the internal world of the character – something interesting about them and their experience that will make them a fun character to play.
Give the character depth. Hint at their internal struggles, weaknesses, strengths, obsessions, dreams – something interesting.
I had so piqued the interest of an actor recently with my character description (Randy in my above casting call for “Artificial Intelligence”) that he emailed me and called me, stating that he felt the role was meant just for him, because like Randy, he thinks of himself as a pirate – and he looks the part, too!
We will see how he does, but his energy and interest make me want to audition him, and he definitely looks the part already.
This is where you entice actors – with the promise of a tasty role they can really sink their teeth into.
3. How to conduct casting to find the best actors
The next key to cast actors for low-budget films is having a good process for conducting casting sessions and having solid organization.
I’ll cover how I organize submissions, conduct my casting, evaluate performances, and weird stuff like how to cast for roles that have no dialogue.
Have a method to organize actor submissions to you.
I use email to accept submissions when I cast actors for low-budget films. The alternatives include a variety of casting websites where actors can submit to you using a profile they have on the site. Some of these are listed in this article by Studiobinder.
It is typically free for filmmakers to post their casting calls, while actors pay to have headshots on their profile and such.
I just prefer email a bit more right now because I can organize submissions however I like and have the actors’ info on standby forever, in the event of future projects. Casting sites are fine, too. I suspect you will miss some people’s submissions if you only use one or the other because they may not see it.
Some of these sites will even contact you and ask to list your project on their site for free.
Anyway, moving on…
Before anything, I use my casting call to help with organization. In my casting call, I tell actors to put a specific subject heading on their email to me so it is easier for me to organize their emails.
1. I create a label/folder in Gmail with my project’s title. If I need to quickly organize my email inbox, I can throw any and all submissions into this folder to organize properly later.
2. I create subfolders in the project folder broken up by sex of the submitting actor. 1 ‘male’ folder, and 1 ‘female’ folder. That way, I can quickly find certain roles. This folder is normally empty.
3. I create additional subfolders for each character. So ‘Bob Jones’ gets a folder, and so does ‘Cindy Jones’.
As I get emails from actors, I will quickly check which role they are submitting for (hopefully with just the subject heading) and drag their email into the folder with the name of the character. That way, I can see I still need to evaluate it.
4. I create 2 additional folders under each character – ‘maybe’, and ‘no’. There should be very few that end up in ‘no’, as you’re trying to be open-minded as to who might play your role well.
However, there is the occasional 100 pounds-soaking-wet actor who submits to play the intimidating biker, and there are no other roles within reason they could audition for. That ‘no’ folder is for this person.
The ‘maybe’ folder is for everyone else who needs to audition. I like putting ‘maybe’ instead of ‘yes’, because they are all the actors untested at this point. If I really like a particular submission, I might ‘star’ their email to make them stand out.
I wait for all the actor submissions to come in. At some point, it will likely slow to a trickle, then stop completely.
A note: you don’t have to make your organization this complex. If you only have 2-4 roles, there’s really not much need.
However, the more roles you are casting for, and the more submissions you get, the more being highly organized saves you time and headache. (Trust me!)
Case-in-point, see the image to the right:
I have 4 male roles I am casting for. I simply have ‘maybe’, and ‘no’ folders. This can handle 50 or so submissions no problem. Maybe more. Now, it’s time to have these actors audition.
Pick an actor screening method
1. Can I cast based on their resume, actor, reel, and/or headshot?
Yes, you can. And I have. It’s certainly the quickest. But like anything, the best quality of work tends to take time and care.
Benefit: Quick. Simple. Costs nothing (if you have to pay for a place to hold your casting).
Drawbacks: No impression of professionalism (will they show up on time, are they reliable, are they easy to communicate with, etc.). People often look different on video or in-person than in their photo – sometimes shockingly so.
You don’t get to hear their voice (what if that tough-looking guy has a high-pitched voice? Oops).
Some people are natural over-actors and have a hard time looking believable even with a simple background role with no dialogue. You get the idea.
These days, I’d probably only take the risk for this on very limited roles with no dialogue and background characters due to the above risks.
2. Should I have actors submit self-tape video auditions, or do in-person casting sessions?
Let’s go over self-tape auditions first.
In self-tape auditions, actors send a video of themselves doing various things that can range from introducing themselves and talking about themselves, to performing a monologue, reading dialogue for their desired roles, and more.
Benefits: See the actor perform. Get an impression of skill-level. See if they have a unique take on performing the character. See if they can follow directions. Fairly quick, and still free.
Drawbacks: Like casting based on picture/resume, you get no impression of their professionalism. You also get a bit more limited view of the person and how they will look on camera for your film.
You can’t give the actor on-the-spot adjustments to mold their performance and see whether they can both take direction well and how they react to an adjustment and actually change their performance or repeat the same thing.
3. So what about in-person auditions? In these, actors arrive in-person to a private audition by appointment/invitation.
Benefits: You get all the benefits I mentioned are missing from the other casting approaches. You get to carefully screen each actor to your best ability.
Drawbacks: Takes significantly more time, especially if you do callbacks (2nd or 3rd rounds of casting to further narrow down your potential choices). Costs money for a place to hold casting sessions.
Takes about 10 minutes per person auditioned x number of auditions = usually an entire day or more. Can be very tiring and sometimes you may need help to run the auditions.
Can you guess which method I recommend?
In-person auditions are generally the way to go.
Yes, they’re more time-consuming and difficult, but the level of screening you can perform is significantly higher. Their draw-backs are almost always outweighed by their benefits.
Plus, when you run your casting sessions, it helps you learn how to identify the good actor from the mediocre, and learn how to work with actors better, in general.
You also get facetime with actors. Like I mentioned last week, opportunities to meet other in the community and make a good impression are opportunities for you to create an excellent reputation for yourself.
How you organize your auditions, whether you communicate in a timely manner, and how you comport yourself during an audition says as much about you to the actor as their professionalism and performance quality says to you.
How to organize and conduct the casting session
In the past, I’ve arranged audition times with actors by creating an excel sheet with all the available times, emailing every single actor, and asking them to pick a time. It was a mess and took more time than was necessary.
Now, I used a free online meeting tool and send the link to the meeting site to every interested actor. I ask them to request their preferred audition time. Right now, I’m using Calendly.com, which is free.
If you have lines or a monologue or anything you’d like them to prepare to perform, you can send that to them in the email as well. If you think you should, tell them at this time what the role pays (that it’s low or what have you) so they can decide whether they’d like to invest the time to audition.
10 minutes is usually enough time to audition an actor.
However, it may be smart to schedule 10 minutes of casting, with 5 minutes in-between to get reset, talk to your producer or assistant (if you have another person evaluate auditions with you) about thoughts and notes on the performance, and get ready for the next actor.
Casting equipment and organization:
1. Clipboard, pen, folder/envelope, and sign-in sheets.
I like to have actors sign in when they arrive to my film auditions. I can easily reference who was who if they don’t identify themselves in a casting recording (more on that later), I know when they arrived (timeliness), and can ask for them to list other useful info as needed.
It’s a convenient list of all the actors who showed up.
The folder/envelope is to collect resumes and/or headshots that actors sometimes bring with them.
I ask them to keep their expensive photo prints for someone else because having a hard copy of their resume and headshot doesn’t help or factor into how I organize my casting and I don’t want to just throw them away later.
However, if they are useful to you, then you need a place to put them.
2. A place for waiting actors to sit, outside and away from the view of the actor currently auditioning.
This will help put the auditioning actor at ease, as they won’t feel watched or judged by other actors. Auditioning is very tough as it is. Make it easy for them to bring out their best performance. Make them comfortable.
3. A camera to record each audition.
I know this part is a real pain, but even if it is just your phone on a tripod, you will want to be able to review – in detail – the audition of promising individuals to compare each performance. You will likely watch each audition many times.
It can be nice to have someone operating the camera so they can zoom in on the actor’s face at appropriate moments to see their reactions, but it isn’t mandatory. Make sure the operator knows when those moments are to zoom in, or they might go crazy with it. They can’t read your mind.
You can also set your camera and forget it, which is fine. I recommend a single press of the ‘record’ button per an entire audition. That way, you have only 1 file per actor, which is easier to organize when you watch them later.
Don’t ‘cut’ and press ‘record’ again when they stumble, restart, or give a second performance after you’ve given them adjustments. Doing so will also waste time and take you and the actor’s focus off of the work at hand.
Basically, if you don’t record the auditions, you’ll probably regret it, because your memory of each performance will quickly fade, and notes are only so helpful. Keep in mind that you may be auditioning 10, 30, 50, or more people.
How to conduct a casting session with an actor:
1. Be a good host and put the actor at ease. Be friendly, not a robot. Greet the actor. Introduce yourself and anyone else in the room.
Make a bit of small talk. Offer them a drink of water. Crack an inoffensive joke, if you can. Ask them how the drive was, if they found the location okay, ask them about themselves a bit, what they do outside of acting, what got them into it, or similar things.
2. Give the actor quick instructions so they know what to do. Try not to be too long-winded. Try to keep the info simple so they can follow it easily. I would suggest not giving them anything but basic info and not telling them exactly how to perform the lines/role.
They already know the basics about your character, so give them a chance to show you their interpretation of the character. This allows for you to get surprising interpretations by leaving it open for the actor. You can adjust their performance later.
3. (Press record, and then…) Ask the actor to ‘slate’ to the camera. Any actor who has done more than 1 or 2 auditions will know what this means. ‘Slating’ is the practice of the actor stating to the camera their full name and the role they are auditioning for. If they are with an agency, they might say that too.
This will help you identify the actors in their audition videos easily, later.
4. Let the actor know when they can start performing. I refrain from saying ‘action’ when I can, to put less pressure on the actor. Consider telling them ‘whenever you’re ready, go ahead’, or something similar so they can flow into their performance and not feel like they need to start instantly after you calling ‘action’.
5. After the performance, say something encouraging, then give your adjustments. Try to avoid saying anything that will make the actor overly self-conscious. Auditioning is already nerve-wracking, so put them at ease if you can. Saying something like, ‘that was good’ before you continue is one option.
Then, give your feedback, but communicate it in a way that says, ‘what you did was valid, but what I had in mind was more like this’, like the way you’d like them to perform is really a matter of your personal vision and preference and not the quality of their performance.
For example, you might tell them, ‘That was good. However, I’d like you to try something a bit different’, or ‘That was good. I think I’d like to see you try this approach instead.’
Then, you tell them how you’d like them to adjust, by giving them an action (not an emotion) to perform, or asking them to think of the character they’re talking to in a different light, or clarifying the circumstances before or during the scene they’re performing that would affect how their character behaves.
These things will make them think differently about how their character would react, and will change their performance.
A great approach I learned from some book I can’t remember (maybe Directing Actors by Judith Weston, one of the many books I highly recommend all directors read), goes something like this:
A typical approach might be to tell your actor, ‘You seem more irritated with Billy. That’s not quite what I’m looking for. I need you to be angrier. Act more angry toward him. You’re really, really mad.’
Instead of telling the actor to display a certain emotion, which will make them focus inward and try to self-consciously portray an emotion on their face, you should give them an action to perform. This lets them focus on doing something and be in the moment instead of trying to feel something.
‘You seem just irritated with Billy. He didn’t spill soup on you. Remember, he put your best friend in the hospital. I want you to punish him. Punish him with your words. Really hurt him with your words the best you can.’
Use action (verb) words instead of emotion words (adjectives).
Okay, so you’ve given the actor a quick adjustment, and they performed again. Rinse and repeat as desired.
6. Thank the actor for their time and tell them you’ll be in touch.
7. Repeat for all auditions.
Later, you’ll review your notes and the actors’ audition videos and narrow them down to performances you like the most.
But how do you evaluate performances?
Good question. I’m trying to work on this skill just like you, and I think it’s more art than science.
I think that first, it is fairly easy to identify when someone is overacting, or can’t stray from their preconceived, rehearsed version of what they practiced.
If you find yourself internally cringing or having to strongly justify why their performance is good or believable, it probably isn’t.
So those are fairly easy to eliminate. When you start auditioning actors of decent competence, it gets harder to categorize auditions.
Some will clearly not suit the role – they have a hard time being believable in the shoes of that character. They might be good at doing something else, but for whatever reason, you just can’t take them seriously in this role. You can’t believe they are the ‘person’ they claim to be.
Others will give a fairly believable performance, considering they aren’t acting in the environment (with costumes, props, set dressing, other actors, etc.) that they’ll be for the film.
For these, I personally look for actors that surprise me with their performance. They do something different than all the other actors that seem to be more… genuine. Not what is expected, but is a logical reaction. It’s true-to-life.
People don’t necessarily react to things in real life how you would expect. Humans are full of contradictions of thought and behavior.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any magic bullets or checklists for how to decide which actor gives the ‘best’ performance.
Like I said, learning to cast actors for low-budget films is an art. You’ll have to make a decision, make your film, evaluate how it turned out, and try to do better next time. That’s all you can do.
Bonus casting ideas:
Don’t feel like you have to run your auditions like everyone else. There is no ‘right’ way to audition the actors. Get creative. Think outside the box and find what will bring out the best performance.
Stay away from monologues – I don’t think monologues are very useful. Firstly, they originate in theatre, so I think an actor will be inclined to perform it in a highly dramatic and overdone manner. This has little to do with their skill and more with what they are performing was intended for the stage.
Your film’s performances likely need to be totally different than what a monologue demands from an actor. If you must have them perform something not from your film, make it something similar to the results you will need.
Auditioning roles without dialogue – Create an audio soundscape or soundtrack and play it during the audition for the actor to react to like I did for my film Statistics. Here’s what I created for my auditions for the actors to react to. Have them perform a similar role in your film that does have dialogue.
Describe a scenario to them that you want them to work through – and maybe allow them to ad-lib as necessary so they can get creative. Ask them to tell a story of something they experienced or did (themselves or the character) – as their character.
Well, that’s all I’ve got on casting for you.
Thanks for sticking around for that lengthy guide to attracting and casting great actors for your indie films.
I hope you find some of my tips useful and apply them successfully to your next film. We should not overlook the importance of casting for our films!
Best of luck to you, Storyteller. Get out there and tell great stories.
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