Casting director Sophie Holland shares how she finds new talent and her experience casting ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’, ‘The Witcher’ and ‘Wednesday’.
It’s always difficult to capture the magic of an original cult-classic film, but 36 years later, the cast of Beetlejuice eagerly returned to give it a try – and it was casting director Sophie Holland’s job to add to the magic with some fresh blood for its revival. With new cast members including Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe, she certainly did her job well.
Sophie, who previously worked with Tim Burton’s creative team on the hit Netflix series Wednesday, formed Sophie Holland Casting in 2015 and has cast a variety of exciting, high-end productions, including The Witcher, Shadow and Bone, Sonic the Hedgehog, YOU and Young Wallander.
We spoke to her about her recent work on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, as well as the other highlights of her career, her process for finding new actors to work with, and what she looks for in self-tapes. Here’s what she shared:
Hi Sophie! How did you first get started in casting?
I got started in casting because I wanted to be an actor. Absolutely no one would hire me, but I basically fell in love with the industry. I think it’s a hugely exciting, vibrant industry to be working in. I couldn’t bear to leave it. I thought, “Well, I don’t know anything else,” and so looked at other avenues and I ended up in casting.
I don’t think I loved it at first. It took me probably around three years to fall in love with casting. Once you’ve worked as a performer, and especially if you felt that being an actor was an avenue that was not open to you or was very difficult to get into, then working in casting can sometimes be a little heart-breaking. You’re seeing all of those people thriving in a world that it felt like you weren’t welcome in. It took me a long time for that to seep out of my body and for casting to seep in.
What do you look for when you’re seeking new talent?
The key thing for me that I’m completely drawn to are actors that make it feel so completely true and honest that they draw you in. You don’t question what you’re hearing; you don’t question the choices that they’ve made. It feels natural.
I had this really amazing actor asked to play this role about poverty and being impoverished, and he said in his interview, “Whilst that hadn’t been my experience, I had to look at my own life and find something that had made me feel like I didn’t have something.”
I was always really drawn to people finding their truth and portraying it in that.
Some of these things that we ask these actors to do, like, “Be a general of an army of 20,000 people,” how can they possibly know what it’s like to be a general? Some might – who knows! But otherwise, what is it in you that you can pin to the character? That’s a really interesting exploration.
How did you first become involved in the casting for ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’?
I’d worked with Tim Burton and his team before on Wednesday and that was my first introduction to them. That had come through the brilliant John Papsidera in the US, who’s a fantastic casting director. And he’d asked me to hop on board and join them for Wednesday season one. So it felt incredibly lucky, to be honest, because it was one of those very rare moments when I didn’t have to pitch for it, which feels like a huge pinch-me moment.
It still feels like the privilege of my life to have done that project, to have worked with Tim Burton and the whole team, like Alfred Gough and Miles Millar – the writers, and Tommy Harper and Natalie Testa, who are the producing team. It feels like something I would never, ever have expected to do.
So they called me up and they said, “Are you available?”
And I was like, “Sure, what is it?”
They were like, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
I was like, “I definitely am available. Yes, thank you very much. Where do you want me? What do I have to do?”
Could you tell us about the casting process for ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’?
Obviously, I’m stepping onto the shoulders of geniuses with Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins’ work on the original. We had Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder come back, so I feel like we already had this amazing bedrock of talent returning, and then it was just up to us to add people on and expand the world.
You feel incredibly lucky where you have something that’s already really successful that people love. Although, with that comes a bit more pressure because you don’t want to let the existing fans down. I’m hoping people will be pleased with the results.
The thing that I really love about Tim is that, for him, every face tells a story, so it’s about really being able to experience the reads that come in, looking at the faces, seeing the story that they tell all on their own, and then building the cast out that way.
You have this amazing visionary at the centre who is just so creatively led, so it doesn’t matter to him about ‘stars’, necessarily. It’s all about the story. In an industry that is currently very ‘star-power’-led, it feels like a really beautiful gift to allow yourself to be consumed by the creative.
The cast includes Willem Dafoe, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega and, of course, Michael Keaton. What was it like to work with so many well-known and amazing actors?
I’d love to tell you that, at the end of each day, I’d be sitting in their kitchen sipping wine with them, but the truth is we don’t do it. Even now, I’m pretty sure I’ll go to the premiere and I’m 99% sure they’ll have absolutely no idea who I am and that’s how it should be, really.
To be honest, I look at that project and think to myself, “Some things are just gifts, aren’t they?”
And I think I’m well aware that the draw for that is Tim and the IP. It’s a very different thing if I’ve got an independent film that has no money and a first-time director – that’s a much more difficult ask than if you’ve got Tim Burton and Al and Miles writing the script, and you’ve got an IP like Beetlejuice. That’s an easier sell, right?
I’m so thrilled by the cast. I do think it’s incredibly exciting and I think they’re all gifted and lovely human beings, which feels really nice. But I never consider casting to be a pathway that benefits from the glamour of those high-profile talents.
We did a set visit and we get to see everything and they’re incredibly kind and you’ll get introduced around. But we’re off-site – we aren’t part of the daily.
You’ve worked with Jenna Ortega before in ‘Wednesday’. Could you tell us about the casting process for this show?
Jenna Ortega was found by the brilliant John Papsidera and has gone on to become the absolute superstar that she is now and she’s also such a lovely human being – very generous, especially throughout the casting process.
She would always come on and read with other actors and be forever patient and kind. Now, I cannot imagine anybody else having played ‘Wednesday’. She gives it a life. Where it could fall flat, she gives it this amazing energy, which I think is really what draws people in.
Headshot credit: YellowBellyPhoto
You’ve also done the casting for lots of other amazing shows, like ‘The Witcher’, ‘Shadow and Bone’ and ‘Constellation’. Were there any memorable moments during the casting process for those?
I can absolutely tell you a story about the character that’s played by Joey Batey, who plays ‘Jaskier’ in The Witcher. That process involved us having to find somebody who could sing, who was incredibly charming and funny – the comedy role within that franchise. And I feel like we must have seen so many actors and, really, no one fit the bill. We could not find someone that everybody universally agreed was Jaskier.
I literally said to my team, “We’ll have one final round, and honestly, if we can’t find this character, I’m just going to have to retire from casting because I just don’t know anymore.”
And then this brilliant assistant over at United recommended Joey the day before we were due to see them and so he had 24 hours, basically.
He found a lute – where do you find a lute in London? – learned a song, prepared the piece, came in and it is true to say it’s one of those moments where you just know. The moment he stepped in, the moment he opened his mouth and sang with this beautiful voice and he was so charming and kind – it was one of those moments where you are so thrilled to work in casting. The hairs stand up on your arms; it feels like everything is just right, and he just smashed it.
I always think the story behind that is so inspiring – of somebody who sees it and wants it and works for it and then brings it to you like a gift. I thought that was just really special, and I adore him so much because of that.
How can performers maintain a good relationship with the casting directors they’ve worked with?
The job of a casting director is always to be open to receiving communications from actors. I think that’s really important – that’s literally our job! And whilst we also have another whole thing to do, we’ve got to find actors for specific things, cast them, watch their tapes, do deals, all of that. I think it’s really important that we be open to receiving communications.
I also think it’s really good for actors to do a little bit of research to see who’s casting what so that you’re not just blanket-bombing people. If you know someone’s casting something and you’re really interested in it or you think you might be right for a role, I think it’s absolutely valid that you drop an email with your headshot and a couple of lines or a link to a demo.
What it really comes down to is not the actors being concerned about how to have a good relationship; I think it comes down to the casting directors being open to receiving that and not just using the same people every time. It’s our job to find new talent.
What do you look for in self-tapes?
I’m just looking for truth, to be honest. I don’t need bells and whistles – you don’t need a really expensive lighting rig or a backdrop. Doing it by an open window with your housemate or whatever is enough. I think you just need to be confident in the choices that you are making and happy with them.
It’s like a business card, isn’t it? It has to represent you and be something that you are proud of for other people to see. And I think, unfortunately, it’s a really interesting time regarding self-tapes, isn’t it? Because actors are being asked to do that in isolation, and especially, as we’ve talked about, the opening of the call when you can’t share any material except mocked-up scenes or even, in a worst-case scenario, scenes from other films that have the same tones. Very difficult.
I think, again, it comes down to the casting directors having to be open to using a little bit of their imagination and seeing a little twinkle and them being open to them coming in and working some more with them in the room, which I think is coming back, thank God, so that’s nice.
What has been your favourite project to work on so far and why?
I think I would be hard pushed to ever choose anything but The Witcher season one and that is for so many reasons. Firstly, because it was my first major job as a casting director and so it changed the industry for me personally, financially. Netflix was very early in developing their own stuff and they were so great at allowing creatives to do what they do best. They let you go off and you really feel like you had creative autonomy over your department, which I think was really exciting.
No one really knew what The Witcher was – they didn’t know if it was going to be good or bad. We weren’t in the same place that the industry is in now, so there was time to develop and it was just like a different time. But I’ll be forever grateful to Kelly (Luegenbiehl) and Lauren (Schmidt Hissrich) for taking a chance on me when they absolutely didn’t need to. By rights, I shouldn’t have had that job and I’m so glad and so grateful to have done that.
Actors would call it their big break. I guess this was my version of that.
Finally, what would be your dream project to work on?
I just want to work, to be honest. Who knows what’s next?!
A big thanks to Sophie for sharing her experience and insights with us! ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is in cinemas now.
Take a look at our website for more interviews and advice from casting directors.
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