Tag: interview

  • Q&A with the Casting Director and Director of Normal People

    Q&A with the Casting Director and Director of Normal People

    We talk to Casting Director Louise Kiely and Director Lenny Abrahamson about the phenomenon that is Normal People. We hosted a webinar (with Spotlight’s Clare McGinley chairing) where we explored the process of casting from beginning to end and the relationship between the director and the casting director. So, who better to speak on the subject than Casting…

  • 12 Pieces of Advice for Actors From Actors

    12 Pieces of Advice for Actors From Actors

    Performers attending the Casting Directors’ Guild Awards share the best advice they’ve ever been given We asked David Morrissey, Naomi Ackie, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Daniel Mays, Daniel Monks and Jonah Hauer-King why they pursued a career in acting and what advice they could offer to performers. Watch the video: Here are their 12 pearls of wisdom…

  • The Journey of a Young Performer and His Mum

    The Journey of a Young Performer and His Mum

    We chat with Regan Garcia and his mum, Sharon, about balancing acting with school and playing Nigel in ‘The Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾’ in the West End. Before the show starts… I do this thing where I put my arms up, I tense a lot, pull my trousers up and put my shirt down, and…

  • Telling Stories through Puppetry with Richard Hay

    Telling Stories through Puppetry with Richard Hay

    Spotlight talks with Richard Hay, puppeteer and co-creator of Sharklegs Theatre Company, about puppetry, going viral, and taking Sharklegs’ new, Amazon-exposing show, Fulfilment, to the Edinburgh Fringe. Hi Richard! How did you first get into puppetry? I graduated from drama school a long, long time ago, and I did a course at East 15 [where]…

  • Tree Petts’ Tips for Commercial Casting

    Tree Petts’ Tips for Commercial Casting

    Tree Petts, CDA, gives us her tips for nailing your next commercial audition The CDA’s Tree Petts talks to Spotlight all about the practicalities of commercial castings, including what she wants to see in the room. These are the essentials you need to know before your next audition! Check out more of our videos here. 

  • A Day in the Life of a Casting Director: Sue Odell, CDA

    A Day in the Life of a Casting Director: Sue Odell, CDA

    Spotlight spoke to Casting Director Sue Odell on her hands-on approach to casting, the realities of a commercial casting timeline, and how inclusivity factors in… “I like to give [actors] confidence straight away – I try to find interesting types that aren’t conventionally pretty. I give them confidence by finding that something about them –…

  • Agent Hannah Wilkinson Answers Your Questions

    Agent Hannah Wilkinson Answers Your Questions

    Agent Hannah Wilkinson answers some of our performer questions on the essentials you need to know for a happy relationship with your agent, and a positive career as an actor! Hannah Wilkinson of Emptage Hallett came in to offer one to one support for many of our members at our recent Open House. Hannah was kind enough to answer…

  • Maureen Hughes on Casting RTE’s ‘Taken Down’

    Maureen Hughes on Casting RTE’s ‘Taken Down’

    Our interview with casting director Maureen Hughes on her latest casting challenge: RTE’s Taken Down – including how she found unrepresented talent via Spotlight! Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE)’s newest drama series Taken Down reunites the creative team behind the hugely successful gangland drama Love/Hate, joined by best-selling novelist Jo Spain. Love/Hate ran for 5 series…

  • Everything You Need to Know About Self-Taping

    Everything You Need to Know About Self-Taping

    Get the best results from your next self-tape audition by following these tips from casting directors. Got a self-taped audition coming up? Watch our video where we get casting directors Sharon Bialy, Priscilla John, Lucinda Syson, Kelly Valentine Hendry, Victor Jenkins, Debbie McWilliams, Frank Moiselle, Emma Stafford, and Thom Hammond to tell us what performers should and shouldn’t do when…

  • Carrie Hope Fletcher on Crafting a Cross-Platform Career

    Carrie Hope Fletcher on Crafting a Cross-Platform Career

    Carrie Hope Fletcher on using YouTube to help forge a career in musical theatre, and working beyond your casting type It’s a horrible truth in the life of an actor that you never know what’s next. I might do my next job and then not work again for another four years. That’s just how it works. But…