One of the coolest things my dad and I get to do is animal casting – finding just the right animals to appear in movies, television, print advertising and live theater. Casting the right animal for the right part is a very important job that takes a lot of thought and planning. Dad has been doing it for over 40 years, so he is really good at it. I have only been doing it with him for a few years, but I am pretty good at it too!
When a producer or director or talent agent or advertising agency needs an animal actor for their production, they call dad to talk about what kinds of animals they want and what they want the animals to do. Sometimes the jobs are very simple and don’t require much acting skill, so dad can book the job right away. But sometimes the jobs are very complicated and the animal actor has to perform a lot of different tricks, so the production company sends us a script to read. Once we have read the script, we know exactly what each animal has to do and then we figure out who to cast for each role.
It is a lot of fun to read a script for a movie or commercial or television show. It’s not at all like reading a book, because there are all sorts of stage and camera directions mixed in with the dialogue and the story. But you can definitely tell what the story is, and all the directions help you picture it in your mind really well.
This week dad and I are reading the script for a new horror movie about evil spirits and bears. It is really scary! Sometimes I even have to close my eyes and hide my face when we get to a really terrifying scene. I try not to let dad see me do that, though, because I want him to think that I am really brave, and not afraid of evil bears that might eat me. After all, as an animal casting director I need to be brave and strong and smart!
You can see lots of pictures of me and my animal actor friends working in different commercials, print ads and more by clicking here.
What are some of your favorite animal actors?
