A Star Is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies

Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins, two of Hollywood's biggest casting directors (their credits are listed on the cover of the book, there's no need for me to list them here), discuss the inner workings of casting a major Hollywood film. A Star Is Found is a (somewhat) candid description of the daily life of a major Hollywood casting director, recounting casting stories from several major films, citing extensively from A Beautiful Mind, Harry Potter, and The Princess Bride. What makes the book such an interesting page-turner is the quick, almost gossipy writing style. Once you start reading, it's hard to put it down. Finding out surprising facts about how a certain person was chosen for a role is always exciting, especially for anyone with a real interest in filmmaking or the film industry in general. There is a little bit of information and tips to smaller actors in how to behave in an audition, callback, screen test, and beyond, but mostly this book is dedicated to describing the casting adventures that have already occurred. The first few chapters mention the break down of actor categories: Wannabes, Unknowns, Working Actors, etc. The rest of the book is about casting the Stars, and how Unknowns became Stars. This has the effect of at first saying that everyone has a shot, and then saying, as long as you know someone or have been seen somewhere else. Janet and Jane discuss their rules of auditioning, involving always treating every actor fairlt, which is refreshing to hear from such a big casting team. Anyone who is at all interested in working in film should check out this book. It offers definite insight into how you can help a casting director do their job, and end up getting yourself a job (as an actor) because of it.

A view from the other side. There have been a lot of books on how hard it is for an actor to find that magic break that gets him into a movie or on stage. In this book, two veteran casting directors present their side of the story. It's not a how-to book, exactly, but reading between the lines you can see what turns them off and how they build a huge list of potential candidates from a want-to-be that's now waiting tables up to the superstars. For the beginner, even getting in front of Janet and Jane is a major accomplishment. Part of the value in this book is that it explains just what it is that a casting director does. They are inbetween the actors and the film's management. They exist to take off some of the burdon from the director/producer, but they also provide an expertise of their own based on years of experience in finding actors. The list of movies on which the authors have worked is long. The inside stories of how actors get picked is fascinating. It's quite an interesting read, even for an outsider like myself.

A Star is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies is a rarity among the flood of acting and Hollywood guides on the market: a survey which examines how actors are chosen and careers made, coming from two of the top casting directors in the business. You can't get much more authoritative than this: the two review their craft, reflect on stars they helped build, and offer specific tips actors can use to catch attention and interest. Any collection strong in acting guides, drama or Hollywood insights will welcome this expose. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Reviewed by Joanne Benham for Reader Views (10/06) If you've ever wondered how an actor is chosen for a particular role or, alternatively why an actor who seemed totally right for a part wasn't chosen, this is the book for you. Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins are the founders and co-owners of The Casting Company, which they started when Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios closed down in 1983. A casting director's job is to furnish producers and directors with a selection of actors for every role in their production. To do this job efficiently, the casting director needs a huge inventory of available actors in all shapes and sizes to fill every role. From the bottom of the ladder, the Wannabes, to the top rung, the Superstars, each actor has to be matched to a role. Another major consideration for the casting director is budget restraints. And if you have several superstars wanting the same role, you need tact and diplomacy to gently discourage someone from a part while still retaining the option of using them in a future production. The authors have worked with top directors and producers in the industry such as Ron Howard, Chris Columbus and Cubby Broccoli as well as stars such as Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Julia Roberts and George Clooney. In between talking about their casting adventures (and misadventures) they discuss their method of choosing someone. First they read the script to get big picture. Then they break the roles down into categories like star, extra etc. Those categories are then broken down further into sections such as hero, bumbler, smart and sexy and on and on. Then they measure each actor they consider against their own inner criteria of how the actor should look and sound to make the script work. Every evening I turn on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) at 7:00 p.m. without fail. I don't watch too many of the movies, but I do want to watch the introduction done by the host, Robert Osborne. He gives you some background on the movie that will be playing, such as the political climate of the day, stories about the actors and how they were chosen and why some were not chosen. I find this background information absolutely fascinating, even though I'm not a movie buff. If you are a big movie fan, you will probably enjoy "A Star is Found" even more than I did.

The subtitle of "A Star is Found" says it all: "Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies." This book describes the career highlights of two of Hollywood's top casting directors by taking readers through the entire auditioning process. The authors show us how the latest James Bond was found and how those cute Harry Potter kids were selected, among dozens of other insider stories. They offer some suggestions for actors who want to ace the audition, and also address wannabe casting directors. When the book reflects a little too fondly through rose-colored glasses at notoriously ill-tempered A-list actors or seems to skimp on advice for newbies, that's perfectly OK. Hirshenson and Jenkins didn't promise a how-to book. They promised to share their adventures and that's exactly what they did. This is an interesting read for anyone working (or wanting to work) in show business. Leslie Halpern, author of Dreams on Film: The Cinematic Struggle Between Art and Science and Reel Romance: The Lovers' Guide to the 100 Best Date Movies.