The Absurdity Of How Hollywood Casts Female Actors
As an actor myself, I’ve always found the casting process to be particularly challenging.
Not quite blessed with the Hollywood-praised “alpha male” credentials, it has been frustrating to see casting call after casting call asking for the same type of lead male. Due to this narrow vision, I’ve often found myself seen and at times cast in roles with keywords in their description such as: “intelligent,” “average looking,” “never been kissed,” and my personal favourite — “the Michael Cera type.” This kind of relentless typecasting has always left a bad taste in my mouth, so I was especially happy to come across a video that sheds light on an even more serious issue in the world of film and television. If I feel that I have it bad as a non-alpha male, female actors have it way worse, thanks in large part to the insane parameters they are expected to fulfill in the casting process.
The wonderful team at Casting Call | The Project has put together a compilation of real female actors reading real female casting calls. You will be stunned by the recurrent and often demeaning qualities that are looked for in female roles: Having seen many casting call equivalents to these myself, I’m saddened to say that this truly is a reality. As the Casting Call website itself points out, it’s crazy how discriminatory, stereotypical, sexist, ageist, and racist the casting process has become. Shouldn’t the world of film and television be a reflection of who we are as a people, and not some “ideal” and completely unrealistic depiction of it? I happened to stumble upon this video thanks to a good acting friend of mine sharing it via social media, and I hope that this article helps to further spread its powerful message out there. To find out more about Casting Call | The Project I encourage you all to check out their website. .
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