Casting Stories

My friend suggested that this AreUaStar blog would be a good place for me to tell some of the fun casting stories that have happened over my long (very long) career.  So, I thought I'd do that.  I'll add a couple every now and then....

One of my best days in casting happened when we were working on the Ellen "Puppy" episode.  That was the code name for the episode in which Ellen was going to come out as gay.  Remember, this in in the pre- Will & Grace era, and it was all very top secret.   We wanted somebody special to play the role of Ellen's therapist and Ellen suggested Oprah.  None of us knew Oprah, so I just decided to call her.  I found her office number and left a message for her, telling her what we were doing and why I was calling.   About 7:30 pm that same day, my assistant buzzed me and said "there's someone claiming to be Oprah on the phone."  I thought it was my friend Lynn  McCracken who would always call my office claiming to be different celebrities, trying to get me to get on the phone, so I didn't really expect to hear what I heard when I picked up.   "Tammy.... Oprah".  I recognized her voice right away.  I was shocked that she had picked up the phone and dialed me herself.  We spent about 30 minutes talking about what Ellen was about to do, and how momentous it would be and she agreed almost immediately to take part in that now infamous Coming Out episode.  I will always treasure that phone call.  It made my very special job that much more special.