It's been well over 10 years since Ellen DeGeneres famously came out on the Ellen show, paving the way for others. I've talked about my "Oprah" moment before, but I came across this piece I wrote about being part of the coming out episode, so I thought I would share it with you.
the inside story.....
Ten years ago, I was the Casting Director of the "Ellen" show. We had stopped trying to force Ellen's character into dating guys and instead just played up her comedy. I remember Ellen coming to me and telling me how much she wished that she could be out - We talked about when (if ever) the time would be right for her to come out. In the next season, we began laying secret plans for the now infamous PUPPY episode.
But before we filmed the coming out episode, there was an episode that some of you may remember - Ellen went to a rock n' roll camp with Bonnie Raitt and Aaron Neville and David Crosby. They sang a song together at the end. During the taping of that song, Sheryl Crow came out on stage too. The 5 of them were all singing the song, and then Ellen solo'd with this verse: "I am gay and it's ok" and Sheryl, Bonnie, Aaron and David, all echoed "What did you say, you are gay? That's ok!". The audience went crazy... they couldn't believe what they were hearing (Remember this was many months before she uttered her now famous line "I'm gay" in the airport lounge with Laura Dern). Disney pulled that tape and locked it away in a vault, and it has never seen the light of day.
As we started to prepare for the Puppy episode, it was kept very, very quiet. We called it the Puppy episode to try to lead people astray - we coudn't let anyone know what the episode was ACTUALLY about, so we all pretended it was Ellen getting a puppy. The script was being written by 4 of our producers and Ellen . We knew that we had to find a very special actress for the role that Laura Dern played. I recently pulled out my old ideas list and here is who was on it:
Jennifer Aniston
Ashley Judd
Robin Wright Penn
Laura Dern
Courtney Love
Toni Collette
Madonna
Mira Sorvino
Parker Posey
Anne Heche (!! - this was months before they had even met)
Bridget Fonda
Sarah Jessica Parker
Helen Hunt
Jodie Foster
Julianne Moore
Nicole Kidman
Uma Thurman
Tea Leoni
So, it could have been any one of these ladies, BUT most of them were afraid to do it! No one had done it before. Laura Dern was very brave. Ellen and I both spent time talking to her on the phone, and in fact, she almost got cold feet the day before - she got nervous, but Ellen was able to talk her back in to doing the role. I just read the other day that after this episode Laura wasn't hired for any roles for an entire year!
Filming that episode was overwhelming. On the day of the shoot, we had enlisted many of our friends (k.d. lang, Demi Moore, Billy Bob Thornton, Jenny Shimizu) to be part of a dream sequence. The set was so exciting - but only hours before we were to start shooting, we got word that there had been a bomb threat at the studios. Word had gotten out to the religious extremists and someone called threatening to blow up the stage. We quietly and solemnly evacuated and waited until we were allowed back in. We began filming the show - when it came time for Ellen to utter those famous words, "I'm Gay" there was a moment that felt frozen in time, a silent beat, before the entire stage and the audience ERUPTED with joy and cheers. Everyone was crying, especially Ellen, and it took over 15 minutes before we were able to shoot the scene again.
I will never forget being part of that amazing episode of television, watched by 30 million people back in 1997. And now you know a little bit of the back story.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
A great man - remembering Ron Leavitt
If you are or were a fan of the show "Married...with Children", then you should know the name Ron Leavitt. Ron (and his then writing partner Michael Moye) created "Married... "Ron came from a journalism background and wrote on shows like "Happy Days" before he created "Married". He passed away in February, but I was thinking a lot about him yesterday, so I wanted to share about him.
Ron was the most intensely loyal producer that I have worked with in the 25 years I have been in the television business. He assembled a crew of people for "Married..." and then used that same crew for the next 20 years - on whatever shows he did ("Unhappily Ever After", "The Help", etc). It was like he was the father of a large extended family and he re-created the same family feeling each time he got a show on the air. Ron was obviously a very funny man, but he also was also generous and gentle with actors. When giving notes to actors he would always start with a buffer... "just the tiniest thing...." so it never felt that he was ordering you to do something, but rather he was collaborating and giving minor adjustments. This is not to say that he didn't have strong opinions - because he did. And they were generally right. He knew his way around a joke.
One spring, a few years ago, Ron had an amazing pilot season. He had 2 pilots ordered at the same time. This is almost unheard of, and it meant that he had to oversee both of them simultaneously. The two pilots were "The Help" for the WB and "The Pool at Maddy Breakers" for Fox. Ron really wanted to be back at Fox because he had helped create the network's success with "Married..." and he wanted to finish out his career with another big hit there.
Ron asked me to cast both pilots, which I was happy to do - but 20th television and Fox were concerned that I couldn't cast both pilots at the same time and told Ron that he needed to hire a different Casting Director. Ron refused. He told them that I was his only Casting Director and he prevailed. I did both pilots. Ron and I had a great time casting them. Ron was a quirky guy - not an early riser- so all casting had to be done on his schedule... nothing before 2 or 3pm. So this meant, that we would cast for both shows, back to back from 3pm - 10pm each day.
Pilot casting is very intense. You generally have a short period of time to get the roles cast, and often you are casting during a time when many other pilots (at least before the writers strike) are being cast, so there is an artificially created feeding frenzy for the actors during this period (February and March). So, we spent a lot of time together during this time. Ron always liked to have some sort of unhealthy food treat around, so he would have an assistant bring fresh pretzels or doughnuts or meatball sandwiches (he couldn't understand why or how I could be a vegetarian) and all of us grew happily larger during our pilot casting days.
Ultimately, "The Help" was ordered to series, while "Maddy Breaker" was not. "Maddy" starred Jodi Lynn O'Keefe (Nash Bridges) and Jill Ritchie (Debs) and Nick Brennan (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) and The Help had a big cast that featured Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives), Megan Fox (Transformers) and television names Tori Spelling, Mindy Cohn and Antonio Sabato.
Ron always made working a great joy. He was a great storyteller, loved bragging about his children and loved the small bottles of Coke. Never Pepsi. Everyone who worked with him adored him. His death leaves a great void in Hollywood - he was truly one of a kind and I am glad I was his Casting Director for all of those years and for all of those series.
p.s. My AreUaStar actor pick of the week is: Tara Karsian. Tara is a comedic actress with a wonderfully expressive face. Check her out on imdb. You will likely recognize the face, but may not know the name.
Ron was the most intensely loyal producer that I have worked with in the 25 years I have been in the television business. He assembled a crew of people for "Married..." and then used that same crew for the next 20 years - on whatever shows he did ("Unhappily Ever After", "The Help", etc). It was like he was the father of a large extended family and he re-created the same family feeling each time he got a show on the air. Ron was obviously a very funny man, but he also was also generous and gentle with actors. When giving notes to actors he would always start with a buffer... "just the tiniest thing...." so it never felt that he was ordering you to do something, but rather he was collaborating and giving minor adjustments. This is not to say that he didn't have strong opinions - because he did. And they were generally right. He knew his way around a joke.
One spring, a few years ago, Ron had an amazing pilot season. He had 2 pilots ordered at the same time. This is almost unheard of, and it meant that he had to oversee both of them simultaneously. The two pilots were "The Help" for the WB and "The Pool at Maddy Breakers" for Fox. Ron really wanted to be back at Fox because he had helped create the network's success with "Married..." and he wanted to finish out his career with another big hit there.
Ron asked me to cast both pilots, which I was happy to do - but 20th television and Fox were concerned that I couldn't cast both pilots at the same time and told Ron that he needed to hire a different Casting Director. Ron refused. He told them that I was his only Casting Director and he prevailed. I did both pilots. Ron and I had a great time casting them. Ron was a quirky guy - not an early riser- so all casting had to be done on his schedule... nothing before 2 or 3pm. So this meant, that we would cast for both shows, back to back from 3pm - 10pm each day.
Pilot casting is very intense. You generally have a short period of time to get the roles cast, and often you are casting during a time when many other pilots (at least before the writers strike) are being cast, so there is an artificially created feeding frenzy for the actors during this period (February and March). So, we spent a lot of time together during this time. Ron always liked to have some sort of unhealthy food treat around, so he would have an assistant bring fresh pretzels or doughnuts or meatball sandwiches (he couldn't understand why or how I could be a vegetarian) and all of us grew happily larger during our pilot casting days.
Ultimately, "The Help" was ordered to series, while "Maddy Breaker" was not. "Maddy" starred Jodi Lynn O'Keefe (Nash Bridges) and Jill Ritchie (Debs) and Nick Brennan (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) and The Help had a big cast that featured Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives), Megan Fox (Transformers) and television names Tori Spelling, Mindy Cohn and Antonio Sabato.
Ron always made working a great joy. He was a great storyteller, loved bragging about his children and loved the small bottles of Coke. Never Pepsi. Everyone who worked with him adored him. His death leaves a great void in Hollywood - he was truly one of a kind and I am glad I was his Casting Director for all of those years and for all of those series.
p.s. My AreUaStar actor pick of the week is: Tara Karsian. Tara is a comedic actress with a wonderfully expressive face. Check her out on imdb. You will likely recognize the face, but may not know the name.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Emmy nomination day
This is always an exciting day for those of us who work in television. Today, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominations for the 2008 Emmys. I'm going to post the Casting nominations below.... and no, we were not nominated for our work on "Samantha Who" this year - however congratulations to CHRISTINA APPLEGATE and JEAN SMART from the show, who were nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and Best Supporting Actress respectively.
Also, congratulations go out to our talented colleagues in the casting world for their great work of this past season. And the nominees are....
Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series
30 Rock
Jennifer McNamara Shroff
Californication
Felicia Fasano, C.S.A., Casting By
Pat McCorkle, C.S.A., Original New York Casting
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Allison Jones, Casting Director
Pushing Daisies
Camille Patton, C.S.A.,
Meg Liberman, C.S.A.,
Jennifer Lare, C.S.A.,
Ugly Betty
Jeff Greenberg, C.S.A.
Mark Scott, C.S.A.
Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series
Brothers & Sisters
Jeanie Bacharach, C.S.A., Casting Director
Gillian O'Neill, C.S.A., Casting Director
Damages
Julie Tucker, C.S.A., Co-Casting Director
Ross Meyerson, Co-Casting Director
Avy Kaufman, Casting Director - Pilot
Friday Night Lights
Linda Lowy
John Brace
Beth Sepko, Texas Casting Director
Mad Men
Kim Miscia, Casting Director (Pilot)
Beth Bowling, Casting Director (Pilot)
Laura Schiff, Casting Director (Series)
Carrie Audino, Casting Director (Series)
The Tudors
Nuala Moiselle
Frank Moiselle
Mary Jo Slater, C.S.A., US Casting
Steve Brooksbank, C.S.A., US Casting
Stephanie Gorin, C.S.A., C.D.C., Canadian Casting
Outstanding Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
Cranford (Masterpiece Theatre)
Maggie Lunn, Casting Director
John Adams
Kathleen Chopin, C.S.A., Casting Director
Nina Gold, C.D.G., Casting Director
Tracy Kilpatrick, Casting Director
Recount
David Rubin, C.S.A., Casting Director
Richard Hicks, C.S.A., Casting Director
Lori S. Wyman, C.S.A., Florida Casting Director
Kathleen Chopin, C.S.A., New York Casting Director
Julie Schubert, New York Casting Director
The Bronx Is Burning
Billy Hopkins
Paul Schnee
Hopkins, Smith & Barden Casting
The Company
Denise Chamian, C.S.A.
Scout Masterson
Diane Kerbel, Canada Casting
Priscilla John, UK Casting
Zsolt Csutak, Hungary Casting
The initials C.S.A. after most of the American CD's names indicate membership in the Casting Society of America. I'd like to give a personal shout out to my friends nominated this year including: David Rubin and Richard Hicks, Meg Liberman and Cammi Patton and Jeff Greenberg.
for more information and the rest of the nominations, you can visit www.emmy.tv
Also, congratulations go out to our talented colleagues in the casting world for their great work of this past season. And the nominees are....
Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series
30 Rock
Jennifer McNamara Shroff
Californication
Felicia Fasano, C.S.A., Casting By
Pat McCorkle, C.S.A., Original New York Casting
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Allison Jones, Casting Director
Pushing Daisies
Camille Patton, C.S.A.,
Meg Liberman, C.S.A.,
Jennifer Lare, C.S.A.,
Ugly Betty
Jeff Greenberg, C.S.A.
Mark Scott, C.S.A.
Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series
Brothers & Sisters
Jeanie Bacharach, C.S.A., Casting Director
Gillian O'Neill, C.S.A., Casting Director
Damages
Julie Tucker, C.S.A., Co-Casting Director
Ross Meyerson, Co-Casting Director
Avy Kaufman, Casting Director - Pilot
Friday Night Lights
Linda Lowy
John Brace
Beth Sepko, Texas Casting Director
Mad Men
Kim Miscia, Casting Director (Pilot)
Beth Bowling, Casting Director (Pilot)
Laura Schiff, Casting Director (Series)
Carrie Audino, Casting Director (Series)
The Tudors
Nuala Moiselle
Frank Moiselle
Mary Jo Slater, C.S.A., US Casting
Steve Brooksbank, C.S.A., US Casting
Stephanie Gorin, C.S.A., C.D.C., Canadian Casting
Outstanding Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
Cranford (Masterpiece Theatre)
Maggie Lunn, Casting Director
John Adams
Kathleen Chopin, C.S.A., Casting Director
Nina Gold, C.D.G., Casting Director
Tracy Kilpatrick, Casting Director
Recount
David Rubin, C.S.A., Casting Director
Richard Hicks, C.S.A., Casting Director
Lori S. Wyman, C.S.A., Florida Casting Director
Kathleen Chopin, C.S.A., New York Casting Director
Julie Schubert, New York Casting Director
The Bronx Is Burning
Billy Hopkins
Paul Schnee
Hopkins, Smith & Barden Casting
The Company
Denise Chamian, C.S.A.
Scout Masterson
Diane Kerbel, Canada Casting
Priscilla John, UK Casting
Zsolt Csutak, Hungary Casting
The initials C.S.A. after most of the American CD's names indicate membership in the Casting Society of America. I'd like to give a personal shout out to my friends nominated this year including: David Rubin and Richard Hicks, Meg Liberman and Cammi Patton and Jeff Greenberg.
for more information and the rest of the nominations, you can visit www.emmy.tv
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sometimes, Casting is about timing.
I was thinking about luck and timing as it pertains to actors, and I was reminded of a casting story from very early in my career.
When we were casting the pilot episode of "Married... with Children" (way back in the late 80's), we cast 2 kids to play the roles of Kelly and Bud - and it wasn't Christina Applegate or David Faustino! That's right - in the originally taped pilot, two other young actors had been cast in the roles - Tina Caspary for Kelly and the son of Karen Black, Hunter Carson as Bud. Christina Applegate had turned down the role! It was, remember, a very racy script for that time, and on a fledgling network that no one had any reason to trust. (the pilot script didn't even have a name - we just called it "Not the Cosby Show")
After we shot the pilot - at Sunset Gower studios in Hollywood - and it was picked up by Fox for a series order, the producers Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye decided to re-cast the kids roles and re-shoot their scenes. We again went after Christina Applegate, who had just finished shooting a series called "Heart of the City" with Robert Desiderio. This time, she agreed. To recast the role of Bud, we had to bring choices to the network for a test (this is a common practice - you bring 3 or 4 top choices to the network and then there is a collaborative discussion about who to cast). On the day of the network test, we were bringing 6 young men to show to Fox. David Faustino was one, and our other top choice was Vonnie Ribisi - now known as Giovanni Ribisi. But on that day, Vonnie was booked as a guest star for another show, and he couldn't get out of his filming schedule to get to the test. David Faustino got the role and created that very memorable character of Bud Bundy. But who knows what might have happened if Vonnie had made the test. So you see, luck and timing are factors in the casting process.
On a side note, Ron Leavitt - the creator of "Married..." and "Unhappily Ever After", passed away recently. He was a very special man - the most loyal person that I have ever worked with - a rare quality to find in Hollywood. Ron was gentle, funny, brilliantly smart and extraordinarily generous. He created a family on the set- hiring the same crew over and over again for all of his projects. His death is a huge loss to the creative community of Hollywood.
My actor of the week is: Max Thierot who stars in Kitt Kittridge. Turns out he is from Los Altos Hills, which is where I grew up too.
When we were casting the pilot episode of "Married... with Children" (way back in the late 80's), we cast 2 kids to play the roles of Kelly and Bud - and it wasn't Christina Applegate or David Faustino! That's right - in the originally taped pilot, two other young actors had been cast in the roles - Tina Caspary for Kelly and the son of Karen Black, Hunter Carson as Bud. Christina Applegate had turned down the role! It was, remember, a very racy script for that time, and on a fledgling network that no one had any reason to trust. (the pilot script didn't even have a name - we just called it "Not the Cosby Show")
After we shot the pilot - at Sunset Gower studios in Hollywood - and it was picked up by Fox for a series order, the producers Ron Leavitt and Michael Moye decided to re-cast the kids roles and re-shoot their scenes. We again went after Christina Applegate, who had just finished shooting a series called "Heart of the City" with Robert Desiderio. This time, she agreed. To recast the role of Bud, we had to bring choices to the network for a test (this is a common practice - you bring 3 or 4 top choices to the network and then there is a collaborative discussion about who to cast). On the day of the network test, we were bringing 6 young men to show to Fox. David Faustino was one, and our other top choice was Vonnie Ribisi - now known as Giovanni Ribisi. But on that day, Vonnie was booked as a guest star for another show, and he couldn't get out of his filming schedule to get to the test. David Faustino got the role and created that very memorable character of Bud Bundy. But who knows what might have happened if Vonnie had made the test. So you see, luck and timing are factors in the casting process.
On a side note, Ron Leavitt - the creator of "Married..." and "Unhappily Ever After", passed away recently. He was a very special man - the most loyal person that I have ever worked with - a rare quality to find in Hollywood. Ron was gentle, funny, brilliantly smart and extraordinarily generous. He created a family on the set- hiring the same crew over and over again for all of his projects. His death is a huge loss to the creative community of Hollywood.
My actor of the week is: Max Thierot who stars in Kitt Kittridge. Turns out he is from Los Altos Hills, which is where I grew up too.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
All quiet on the Casting Front....
This "non-strike" sure does feel like a strike. It's had a chilling effect on productions being able to get moving. But it is giving me plenty of time to work on the AreUaStar website, which I invite you to check out (http://www.AreUaStar.com).
Camryn Manheim will be added to the site next week doing a v-blog and she's got a really cool analysis called "Evolution of an Audition" that will be up in addition to her v-blog. So make sure you check back with the site soon.
I love the 4th of July. Fireworks and block parties are two of my favorite things. Pretty sure it comes from being a small kid living on a cul de sac where the teenagers let me light off fireworks at a very early age. That, and winning the watermelon seed spitting contest were early childhood highlights.
Have a great 4th. Some big movies out there - I still haven't seen "Get Smart". I saw "Wanted" and hated it. Too much blood for my taste.
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