Marion Dougherty, and why Casting Directors Should Get Oscars

I usually have not been able to speak specifically about the more technical or business areas of the film industry on this blog site. But once in a great while, I will find a reason to voice my opinion on an area which I feel needs to be spoken more about.

In the case of casting, I have something straight forward and very clear that I would like others to know: you would not have the actors that you have in your films without your casting director, period.

Now obviously if you did not have a casting director at all and you handled the casting by yourself entirely, then this point does not apply to you. But if you utilized a casting firm, and/or a casting director who used their skills and their knowledge to find the people that they felt could fit into the roles provided by the screenplay for your film: then they have obviously contributed something immensely valuable to your production.

As far as I can see, it is not the Director’s job to look out for the best and the brightest young stars. It is not their job to look for the most capable and fascinating unknowns. And it is technically not their job to point out who they would like to see fill the shoes of any of their characters, only to suggest who they would consider a good fit.

But it is the casting director who then goes out and puts out their feelers for who they have in their main roster, who they know or have heard good things about outside of this roster, who they can find through other contacts who will also take a look at the script and the cast list, and then bring upwards of dozens of potential actors together in order to all read for these various different roles.

Some directors, however, would insist that it is they who have final say about the casting of actors to roles in their films. And therefore, the role of casting director is more of a secretary job, and not a creative one. Therefore, casting directors should not receive praise or Oscar appreciation for their work on feature films.

This is utter BS.

I may not be deep into the business myself. And I may have only worked with a casting director once. But I can say with great certainty that no matter what the film or who the director or writer of the script are, most films would not have the actors that they do if the casting director had not chosen them to come in for the audition, so that the director would then have a chance to decide on who gets the final spot.

Let me repeat that a little differently.

If the casting director had no found the actors in the first place, then the director would not have the best people to make a decision over. And the final cast of almost every film since the studio contract system ended, would be different.

In most cases, the Director themselves does not go out and find the people for their films. They have far too many other things to worry about. And gathering together the best possible potential actors for any number of roles on a single film is an enormous job. Sure the job likely ends about the time that the films are halfway through filming. But the job of casting can last about as long as the Production Designer is designing and building sets. And if a production designer can gather together numerous different options of looks and styles for a director to choose from, and then execute the directors vision by agreeing on a final choice, then why shouldn’t a casting director be awarded for their work just as much as a PD can be? It’s absolutely ridiculous.

I also think that those individuals, especially the ones who are part of the Academy of Motion Pictures, have this misaligned and misunderstood opinion about what makes someone worthy of getting an Oscar and what makes someone not as worthy. Because perhaps to them, a casting director does not produce anything tangible that can be seen or heard on the screen.

A production designer creates the setting of the film. The cinematographer creates the mood of the film. The music director/composer creates the melodic sound of the film. The sound designer creates the rest of the soundscape. The special effects supervisors orchestrate the magic of the film. But what does a casting director do? Do they provide anything tangible at the end of the process? Well they clearly must, otherwise you wouldn’t give them such a large single card credit at the beginning or end of a film. And I would think if their credit is going in such a prime location just before the Producer’s credit, the Director’s credit, and soon after the main cast list, then they should be able to receive an Oscar along with everyone else in the prime acknowledgments.

Besides which, does the director really provide anything tangible on the screen that one can see either? Sure, but in a lot of ways its indirect.

The Director (the head of all creative decisions) orchestrates all of the other people in the way that he or she wants everything to go. But they usually don’t create anything that ends up in the film with their own two hands, unless they have control over the camera. And in many cases they don’t even do that. Yes the director has the ultimate vision and they give everyone the directions they need to in order to get that vision on screen. But when they want a building to look a certain way, they just say so and the PD makes it happen. If they want a certain environment to look or sound a certain way, they make that known and the DP and the Sound Designers make it happen.

So what really makes a casting director and a head Director any different? I guess if it’s anything, it’s that the casting director’s work ends up overshadowed after all the casting is done by all of the work that the director does actually getting performances out of people. The director is the one who gets the final performances of the actors up onto the screen, and then they work with the editors to get the best takes of those performances. So the casting director is almost left to the side, having done the initial work, but not seemingly making a visible impact on the film afterwards, unless an actor is particularly bad.

But again, I believe this is a gross misconception.

If the casting director had not done their job right, many of the greatest film casts in history would not exist as they do. The wrong actors would have been put in the wrong parts. The directors might have had worse times dealing with unresponsive actors who can’t take direction. Certain actors who are the mirror image of their characters might not have gotten the perfect roles, and therefore would not have been able to define their careers with that big oscar win.

It is the casting director who allows these things to go right or to go wrong because of the enormous work that they do, and the people they eventually bring in to see the Director and the Producer. And if the casting directors did not exist, I imagine the Directors and Producers would be having quite the difficult time hunting down all of the people they need for any number of roles, especially the most important ones. You just can’t know everybody. But when it’s your job to know who’s out there, who’s hot, who’s not, and who might be perfect for the part, I think we should all collectively understand these people’s importance, and give them the recognition they so justly deserve.

And this brings me to Marion Dougherty, one of the biggest and most important people in Hollywood history. A woman who both discovered, encouraged, fought for, and eventually became admired by some of the finest motion-picture actors of the last two-three generations. Without her, hundreds of classic actors might never have made it into their most famous films. And no director saying that they deserve more credit than the casting director would have been able to change or prevent that. And so it is an utter shame that Marion Dougherty, with just over 50 years of keen insight and impeccable service, never got even a special Oscar award for her life’s work in this business.

I would encourage everyone who reads this short article, to go out on Netflix right now and check out Marion’s documentary called Casting By. It’s on Instant watch, which is why I mention is, and why I decided to write about my opinion on this issue. You may be shocked and amazed to see how many careers she started for people, and how many directors she was invaluable to. Her career is a marvel.

As a final note, I make it a solemn promise from this day forward, that I will always acknowledge the hard work and dedication of my casting directors. And if I should ever find their work being unappreciated or unrewarded, it will be my pleasure to present them with something of as equal meaning and importance as I can.

Obviously this does not count if a particular casting director does a bad job, which I have seen happen so many times in the last two decades since the late Marion Dougherty officially retired from her profession. But of course, if a film is badly cast, especially a multi-million dollar picture, I think it stands to reason that it is the Director’s fault if a terrible actor gets cast into an unsuitable role, because they make final decision. But it is the casting director who should most definitely be rewarded in addition to the cast for the cast being perfect for their roles, because they were the ones who found the best people that allowed the Director to choose from the best, and consider the educated opinions of the Casting director.

Comments

comments