Have you ever thought about what casting looks like behind the scenes…. I know you have if your reading this. Truly I think about it all the time and I’ve been on both ends of the casting process for 16 years now— as a contestant, winner/loser, producer, recruiter, and casting producer.

Everybody thinks casting is just finding the loudest person in the room.

Trust me… it’s not. – Theres the initial interest in a project, the zoom to meet with you to get a “feel for you” and then typically there are layers of screening processes that will happen, there will be a few more calls to check in and make sure you’re still available, and then comes the fun part…. usually thats the call you’ve made it on

BUT What happens between the booked flight and the initial zoom?

Its not just about being the loudest or most passionate or best person…. If that were true, this industry wouldn’t be so crazy it would probably actually be a lot easier. The craziest part sometimes it’s who says yes and is available, who is willing to jump.
who is brave enough to go for it.-

“Sometimes success isn’t about being the most perfect person in the room. It’s about being the one brave enough to say yes when the opportunity shows up.”

And the funny thing is… that excitement matters. Producers can feel when someone genuinely wants to be there.

After all these years in reality television, I can tell you the real secret to casting is this: We are looking for people we cannot stop watching. (this rings true as a viewer too)

That’s it.

Not perfect people.
Not influencers with matching beige feeds.
Not someone trying to sound “TV ready.”

I’ve Read – ……life rewards movement not perfection….

Honestly? The second someone starts sounding rehearsed, producers can feel it immediately. It’s like when your mom says, “What’s wrong?” and you say “nothing” but she already KNOWS something happened.

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And here’s what people don’t realize: casting is storytelling before the cameras even roll.

“The magic of storytelling is not in pretending your life was flawless — it’s in showing how you kept going anyway.”

In entertainment (social media too) we’re building chemistry. Chaos. Comedy. Conflict. Heart. The person people root for. The person people yell at on Twitter. The one your friend texts you about halfway through the episode saying:
“WAIT. Are you watching this right now?!”

That’s the magic. – I’ve learned by messing up and making a mess out of a situation more then once that people want to root for me or not root for me based on how they see me respond to a situation! Lets not forget these situations are also extra ordinary, when in life are you asked to shave your head for a fast pass months before your wedding… – I’ve made mistakes publicly. I’ve overreacted. I’ve cried. I’ve fought. I’ve laughed at the worst possible times. And somehow those moments become the moments people remember because viewers are watching how you RESPOND under pressure.

And let’s be honest… reality TV situations are not normal life.

People see people react and talk about it. That’s human nature.

I’ve worked casting and recruiting on projects for major networks and I’ve watched thousands of audition tapes over the years. Some filmed professionally. Some filmed in a car outside Target with kids screaming in the background and someone holding a Ring Light for dear life.

And honestly?
Sometimes those are the best auditions.

Because people connect to REAL.

Not polished. Real.

I forget this all the time when I’m trying to make social media content or even tapes for shows, heck even when I’m filming a casting tape for a movie role or guiding my daughter through that process…. Its about being a break in the 20 other videos they’ve seen, the 100s of profiles they’ve gone through and the time they’ve already spent. (remember they are people too just doing a job).

Something to note – The people that stand out usually aren’t trying to become a character. They already ARE one naturally. They have stories. Opinions. Weird laughs. Big energy. They’ve lived life a little bit. They’re confident enough to be themselves instead of trying to copy whoever went viral last season.

One of the biggest misconceptions about reality TV is people think producers are sitting around trying to create fake moments all day. The truth is… real people create real moments naturally when you put the right mix of personalities together. Great casting does that.

A cast is chemistry.

And honestly, getting cast is way harder than people realize. There are interviews, callbacks, psych evaluations, chemistry tests, Zooms, producer meetings, paperwork, network approvals, background checks… and somewhere in the middle of all of that you’re also trying to figure out if someone can survive being filmed while sleep deprived in a pressure cooker situation. PS Theres layers of people who have to approve someone every step of the way.

It’s kind of insane when you think about it, you have all that PLUS you need 8 other people to match that energy and vibe!

But every once in a while, someone walks into an audition and changes the entire room in five minutes. Everybody feels it. Producers start texting each other. People sit up straighter. You suddenly know:
“Oh… this person is a star.”

And the funny thing is, after all these years, the people that still stand out the most to me are usually the ones who own exactly who they are. The people who aren’t afraid to look silly sometimes. The people who laugh loud. The people who failed and got back up. The people who know how to tell a story at dinner and suddenly the whole table is listening. The person you have to get to know better even when you don’t agree with every thing they do …. you still want to know what they are doing!