Wheat from the Chaff

Even though I’ve assembled lists of potential cast members for the adaptations of my novels, I couldn’t include every single person that I’ve ever liked for the simple of fact that there are too many. As a result, I have some up with a solution — choose the underdogs without worrying if a detractor chews the underdogs or if a studio head eschews the underdogs. Using IMDB as my baseline, the thespians who get first notice are the ones who haven’t done anything in quite a while; but I have to be careful in not picking someone who has retired from acting.

As a result, you have to rely on Twitter pages (which can often have their tweets “protected”) or Instagram pages (whose content can be equally privatized). Facebook is another last resort (or resource rather). Many actors used to have official sites before Instagram, YouTube and the more dignified Vimeo made them redundant.

If you want to send an e-mail to a performer, you have more chances of getting their attention if their number of fans is a four digit number or less. My measuring stick in weeding out unwanted actors is to ignore the ones whose number of followers is a five digit number or higher. This is because they’re closer to getting their lucky break; it’s just a matter of time.

Another deciding factor is having to choose from someone who reveals their age and someone who doesn’t. The latter are to be avoided because they would most likely be too insecure and easily embarrassed. As a performer, you can’t afford to be self-conscious if you intend to be a public figure.

If I was forced by a producer to choose between two big stars who happen to have the same net-worth, I would go for the one who is more willing to work with a director who isn’t particularly a known name unless you’re an ardent fan of world cinema. Likewise, if I had to choose between someone who has an Oscar and only an Oscar nomination, I would choose the latter because the film would be more memorable if the actor finally won.

For other people involved in the casting process, it’s about finding someone with the least flops or at least a marquee name who asks for the least money. Unlike other movie-minded authors, I have gathered enough names to not lose sleep on being rejected by stars with pulling power.