EP 06: What Gets You Cast | Kate Geller & Stephanie Holbrook, Casting Directors

An actor lost a role after one meeting because he’d changed his face. Two Hollywood casting directors explain what they were actually looking for.Marco Palou, author of HOMO ARTIS, sits down with casting directors Kate Geller and Stephanie Holbrook, taped the morning after the Oscars awarded casting for the first time in history. This is Don’t Freak Out, a podcast about being human in the future that came, where every conversation happens while making something with our hands.If you act, this is the other side of the room: what they’re reading in your eyes before you say a word, why your charisma doesn’t survive a self-tape, what fillers and facelifts are quietly doing to careers, why wrinkles get you cast (“you earn every part of your face”), and the walk-in feeling they can’t resist: “you’re a weird soul, I love you already.”Plus: the 1,000-kid search that found one gymnast with the spark, the Oscar tears the morning this was taped, and the question AI can’t answer: how do you replicate the spark of life with science?Listen anywhereSpotify:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id6794541000YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dontfreakoutpodcastSubstack: https://marcopalou.substack.com/Watch their picks: Nine Days and The Outside Story.Pre-order and get the first 4 chapters of HOMO ARTIS free: https://homoartis.comWatch and follow Don’t Freak Out: https://dontfreakout.usInstagram: https://instagram.com/dontfreakoutpodcastSay hello: [email protected] by Shira Chait and Marco PalouCinematography and stills by Raul Seca Jr.Production design by Teresa Guerrero C.Color corrected by Shira ChaitPost production by Amarte Labs Get full access to Marco Palou at marcopalou.substack.com/subscribe