Owning your "type"
In Targeting your type, we looked at ways to figure out how the industry sees you – your "type." In Typecasting, we got into the pros & cons of typecasting, as well as whether and how to make changes in the way you're perceived. The bottom line is casting involves perception – the way people see you.
You are who you are
There are some things about us that are just facts. I'm 5'10". I can't change that. It means I don't match up with the height of most of my potential costars. Until recently, all film, TV, and ads have been shot horizontally. My height reduces the amount of people I can stand next to in a shot without messing up the framing. It would be difficult to frame me in the same shot as the average woman – who is half a foot shorter than I am.
Laura Cayouette
Because we don't normally represent couples where the female is taller than the male, it means I'm usually not cast with men under 6 feet. Less than 20% of American men are 6' or taller. The numbers are not in my favor.
I could spend some time wishing Hollywood would normalize women being taller than men sometimes. I could spend time resenting the ways my height has "held me back," but the truth is it won't change a thing. I'll still be taller than most humans.
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Finding your niche
There are women beating those numbers and acting at my height and taller. Sigourney Weaver, Laura Dern, Geena Davis, Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman, and Daryl Hannah were all working when I started out. Whether you're too fill-in-the-blank (tall, short, old, young, etc.) or not enough fill-in-the-blank, there is room for every type in this industry.
Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss (who wrote the foreword for my book, Know Small Parts: An Actor’s Guide to Turning Minutes into Moments and Moments into a Career) gave me a great piece of wisdom back in the 90s. He said that the very thing that makes them say no to you now will be the reason they can't live without you later.
Go where the love is
If you can't change the things that make you less "cast-able," go where the love is. Pursue the genres and storytellers that use your type. Tarantino hires people of all heights, hues, and ages. Kill Bill's cast included Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah and me. My height wasn't an issue. I was able to use my size as a way to go toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with my costar, Michael Madsen. I fully owned my height and used it to make his character feel small – despite Michael being 6'2".
In fact, it turns out tall women get to play lots of authority figures and villains. If you're not getting parts because you have unusual teeth, mobility issues, a speech impediment, or whatever makes you unique - do some homework. Find out who tells stories that include people like you. Find the producers, directors and casting directors that gravitate to your type.
Laura Cayouette
Drive into the skid
It was winter when I learned how to drive so one of my earliest and most important lessons was – drive into the skid. When you no longer have control of your vehicle due to road conditions, don't jerk the wheel around trying to control the direction of the car. Go with the flow, regain control of the vehicle, and then get back on track.
When I was younger and had just finished my master's degree, I thought I'd be seen as a scholar, a young professional, etc. Instead, I was mostly cast in parts that featured me in underwear. Instead of changing myself to fit the roles I thought were better for me, I chose to take the opportunities I was afforded and use them to change how women in underwear are portrayed. I saw my roles as fully developed characters with goals of their own, not simple eye candy. Those early small parts in bikinis and underwear led to larger roles (often still in panties) and eventually roles that required no skin to be shown.
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Own your thing your way. Show us what it feels like to be you. Don't like how people with a prosthetic like yours are portrayed? Show us how it should be done. Never seen an accurate portrayal of someone who chooses facial tattoos? Someone coming out to their family? A special needs teacher? A pageant contestant? A farming family? Bring that to the role. Like many industries, the best way to make change is often from the inside.
How to own your type
I'm still tall, I still can't hide it, and it still affects my casting. But now I see I'm not just a "bean pole" or "Jolly Green Giant," etc. – I am an Amazon! The legendary race of female warriors had no shame about their height and neither should I.
We all have a sweet spot – a character type we feel we're "right" for – that may or may not be like us in real life. Anthony Hopkins might be one of the kindest people in the world, but his sweet spot is playing truly terrifying villains. Your sweet spot may evolve over time, but even the greatest character actor has something that excites audiences most.
Actors like to show our range. We want people to know we can play strippers and saints, cops and criminals. I'm every woman – it's ALL in me! But that usually doesn't impress casting, it confuses them. They're only seeing you for one role. They only need to know what you can bring to that particular role. Even if you are capable of playing everything from a slave to a superhero, they want you to wow them with your ideas for this role. That's it. You have nothing else to prove in that moment.
What if I really can play every type?
Edward Norton is a gifted actor with tremendous range. But when they were casting his breakout film Primal Fear, he had only been in a short film designed to help people learn English as a second language. No one knew how much acting power he packed. He ended up getting an Oscar nomination for Primal Fear.
Casting had seen over 2000 actors for the role before Norton walked in presenting himself as a soft-spoken type from West Virginia – just like the character. If you've seen the movie (spoiler alert), then you know the plot relies on the character's ability to flip from one personality to another in the blink of an eye. Casting was super-impressed with Norton's ability to go from sweet West Virginian to scary calculating villain.
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Why do I know all this? Because, at an audition I complimented Deborah Aquila on her ability to find a star out of the blue and mentioned that Norton had gone to a rival high school of mine and his grandfather had designed the first planned city in America – Columbia, MD. After a moment, she chuckled. He'd tricked her the same way the character did in the movie. But the point is – he didn't tell her. He didn't do a big reveal at the end and say – both those personalities were fake! At the time, it would have been confusing, not impressive that he wasn't actually a sweet West Virginian in the big city.
I'm not suggesting that you always go into auditions in-character, I'm saying – keep it simple. Pack your auditions with power and preparation, not irrelevant personality changes that show range.
Your type evolves
Even the most iconic of us evolve over time. Teen idols become adults. Adults become elderly, etc. As we change, the parts we're right for change.
I've never really changed my look. I've never colored my hair, had a weight shift, or even gotten a tattoo. But my roles have evolved even as the only change I've made is getting older. I started out in my underwear and now have worn hoop skirts in 3 movies. I used to play the perfect girl who loses the guy to the quirky girl. Then I was the girl you didn’t know would go there (secret murderer, adulterer, etc.). More recently, I've played everything from a femme fatale to a prison guard who's also a Juggalo.
When I was transitioning in the commercial market from the 27-32 category to the more lucrative 35-40 age range, I couldn't get work for a while. I was too young-looking to be established in the new category, and I was aging out of the previous category. Whether you've lost/gained noticeable weight, stopped/started wearing dreadlocks, or just got older, there might be speed bumps along the way as you and your type evolve. Be your best version of yourself and remember that evolution can take time.
Enjoy all of it
Whether you wish people would open their minds about your casting, or you wish you had more control of the way people see you, this is your journey. I choose not to take it personally when casting sees me differently than I see myself. This week, I'm auditioning to play a grandmother of a teenager. Does it freak me out a little? Sure. But I like the part so I'll be focusing on my work, not my personal reactions.
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