You’re Not Auditioning For Just One Role with Casting Director Andy Roth

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Everyday VOpreneur® with Marc Scott
Episode: "You’re Not Auditioning For Just One Role with Casting Director Andy Roth"
Date: February 5, 2026
Guest: Andy Roth, Voiceover Casting Director

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Episode Overview

In this enriching conversation, Marc Scott sits down with veteran casting director Andy Roth, whose career spans over three decades and thousands of cast commercials and projects. The central theme: Voice actors aren’t just auditioning for one job—they’re always auditioning for relationships, for future opportunities, and for presence in the minds of casting professionals. Together, they unravel industry myths, discuss the nuances of auditioning, building relationships, and harnessing social media, and provide practical, confidence-boosting advice for VOpreneurs.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Loving the Audition Process

Main Idea: Auditioning should be viewed as an integral, continuing part of a voice actor’s career—not a chore, but an opportunity.

• Falling in love with auditioning:
  • Both agree it's natural for auditioning to feel tedious at times, but attitude matters.
  • Andy likens it to maintaining a relationship: sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s work, but you stick with it for the big picture.
  • “Anybody can do it when everything's going great... It's the people that can go in and do a good job, even when they're like, ‘I'm so tired…’” (Andy Roth, 05:58)

2. What Casting Directors Listen For

Main Idea: Authenticity, not perfection, grabs a casting director’s attention.

• Andy’s focus:
  • “What I'm listening for is who a person is.” (09:45)
  • Nerves are detectable, but being authentically yourself stands out.
  • Auditions are rarely one-and-done: excellent auditions are often banked for future projects.
  • "If I've asked you to audition, I want you there." (Andy Roth, 08:08)
• Gatekeeper Myth Debunked:
  • “Nobody’s trying to keep you out... You're never auditioning for just whatever you're auditioning for.” (Andy Roth, 09:54 & 13:52)
  • Casting directors are cheerleaders, not gatekeepers; everyone in the VO ecosystem is part of completing the “hive.”

3. The Importance of Relationships

Main Idea: Consistency, professionalism, and connection matter more than “who you know”—it’s about “who knows you.”

• Building relationships:
  • "It's not who you know, it's who knows you." (Andy Roth, 15:41)
  • Submitting good auditions, following directions, and interacting in classes/workshops all foster relationships.
  • Social media helps casting directors flesh out who you are—your work, your interests, your professionalism.

4. Social Media: Double-Edged Sword

Main Idea: Use social media as a curated, living resume—without fear of oversharing.

• Influencer and follower counts rarely impact casting decisions.
  • "If I'm casting a commercial and I go on your Insta and I see you have 47 commercials, you know... that's the thing that matters." (Andy Roth, 19:53)
• Leverage social media to control your narrative and be discoverable.
  • Don’t fret about “bragging”—share your successes to attract the right people
  • "If other voice actors get upset because you’re talking too much about your work, who cares? They’re not the people that are hiring you anyway..." (Marc Scott, 21:46)

5. The Mechanics of Casting and Auditions

Main Idea: Auditions are stored, referenced, and can lead to unexpected opportunities—don’t obsess over making a single audition “perfect”.

• Banking auditions:
  • "Most of us bank auditions... You're never auditioning for just whatever you're auditioning for." (Andy Roth, 10:45)
• Strong but Wrong:
  • Excellent reads for the wrong role often land actors other jobs (“strong but wrong” folder—credit Rachel Slatke).

6. Making Choices and Overthinking

Main Idea: Make honest, authentic choices—don’t “overact” or try too hard to “stand out.”

• “Make the obvious choice”
  • “I absolutely hate it when people are like, don’t make the obvious choice... I need your unique, special version of the same.” (Andy Roth, 26:37)
• Overthinking:
  • “Being yourself is effortless... unless you’re nervous.” (Andy Roth, 31:06)
  • Both actors and casting professionals experience decision paralysis; it’s a human, not only an actor, problem.

7. On "Crazy" Takes

Main Idea: If you try something outside the box, do so only if it genuinely serves the read—not just to be different.

• “If you’re doing it because it’s right for the spot, then great, do it. If you’re doing it because you want to show your range, don’t.” (Andy Roth, 35:41)
• Don’t force “crazy” takes—context always matters.

8. Casting Directors' Real Concerns

Main Idea: Castability is about making the director’s life easier—reliability, adaptability, and professionalism trump dazzling performance.

• Directors want actors that don’t make the process harder, can adjust on the fly, and don’t need excessive hand-holding.

9. Industry Trends and AI

Faster, Better, Cheaper

• Efficiency is more important than ever: "The business is getting more and more efficient. It’s getting faster and faster and faster." (Andy Roth, 47:00)
• Method acting, “the perfect take”—these are valued only if you can deliver them quickly.
• AI is not (yet) replacing human talent: "Not there yet." (Andy Roth, 49:13)
  • Attempts to use AI for major projects have flopped due to lack of quality.

10. Physicality in the Booth

Main Idea: Use your body to inform your read—physicality, even subtle, brings authenticity.

• "Acting is a physics term—it’s about doing something that affects a receiver. Our communication is primarily physical." (Andy Roth, 54:41)
• Try the “palm trick” to feel immediate emotional change (56:21–56:50).
• Even in confined spaces, find ways to move: “Build a bigger booth!” but also “your brain will compensate if you can’t.” (60:14–60:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On relationships, not transactions:
  "You’re auditioning for a relationship, is really what it is." (Andy Roth, 11:05)

• On being seen as a peer:
  "We’re all equals. We do different jobs. But nobody can do any of this without all the other jobs." (Andy Roth, 13:00)

• On decision-making and overthinking:
  "The answer to almost every question in this industry is ‘I don’t know’ or ‘it depends.’" (Andy Roth, 34:35)

• On social media anxiety:
  "If other voice actors get upset because you're talking too much about your work, who cares? They're not the people that are hiring you anyway." (Marc Scott, 21:46)

• On casting priorities:
  "If I’ve experienced you being good at the job even once, then in my world, you’re good at the job." (Andy Roth, 37:07)

• On industry trends:
  "Getting better at something doesn’t feel like anything. It’s like getting taller. You don’t feel like you’re getting taller." (Andy Roth, 46:22)

• On physical acting:
  "If I can’t take a screenshot of what you’re doing and feel like I know how you felt, you weren’t really doing it." (Andy Roth, 54:41)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:59 — Andy’s career & what he loves about casting
• 04:08 — Marc’s struggle with audition mindset, redefining the value of auditions
• 06:57 — What Andy listens for: nerves, authenticity, relationships
• 10:45 — Casting directors “bank” auditions; no audition is wasted
• 13:00 — Debunking the “gatekeeper” myth; casting as part of a team effort
• 17:35 — Building relationships: It’s who knows you
• 19:21 — Social media’s real value: seeing experience, not follower count
• 21:46 — Importance of marketing yourself without fear of judgment
• 26:37 — Why “make the obvious choice” is good advice
• 31:06 — The pitfalls of overthinking auditions
• 38:45 — File naming, directions, and what really causes a pass
• 44:54 — Industry trends: faster, better, cheaper
• 49:09 — Is AI taking over? “Not there yet.”
• 54:37 — The importance of physicality in voice acting
• 56:21 — The “palm trick”: instant physicality demo
• 60:07 — Room to move: “Build a bigger booth!”
• 62:58 — Final takeaways: authenticity, relaxation, confidence

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Actionable Takeaways

• Remember, every audition is an opportunity for future work.
• Be authentic: Don’t overthink your choices; do what feels right and true to you.
• Market yourself: Use social media and your website as active, positive resumes. Don’t fear “bragging” if it’s relevant and professional.
• Follow directions: Proper file naming, slating, and brief reading are simple but critical.
• Physicality is power: Use your body—even in small ways—to access your natural communication brain and bring authenticity to reads.
• Relax—and keep going: Missing out on a role is not missing out on your career; there’s always another opportunity.

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For more resources and to connect with Andy Roth:

• Andy's Website & Class Listings
• Find him at VO Atlanta, Get Out of Your Booth Conference, and on social media.

Connect with Marc Scott:

• VOpreneur Website
• YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

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Summary by Everyday VOpreneur® Podcast Summarizer.

Transcript

[A]

How do we fall in love with the audition?

[B]

People say, oh, how do you break in? And it's like, well, nobody's trying to.

[A]

Keep you out, so you're never auditioning for just whatever you're auditioning for.

[B]

It's not who you know, it's who knows you.

[A]

You're our cheerleader. You're not our gatekeeper. You're our biggest fan.

[B]

Will social media be the death and downfall of society?

[A]

If other voice actors get upset because you're talking too much about your work, who cares?

[B]

What I'm listening for is who a.

[A]

Person is overthinking is our superpower.

[B]

If I've asked you to audition, I want you there.

[A]

That's a golden nugget right there. My goal for the everyday Veopreneur podcast is simple. I want to keep having amazing conversations with incredible guests who are going to help you to learn and grow in your voiceover business. In order to make that happen, there are two things that you can do for me. One, hit the subscribe button on this channel. More subscribers, bigger guests. And number two, hit the like button on this episode. Thanks. Andy Roth. You've cast over a thousand plus commercials, is that right?

[B]

Yeah, in that neighborhood.

[A]

Okay. Plus dozens of more credits in animation, tv, documentary, streaming series. Is that right?

[B]

Uh huh. Mm.

[A]

You don't stick around in a profession for as many years as you've been doing this and earn that many credits unless you love what you're doing. What is it that you love about the casting process?

[B]

Uh, well, it's a good question. Honestly. I'll be honest. Some days I don't.

[A]

But that probably has a lot to do with voice actors and our ability to not follow directions.

[B]

No, no, it's a. It's a. It's a relationship. And, you know, some days. Some days the relationship is a little harder than you know. It's like, I think if you're pursuing some perfect life where there's no problem and you want to live in the Emerald City or something like that, you're being a little unrealistic. This found me. I've had, actually students because I talk at a lot of colleges and stuff like that. I've had students ask, like, what's my path? And I'm like, well, what difference does that make? My path doesn't exist anymore. My path was 30 years ago. What? My philosophy, which I don't even know that I realized it when I started, was follow your heart as often as you can and follow your wallet as often as you have to. And the Two of the those eventually will meet up and that's what I found. I mean, it's an ever changing business. What I'm doing now, I didn't even really know was a thing when I started. So I do love doing what I have set my sights on from the beginning. I love that I'm able to do it. I do really, really enjoy my job almost all the time.

[A]

I think that goes for most of us.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a job, you know, it's a job. I really enjoy it. I think I'm good at it. But it is a job.

[A]

What is it? Is it the creative side? Is it working on something new every day? Is it the people that you get to interact with? What part of that stands out to you?

[B]

Yes, all those things. Yes, all of the above. All of the above. I think you don't get into this business if you don't want to be around people. Sure, yeah. I mean, there are things you can do in this business that are solitary, but I don't think you get to do what we do if you don't want to be around people. I'm definitely a social animal. I love people. I love all aspects of the process coming together. I love seeing a final product. So yeah, that's really what I love about it. And to be honest, I really like doing what I've been doing. Like, you know, you get good at something, you get used to gets familiar and if you enjoy the scenery, it's really great to be able to. To do it and pay your bills with it. And that's what I like about it.

[A]

I went through a stretch in my career where almost every day I would come into the studio and there would be work waiting for me. Right. You build up a client base and the jobs are just there. And after all of the jobs were done, then I would look at all of the auditions that were there. And I don't wanna say that I felt resentful. Cause I don't think that's the right word. But it's one of those things where it's like at the end of the day, you've done all the work, all the clients are satisfied and you're like, oh, now I gotta sit here and do all of these auditions. And I really started to get a negative mentality towards auditioning to a degree. And that's something that I am now cognizant of and have been working actively to. You know, it's a mindset shift from I gotta do these auditions to I get to do these auditions and I'm really working at falling in love with the process of auditioning all over again. Because I mean, that's so much of the job, right? That's so much of the job. How do we fall in love with the auditioning?

[B]

I tell you honestly, that sounds like more of a YP than an mp. I don't know. I don't know how to tell somebody to fall in love with somebody. Something. I mean, I really can't. I could set two people up that I think are going to get along great and they don't, you know, or I can have two people in a room together that I think are going to hate each other and they click and they end up getting married or doing whatever. It's not, I think it, it's not a matter of always being like, yay, let's get to do this every day. It's. I mean, like I said, this is a job and this is realistic. It's about sometimes appreciating your ability to do it. Even when you're tired, even when you're exhausted. Anybody can do it when everything's going great.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

You know, every. Yeah, everybody can do it. When it's all smiles, it's. It's the people that can go in and do a good job. Even when they're like, I'm so tired and that was an exhausting session and my agent is asking me for all of these things and I've got to do it. It's again, it's like I keep going back to a relations. Sometimes you gotta go to the party when you really just wanna watch tv. You know, you've gotta do it. You've gotta do it for the relationship. And you've gotta know that on the whole, the relationship is the important thing or you would've left.

[A]

You've obviously listened to a lot of auditions, right? At a thousand commercials for a thousand plus commercials cast. You've obviously listened to a lot of auditions. When you're listening to them, can you tell this is somebody who's excited to be doing this and this is somebody who's phoning it in, or this is somebody who's having an off day. Do you even notice that minute of a detail or are you just listening for what you're listening for?

[B]

Well, primarily I'm listening for what I'm listening for, but I can tell when people are nervous. I think I can. I can usually tell. Unless somebody's really, really good at being nervous and doing their job anyway, then they can usually probably fool Me. But I could tell when somebody's nervous. I could tell when somebody's worry about things that are not that important, like, oh, my God, did I get that word just right? Is this really what they want? And all the answers you're not really going to get while you're auditioning. I can hear that. I can hear the people, as opposed to the people who I can hear that just are comfortable with what they do and they come in and do it. But the other side, and I think part of the dynamic, the audition dynamic that a lot of people don't think about is if I've asked you to audition, I want you there. I'm not like, let me just put this out to a bunch of random people, most of which are not going to be right for the job to see who does what. If I'm asking you to audition, especially if you've auditioned a lot, even if you haven't necessarily booked with me yet, if I've asked you to audition a lot, there's already a relationship in place.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I already know you. And so I can sort of. Even if an audition I don't know might not be like a hundred percent one way or another, which it's somebody else's decision anyway. So, you know, I don't always know what 100% is, but if I know you, I can sort of fill in those blanks. If the audition is not exactly what I thought you would do, I can still say, okay, but they're great. And I can still give them a recommendation. Because my recommendation is gonna sort of bump them up in the eyes of the person listening. I hear people, I think, is really the best way to do it. Also, auditions, especially in the TV space. Like, I did a show that had about 600 voices in it. I did not put out 600 sides. I put out, I think, five actually. Cause they were really similar. And a lot of the people who read for the one particular role that I put out aside for were just vocally not right for that role, but they were doing something in that side that was appropriate to, like, 45 other characters. So an audition is so much more. I'm listening for someone's comfort, for someone's ease, for someone's lack of fear if they're focusing too much on minutia. I'm listening to that. That says the process is probably going to take a lot longer. So I'm really listening to that. Yeah, I really. I just want to know who somebody is so I know what to do with you.

[A]

Where do you look for voiceover leads. We all know we need more leads. We all want more voiceover leads. After all, more leads equals more opportunities. But that brings us back to the original question. Where do you look for voiceover leads? I've put together a free guide that I would love for you to download that gives you some ideas for where you can look for voiceover leads. To grab your copy, just head to voiceovermarketingplaybook.com right now. Go to voiceover marketingplaybook.com and grab your copy of 10 Places to Find VO Leads, voiceovermarketingplaybook.Com Now back to our show. Are you taking notes on auditions? You said, you know, person auditions for this role, they weren't right for that role, but they were right for 45 other different roles. And that's. That's within the context of that particular thing that you were casting. But is it something where you take notes and, you know, somebody submits for a commercial that you're doing this week, and they weren't right for the commercial this week, but a couple weeks down the road, you're like, you know, I remember that audition that they submitted a couple weeks ago. They would be perfect for this. Are you making notes like that?

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Most of my colleagues that I've spoken to about this, because this does come up. Most of us bank auditions, so you're.

[A]

Never auditioning for just whatever you're auditioning for. From a voice actor standpoint, we're audition. Every time we audition, it's for potentially anything beyond what we've just submitted for.

[B]

Right. In a good way. I don't want to think like, oh, this isn't a good audition. They're gonna hate me for everything. It doesn't work like that. But, yeah, I have banks of auditions. Honestly, there are some projects, especially in tv, that have just such a fast turnaround that a lot of the roles, maybe I'll, you know, read for the majors or I'll come up with ideas for the majors and reach out to people. But. But I just pull from old auditions. You know, there are people that bank sometimes I'm so sure that somebody's going to book it, and they just feel right. And I really like what they did, and they don't. And it kind of pisses me off a little bit. So I'm like, all right, I got to get this person in on a lot of other stuff. I've got to pull this reference when I'm just making recommendations to somebody. So you're auditioning for a relationship is really what it is, I think, that's.

[A]

So important for people to hear because I do think that sometimes there's this misconception of the casting directors being the gatekeepers and they've got access to all the work. And I've talked about this. Marilyn Whitner and I talked about this, and Kelly Mashinsky and I talked about this, that you're. You're our cheerleader, you're not our gatekeeper, you're our biggest fan. Because the better we do. The better you do. Right. Like, the better you look at your job. Right.

[B]

Yeah. I don't want to work hard.

[A]

And so the idea that you're holding on and remembering and taking notes and all of that sort of stuff, that's because you're literally trying to support us. It makes your life easier at the end of the day.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. It's. I don't want to work hard. I want to know the people that are great for the job. I want to call them in, read them on it. I don't even want to say, give them an opportunity.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The way I've sort of described it, because I hear this kind of thing, like gatekeepers and stuff like that. Just to be clear, I hate that Vo.

[A]

Illuminati.

[B]

Yeah. You know, it's like, I don't. That sounds complicated. That sounds too. I don't feel like doing that. But there's this idea that there's this, like, you know, hierarchy and this person is above this person and this. It's, you know, as far as I. My experience of over 30 years now, at this point, there's a queen bee in an office somewhere with a checkbook, and the rest of us are all just workers trying to make sure the hive is finished and full of honey before it rains. We're all equals. We do different jobs. But nobody can do any of this without all the other jobs. So. Yeah. No, it's not like I'm trying. Also, gatekeepers. Gates are designed to keep people out. Nobody's. I hear people say, oh, how do you break in? And it's like, well, nobody's trying to keep you out.

[A]

So anybody can book with you on any given day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There's not like a top secret list of. These are the 10 people. And it's only these 10 people. And because these are the best or whatever, anybody can book with you on any given day.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

We submit the right audition for the right role.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Or not even the right audition for the right role, because it might be the right audition that gets us the next role.

[B]

It could be the right audition for the right role that happened on the wrong audition for the wrong role. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I mean, and there are things, you know. You know, everybody wants everything better, faster, and cheaper right now. So there are times when, if I really, really like somebody, but the time frame is really tight, I may hire them for something smaller so we could work together and I could see what they do and see how we work together. But, yeah, there's so many roles. There's just so many roles.

[A]

But that comes back to something you talked about earlier, which was relationships. And just so much of this is about building relationships. And I don't think. I don't see that as gatekeeping. I see that as I want to know who I'm working with. I've said that I've helped some of my clients with casting in the past when they wanted a female role or they needed a particular accent or whatever, right? And I've said, like, I'm not going to just hand anybody over to one of my clients because if you do a bad job, it makes me look bad. So I need to have some sort of relationship. I need to know that I can trust you to do the thing well or whatever. And so it makes sense. That relationship is such a big part of this. So where does that relationship come from? Is it just from submitting good auditions, following the directions, doing the things that you ask us? Is it, you know, are you paying attention because you do workshops and things like that? Are you making note of how somebody performs in a. In a class or something like that? Where. Where do those relationships come from?

[B]

Well, I mean, always, you know, somebody's in a class. Classes are never at least legitimate. Classes are never like guarantees of work, but they are guarantees of some sort of relationship, some sort of connection. One of the things that I tell people is it's not who you know, it's who knows you. And it's a great way to. To know somebody. It is a great opportunity. It's not a guarantee of anything other than knowledge of the person teaching the class and some information that they want to bring. But it is a great way to get to know people. But there are ways beyond that, too, you know, And I. People say, what's the best way? Should I do this or should I do that? It's like, if you can do everything, do everything, you know, it's not, you know, it's not like you have to be in France and Uruguay at the same time. I mean, you can do multiple things. When I Get an audition from somebody I don't know, I'll look up their IMDb. It doesn't matter if they don't have a great IMDb like that doesn't keep anybody out. But I will look. I will look there. If I'm trying to find somebody that somebody has requested, I'll go there. I will look sometimes at social media because again, sometimes with the requirements of it, it's so fast that if I can look at your Insta and be like, okay, yeah, they've done 40 of these things or they've done mostly video games or mostly animation, or mostly live action or mostly commercial, it gives me more of a view of who they are bring to the table. This also builds the relationship, like, oh, they like puppies, you know, I mean, anything I can that makes me feel like I know them more. These things help build relationships. I'm actually an advocate. Will social media be the death and downfall of society? Sure, absolutely. There's no question.

[A]

But I think, I think I agree with you on that.

[B]

Yeah, we're getting there. But. But until that actually happens.

[A]

But in the meantime, let's use it.

[B]

To our advantage right at surf that way before it comes crashing into shore. But these are really the things. Agents recommending people, people I know recommending other people. Casting directors talk. We go out, we hang out together. There are plenty of times where I've called somebody else, another casting director that I know and say, I'm looking for this. Do you have any suggestions or who's new here? Or we even talk honestly sometimes about who could use a gig to make insurance and, you know, things like that. There's a lot of information.

[A]

Are these those same Illuminati meetings where you guys are all sitting down together listening to bad demos and passing them back and forth and talking about all the people that you're never going to hire because for some reason we think that that's what's going on.

[B]

Yeah, it's in a cave. We all have capes, you know, we have, you know, hoods on them. And there's a big table with a pentagram and lit up.

[A]

Let's go back to social media for a minute because I totally agree that it is ultimately going to be the downfall of society, but I also think that we leverage it well. We can leverage it. Two questions about social media. One, has social media, has somebody's following ever impacted a casting decision? Oh, this person's got 10,000 followers or 20,000 followers or whatever. So that's first question. And second question, have you Ever seen anything on social media that's made you say, you know what? Maybe I don't want to work with this person?

[B]

Well, as far as the amount of followers, there are people who want to hire influencers, but that doesn't affect people that are not influencers. They're like celebrities. If somebody wants a celebrity, they weren't going to go for anybody else. If somebody wants an influencer, they weren't going to go. So, no, the amount of likes or any of that has no effect.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

If I'm casting. If I'm casting a commercial and I go on your Insta and I see that you have 47 commercials, you know.

[A]

That'S the thing that matters.

[B]

Yeah. That's like, all right. I mean, this person knows what they're doing. It doesn't mean you won't get the job if I don't see that.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

But if it's something, if you have things like that, or if you have a whole bunch of shows or a whole bunch of animated projects or even things that may not be work, but just say you're in the industry, you know, you're at this party, you're with these people that I might know. Anything that draws that connection says you're in the industry. You're not one of the people, you know who is standing at the hot dog stand going, you know, everybody says, I have a good voice. Anything that separates you from that is a good thing. And the beauty of social media is, say we meet at a party or a friend introduces us on the street, we talk for a few minutes. We can talk about anything. It doesn't need to be work. You don't need to step in and say, oh, I did this and I did this, and I did this. It gets boring, it gets hard to listen to, and it's kind of a buzzkill. I mean, I'll listen to it, I'll be polite. But if, you know, at the end of the meal, we're like, oh, are you on Insta? And we say, yeah, and we change it. Insta will throw everything you've done in my face. Every time you do something new and post it, it throws it in my face. Some other people don't feel that way. Websites. It's a great way for you to control the narrative, to control the information. Because, yeah, I'll look, I'll do some research, I'll look up, but I'm going to look at what pops up first. So these are great ways to build that kind of trust, provided you're honest.

[A]

I think that's actually a really good point, because one of the things that I see in working with voice actors is so often they're apprehensive about sharing their work because they don't want to come across as braggy and, you know, all that sort of stuff. But you got to remember who you're posting for.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And if you're posting for the purposes of getting hired and your social media shows that you have a long, credible history of being hired, then, you know, if other voice actors get upset because you're talking too much about your work, who cares? They're not the people that are hiring you anyway. If the casting directors are looking for that stuff and want to see that stuff, then get your stuff up on Instagram or wherever. So that's actually a really. A really interesting point because it's not something that we would always think about.

[B]

Yeah. And when you post it, you know, grateful to be a part of this amazing show. So fun to work with. So don't be like, you know, hey, suckers, I did this. You didn't. You know, I mean. Yeah, no, it's. We're. We're taught too much. Be. I mean. Yeah. Be humble. Nobody wants to hear you brag about. Yes. But this is a way of putting out there what you do. It's. It's more like a resume with.

[A]

Yeah. Personal living resume.

[B]

Yeah. Have a link tree. Link tree. It's a free thing. It ties everything together. It actually helps research engine optimization. So when. When somebody Googles you, a whole bunch of things come up. You know, it's free. It's good. It puts things together. Yeah. I mean, it's like all of these things help form a complete picture.

[A]

Let's talk about from your perspective on the casting process. Well, first of all, do you listen to every audition that comes in all the way through, or are you like, six seconds? Nope, that wasn't it. Six seconds. Nope, that wasn't it.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah, I hear that all the time. That's a loaded question.

[A]

So unfair.

[B]

But I got you on the spot now, I think. No, no, it is a fair question. I mean, people need to know. But I hear people teach. Oh, you got to get them in the first 10 seconds. And it's like, so what are you gonna do? Stop acting at 11 seconds? First of all, just always assume we're listening to everything. But I will say if I hear something, it has nothing to do with grabbing my attention. It has nothing to do with good audition. Not good audition. If I'm getting in a lot of Auditions and it's like a commercial or say it's just one person talking, because there are plenty of commercials that have a lot of people in them. But if it's a commercial and it's just one person talking, I may listen and be like, okay, this just. My client's not going to go for this, or it's not quite right or something like that. I may just move on. But it doesn't mean that I hate somebody. And like I said, I bank auditions. A friend of mine, Rachel Slatke, who's a great casting director, she does a lot of animation and she's. She's great. She said it. She's like. She has a folder she calls strong but wrong. Really, really great actors that just happen to not have, you know, this and, you know, I would love to steal that. I just don't feel right about doing it. I've got to give credit where it's due, but it's a lot of that. So, I mean, if I know that it's not gonna happen, yeah, I'll move on. If it's tv, I may. I'm only thinking about one role at a time for the most part. So if I hear something that's not right for that role, say you've auditioned for Bob, Kevin and Mike. Right. So I'm listen, I'm thinking about Bob right now. I'm listening to your Bob audition. Okay, not quite right. I'll move on. 5 seconds. 10 seconds. 15. And then I moved on to Kevin. And I'm listening to your Kevin audition. I'm like, you know, this is not really right for Kevin, but it is kind of right for Bob. And so I might put you in the bot or, oh, no, your Bob audition was way right for Kevin than your Kevin audition. I don't care if it's exact. It's not a puzzle where the exact piece has to fit in the right thing. Or maybe even for a role you didn't even know was out there, you're.

[A]

Just trying to fill all the pieces at the end of the day, right. You just need all the pieces. It doesn't matter the order that they came or exactly.

[B]

So I might listen to your Bob audition for 10 seconds. No, you're not right for Bob. But then I'll go back and I'll listen to the whole thing for Kevin. So, I mean, even thinking in those terms, it's not like anybody steps into an audition and goes, I'm just going to screw around for 10 seconds and then really kick into it. Yeah, I mean, to me, honestly, there's no point in even really worrying about that.

[A]

What does make you lean in, though? What does make you like you're listening? I know you're trying to fill a particular role, but are there things that you hear voice actors doing in a commercial audition or whatever that makes, oh, that one I'm going to play again, or that one's definitely going into the consideration pile. Are there things like that?

[B]

There are, definitely. But I will say they tend to be contextual. What makes me lean in while I'm thinking about one role or one spot or one show might make me lean away or just not lean in on some other project in some other show? What I'm listening for is who a person is. I'm not listening for new ways to do the copy. One of my peeves, I don't know, maybe you'll get letters. Maybe I'll get letters from this. But make the obvious choice. I absolutely hate it when people are like, don't make the obvious choice. And, you know, and people interpret that as, okay, this is clearly a happy spot, but I'm going to do an accent and I'm going to cry. You know, it's like, I put a lot of work into making the choice obvious. And I don't need a different version or people who are like, well, I want to do something nobody else is doing. Well, you don't know what anybody else is doing. You don't know enough to do that. I need your unique, special version of the same. There is nobody else in the world that's like you. So even if you're hitting the same words the same way at the same time with the same choice, you're happy is just going to be different than everybody else's happy. And what makes me lean in is if I feel, and I hesitate to say this because I'm going to expand on it, because people get in their heads when they hear things like, this is personality. Like, I hear your personality, your quirks, the way you express yourself, all the things that make people attracted to each other or repel people at a party, during a conversation, on a bus. You know, I mean, all of those human things are exactly the things we listen for. Because at the end of the day, you want to hit the. At the end, the show, the commercial, that whatever it is, you want to hit somebody on a human level. So we're listening to that humanity now. Here's where it gets tricky is you don't necessarily know what that is. So because you're just you, you've just been doing it for your whole life and developing it for your whole life. So people try to show who they are, but then they end up showing some idea of the little bits and pieces that they think they are with the pressure of, you know, if I hear personality, I just think that's right. That just feels like. Right. And it comes with a trust. And. And then, of course, I'll. I may look and say, okay, it's a really big role. So have they done a whole bunch of these? But, you know. And again, that's not the deal breaker either. I have hired people that have not done much for major roles, but. But, yeah, that's really what makes me lean in. But again, it's contextual. It's. Your personality is who you are when you're not trying to be something thing. I never ask actors in classes or anything like that. What is your type? Where do you see yourself? Because I always get this sort of generic age range. I'm a younger this person, older that person. And none of that's really relevant. I mean, all that stuff that I could gather just from a conversation, if we're working together or if you're auditioning and I like what you're doing, I can start imagining, oh, they'd be really great for this young doctor, or this is the stuffy dad, or, you know, and my imagination of what you can do is relevant to what I have to offer, as opposed to, I'm a young Claire Danes. You know, it's like, I don't know what to do with that.

[A]

Overthinking is our superpower. I'm convinced that in this industry, overthinking is our superpower. And the irony of that is, as I have some of these conversations with different casting directors, and everybody's got their own unique approach and they've got their philosophies that they've developed on casting over the years and all of that sort of stuff. But I think the one thing that seems to be universal across the board is they're just looking for the people who are submitting to be authentically them. And somehow we've managed to overcomplicate that to the nth degree that we actually stopped being. We're trying so hard to be authentically ourselves that we end up being something not even remotely close.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Being yourself is effortless. Yeah. You know, unless you're nervous. You know, if you're in a situation where you feel like you are not good enough, like a job interview or something like that, and you start exhibiting your Nervous self. When we overthink and we're like, I've got to show them who I am, the nervous self comes out. And the nervous self sometimes scares me because that means it's going to take longer. But I'll also. And I totally agree with what you say, but I'll also say it's not just actors. I mean, some. I have choice paralysis. You know, I'll get like, 10 really great options for a role, and I'll be like, this is fantastic. Who do I choose? And I'll be like, terrified. What if I chose the wrong one? Yeah. And it always works out, you know, it's always fine. And I know how silly that is. But, you know, I don't know. It's. It happens. I know producers that have trouble because they have like a whole plethora of people that would be great to direct and great to act and great to mix and great. You know, it's. It. It's a human thing. It's not an actor thing. I think a lot of actor training doesn't do anything to help. Sure. You know, well, if you don't get it exactly right, it only takes this one little mistake to make them hate you. Nobody cares enough about you to hate you.

[A]

We hear a lot about safe takes. And then you mentioned do something that nobody else is going to do. And I know that so much of that is subjective, but how far can we push it? Where's the line for you? Is it a take two thing for you? Like, look, if you're gonna do something crazy, give it to me on take two. Or are there times where you can push it a little bit further on that first?

[B]

Well, I guess you have to ask yourself first. I mean, that changes. Some roles can be like, okay, I need it one take, way off the wall crazy, and I need one a little more grounded and down to earth. But some things are just like, they are what they are. I mean, you know, it's. You know, it can't. If you're playing a straightforward, serious doctor, giving a really great doctor read and then giving a read that's kind of like that, you know, that. That just shows me that you're doing something for you to show something. I don't. I'm not even thinking about.

[A]

That's for that other role down the road that you're. You're hiring for.

[B]

Yeah. It's jar that I don't. For the job I don't have yet. Yeah. It's jarring. It's distracting. It's weird. Will it make Me hate somebody? No, I'm not invested in anybody enough to hate them. But. But it really depends on the role. The crazy read is realistically, reasonably crazy. I mean, be realistic with it if you're doing something different, as long as it's reasonable. I. It's situational. I was talking with somebody the other day, and we were like, the answer to almost every question in this industry is I don't know or it depends. It's amazing that this is even an industry, honestly, you know, based on it.

[A]

Makes it really fun as a podcaster, because I can't tell you how many times that question or that response has come up and, yeah, I don't know. Or it depends. That's it. That's the show.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know or it depends.

[A]

That might actually be the name of a. Of a future podcast for this industry.

[B]

I don't know or it depends. Yeah, Yeah, I think it's great. The podcast with all the answers. It's the crazy read. It's. I'm not going to say, because it really does change. Also, concerning yourself too much with this means somebody else really cares and that it's a deal breaker either way. I was just casting a project, you know, I asked for two takes on this. It was a commercial project. Usually I give an option of doing that or not, but this one, I had asked for two takes. And, I mean, at the end of the day, I know more. Any audition you do, if I've given it to you, I know more about it than you.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

So I went in. I didn't even feel the need to say anything. I got two takes. I listened. If I felt like the order needed to switch, I went in and I just switched the order and I. I sent it off. It's not. It's really three seconds worth of work.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it presents me well. The. The crazy read should be realistic as to what somebody's going to want. It should be done because you think it's still very much in the realm of what's wrong, right for the gig and for what people want to hear, especially if, you know the people involved in it, you know, what you think they want to hear, what you think they might want to hear. And if you're doing it because it's right for the spot, then great, do it. If you're doing it because you want to show your range, don't. If you're doing it because you want to just have fun with it, don't. Nobody's paying you to have fun. We're paying you to do a job. It's nice if you have fun. If it's not fun most of the time, find something else to do. But it's your reasoning for the crazy. Read and put the one that you think is best first. And sometimes it's going to be the more out there one. And sometimes it's not.

[A]

You know, this is the stuff that we need to hear because I really do think that these are some of the things that we overthink way too much and we just don't need to just relax. Read the brief.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do what it says. They're telling you exactly what they need. Right. Like, and then just relax and be confident in your interpretation of that. I mean, that's really what I'm. What I'm hearing or I'm. I'm walking away with from this.

[B]

Yeah. And if I've asked you to read, it's because I want you to read. There's something that I know about you or many things that say that you. I don't know if you will do the job, but I know that you can. So it's never your job to prove you're a great actor. It's your job to not prove that you aren't. It's not your job to show your range. It's your job to do the part of your range that's applicable to this. And honestly, it's like anything else. If I've experienced you being good at the job even once, then in my world, you're good at the job. There's no reason other than your voice is totally inappropriate for something that I would think you couldn't do anything I think you could do. You know, people feel like everything is their only chance and if they do anything that somebody doesn't like, they're never going to get heard from again.

[A]

That's good.

[B]

Yeah. I don't know.

[A]

That's a golden nugget right there. This is not your only chance. Just relax.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Let's assume for a minute that every voice actor knows how to follow directions. And I know this is gonna be a tough assumption here, but they slate properly, they label their files correctly, they actually read the brief. You know, all of those things that they don't actually do, but let's just assume for a minute that they do. So we're in this blissful fairy tale world of puppies and rainbows and unicorns where we're not eliminating our for the dumb mistakes.

[B]

Right.

[A]

What else are we doing that's getting us put into the.

[B]

No, you Know, like, as casting directors, a lot of us know each other. We're all, you know, we're friends, we hang out together. We're like, let's go out and just not talk about work. But then you go out, talk about work. Yeah, it's the common thread that everybody has. So.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

You talk about work. I don't know of people that have a no pile. We have a not yes right now pile.

[A]

Just a not right for this role pile.

[B]

And it's really. It's sort of a yes or move on. It's like a no is pretty final when I'm going to be directing a project, because I. I'm not just a casting director. I'm also a voice director. And I don't direct everything I cast, and I don't cast everything I direct. But a lot of it I do. I do cast a lot of things I direct. And when I'm directing, I may have to be doing some rewriting on the fly. I may have to. There's a certain amount of stuff I have to deliver in a certain amount of time to keep everything on schedule.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I don't have, like, the. The college filmmaker leeway of, oh, we'll just get it tomorrow. Like, I don't have that. Yeah. Because we're paying people for. So I have to worry about if equipment goes down, which is rare, but it does happen. If somebody's late, if somebody gets sick, if, you know, if I. An engineer has to be swapped out who's not as familiar with the show, I have to worry about an awful lot of things. I. Honestly, as a director, I don't need an actor to be my primary focus. I need an actor that's going to come in and know the job. So I could be going, all right, let's do it this way. A little bit this way. Okay, technical thing. Let's deal with this. Technical. Move back from the mic. Move forward. I got to rewrite. Let's do this line over. I got to worry about if I'm not sure of a pronunciation and don't have time to look it up, I have to know that we can record that line the exact same way with every single other pronunciation or inflection based on a response. What I'm really listening for is if I feel like somebody is going to make that harder for me. If somebody comes in, I don't care if somebody messes up a word. It's an audition. It's like, yep, you know, who cares if somebody. If I feel like they're really trying to feel it when it's not necessarily appropriate. If I feel like they're trying to push emotions. And I don't mean have nothing. I. Sometimes I shudder to say that because then I get zombie reads. I don't want. I don't want zombie reads either. I don't want to fight anything if I feel like somebody's afraid. And yes, of course, all of the other stuff, because if I ask for a slate and I don't get one, well, that says you're already not listening. And this complicated process. So those are kind of the things I listen for. It's sort of like just before you read, sit back, read everything, get clarity. Know how we need it named. I have certain ways of sorting things, and I need things named a certain way. You know, do all that and then just do what feels right. I also can sometimes hear somebody's directing while they're working, working. You know, do what you feel is right. Just do it. Act and then listen back. Or if it's on camera, watch it back and go, okay, this joke didn't land. Or, oh, I could be a little slower here. And then address what you found. Or, God forbid, say, wow, that was even better than I thought, and leave it the hell alone. There's nothing wrong with being good quickly. So these are the things that really, Anything that says this process is going to be more. More complicated.

[A]

Do you guys have an emotional support group for each other to sit around and talk about all of the voice actors that don't label their files correctly and don't slate or do Slater, like, all the dumb mistakes that happen over and over and over again. It's got to be maddening sometimes.

[B]

Yes, it's. We call it every lunch hour. Every lunch hour in the studio when we're all sitting together.

[A]

I had. I had somebody on the show recently, and they literally said straight up in the show, please do not send me your demos. Please do not send me your demos. Very polite about it. Right. So what happened as soon as the show came out? Whole crap ton of voice actors sent the demos, and it's just like, why do we do these things? Why do we do these things that are so simple?

[B]

I'll tell you what's more valuable, because even if I did say, send me your demos, I'm not gonna. I just don't have the time to listen to all these demos. And I would say I'll keep them. And if I like an audition, I'll refer to it. Or if I think of you, but I might not even remember it's there. It's not that you shouldn't have it. You should have a demo. Absolutely. Have it on your website. Post it when you want. But. And this might be a me thing, but if somebody follows me on socials, I will follow them back and I will see if they've kept up with it. I'll see what they've done. That's valuable to me because, you know.

[A]

Just comes back to the relationship building that you were talking about earlier, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Just getting the opportunity to get to know someone and letting things happen.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Where are we going in 2026? Are you seeing any new trends developing or trends that are reinforcing as we. I mean, I still. It's still early, but we've also, you know, at the time that we're recording Super Bowls coming up, there's been a lot of stuff get, you know, for that, we're probably. You're probably already starting to see springs or summer stuff, probably at this point maybe starting to move in that direction. Are there. Are there any changes or, you know, what. What are the trends that as voice actors, we need to be paying attention to?

[B]

Better, faster, cheaper. It's getting better, faster, cheaper. Everybody wants everything better, faster, cheaper. So efficiency. I had somebody in a class once say, well, how do you feel about method acting? Because, you know, I talk about fast. How do you feel about method acting? I'm like, I don't know. Can you do it fast? It's like, I don't care as long as it's efficient. You know, I don't want to pursue your best take as you feel it is. There's so many people that are like, I think I could do it better if the relationship dictates in the moment. Sure, maybe. Although I would say probably 50% of the time that better feels better to the actor. 50%. Sometimes it's right.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

That better feels better to the actor, but it's not better for the show. Significantly commercial. It's not. You know, and my concern is that. So trends, efficiency don't. It's so many people feel like if they sort of force some sort of struggle on themselves that they're improving. You know, I'll be like, so. So what did you think of that? Well, I think I could have done this. And it's like, okay, you know, growth. Getting better at something doesn't feel like anything. It's like getting taller. You don't feel like you're getting taller.

[A]

There's got to be a confidence that comes with it, right?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. So, like, Getting better just happens just from doing it. You're also, also getting better. Doesn't mean you're good enough right now. Doesn't mean you're not great right now. So you kind of get better at what you repeat. So if you go in, you do a good job, you send it off, you do the job, you come back, people like you, you do the next job, you do it well. You're growing, you're growing in relationship wise, you're growing in knowledge of the business, you're growing in your ability to execute quickly and easily under more circumstances, you're making yourself more viable. If you are choosing to not like what you do because you feel that that will give you insight into improvement, then really all you're going to get better at is, is not liking yourself. Yeah. You're not actually going to grow, you're just going to feel like you're growing. I don't need somebody, I don't need to be part of somebody's journey. I'm not hiring an actor or asking them to audition so they can get better. I'm doing it because I like what they do and I like who they are. And I believe that the efficiency, that when they get in the room, the efficiency is going to be there, that we can get a lot done in a short amount of time and it will be good. That's it. I just need people to make a doable, actable choice and commit to it and not necessarily a conceptual choice that they're like, I don't know if I really communicated it. So yeah, it's sort of the question you asked, but it's sort of not the question you asked. The business is getting more and more efficient. It's getting faster and faster and faster. And the people that don't trust themselves and their choices 100% and that doesn't mean you're 100% giving me everything I want every single time. Right. You don't have to.

[A]

That's what, it's just a confidence that you feel good about what you submitted. This is the best, this is my best take for what you asked for.

[B]

Yeah. And that's. Yep. And that's got to be the trend. Communication has got to be the trend. Ask me if you, if you have a question about something, ask it. If you don't, if you're not in a situation where you can get an answer, neither is anybody else, you know, so you know, you don't have any problems that are just yours. So make the choice that you feel is right. Know that you're probably going to be right and you can be right without being right and commit to it. That's really it. Just more commitment and you know, if I'm thinking about your process, you're not doing it right. So that's definitely a trend. More pressure on everybody else that's trying to do a project. So. Yeah.

[A]

Is AI a factor in all of this or any of this at this point?

[B]

I'm sorry, what is AI? No. I'm dead.

[A]

That was the answer I was looking for.

[B]

Perfect.

[A]

Let's move on.

[B]

I haven't heard of this. Yeah, I'm actually waiting for AI to lobby for like legislation to stop. I.

[A]

You know, we're going to have optimist robots walking around fighting congress to get rid of the humans because we're interfering with their ability to take over the world.

[B]

I is taking all of our jobs. Yeah, it's. I mean it's out there. You know, I'm not going to lie. It was just, I'm sure, you know, it was just sort of attempted on a couple of things. There was a major studio that tried to do an animated film, I think, and they scrapped it just because it just wasn't working.

[A]

Not there yet.

[B]

I don't know if they're not hiring directors to do it or if they're just thinking the computer is going to do it all. But if, I mean, which is silly because if it got to the point where the computer could just do it all, I would start making movies, you know. You know. But some. Another streaming service did to anime dubs with AI and the backlash was so serious. Not. And honestly the backlash was really just because it was terrible.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You know, if it was great, people still would have said, but what about humans who need jobs? But we didn't even have to get that far. It was just absolutely terrible and they pulled it. So I think. It's not that I think AI won't ever be able to do it. I just think people might be a little gun shy about it now for a while. AI is like, it's sort of like right now, here's my view on it. Other people may have other opinions, obviously, but I feel like your friend has a four year old prodigy, brilliant kid that can solve any calculus problem that you give him. Like total math prodigy doesn't mean he can do your taxes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know.

[A]

I kind of got the sense last year that it was the shiny new object. Right. And if you didn't demonstrate that you were using it in some way, then you weren't forward thinking enough and you were going to get left behind. And so it was forcing people to just implement at all costs. And I do get the sense that maybe to a degree, and I think probably temporarily, but I'll take it for as long as it lasts, that the pendulum has swung back a little bit. Where there have been some AI commercials that have come out, there's been backlash, the dubbing backlash. People are getting fed up with it. And part of that is just because it's not good enough.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yet. Right. How much longer do we have before it is? I don't know. But it does feel like the pendulum has swung back a little bit or is swinging back a little bit.

[B]

Yeah. And it's fine for. It's been like, okay for like YouTube and TikTok videos, but that's also a new arena with, with a different audience, you know, and so. And a lot of them tend to be simpler scripts. There's this one, there's one guy who kind of talks. You know, a man walked to the store and then he found a dog and then he rescued the dog. It's sort of doing a possible acceptable job for those kind of narrations. And so I think people are like, okay, great. People watch it. People don't care. Look. But then you put it into something that people are more invested in or not going to immediately move on to the next thing. And I think it's just, it's not ready will it be? Honestly? I mean, Skynet, yes, probably is going to go online.

[A]

There is a, there is a time that time is coming.

[B]

But this, this industry and the voiceover world especially has adapted through everything. Like the strike into the commercial strike in 2000. You know, it's like new media that shows up every time somebody comes up with a new piece of technology. Somebody wants to put a voice on it. This, this industry adapts immediately. What is it going to adapt into? It would take us something huge for the voiceover industry to say, okay, everybody, let's just pack up and go home. I say just, you know, honestly, keep your eyes open, you know, and how much were people paying people to nar, you know, to be the announcer for TikTok videos anyway?

[A]

Yeah, exactly. What was really lost there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In a recent live stream, I was asked a question about somebody was building their booth and they were talking about how big they were going to build their booth. And my advice to them was, however big you think you're going to build it, you probably want to build it a little bit bigger. And the reason for that Is I have been working on getting a little bit more physical in the booth. I tend to walk in and put my hands in my pocket and just stand there and just do the thing right. And I've been working with the coach who's like, come on, man, like, at least move your shoulders, like, try to show me that you're alive. My understanding is that you're big on physicality or you are a proponent for physicality.

[B]

Huge on physicality.

[A]

Tell me about that. Let's get into that.

[B]

Well, excuse me, Acting. First of all, acting is a physics term that means doing something that has an effect on a receiver. We are programmed as humans to respond to certain triggers. Acting is more of a communication brain job than an imagination brain job. You know, imagination is very complete and it's full, but it's yours and yours alone. You don't really share everything you imagine with somebody else. It's a different brain process. Communication is what you do that connects you to other people. Everything an actor does, everything. When you watch a show, even an animated show, they're doing things that hit certain triggers. And communication is primarily physical. I am a big proponent of. Unless it's something like speed or volume, which I can look at your waveform and see what you were doing. I'm a big believer that even in voiceover, if I can't take a screenshot of what you're doing and feel like I know how you felt, you weren't really doing it, your brain isn't programmed to sort of have your hands at your sides and go, wow, I'm so excited. This is absolutely amazing. It just doesn't register correctly. But if you put your hands sort of up, you can't really see right now. But if you put your hands sort of up and go, oh, this is amazing. I can't believe it tends to be more full because your communication brain tends to be more familiar with it. One of the things that. I call it the palm trick. And I don't want to, like, give. There's more to it, but could you do something with me right now?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Can you palms up right now. You can't totally see me, but like this. Go. Wow, that's pretty cool.

[A]

Wow, that's pretty cool.

[B]

Cool. Now, same thing where your arms are, palms, palms down.

[A]

Go. Wow, this is pretty cool.

[B]

Good. Palms in. Do it again.

[A]

Wow, this is pretty cool.

[B]

And palms out.

[A]

Wow, this is pretty cool.

[B]

Did you feel it starting to act you even before you said anything?

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Yeah, that's because what happens is there's different Kinds of communication. And they're all valid. There's really three. There's what we're doing right now, which I call generated communication. It's not an official term or anything, but it's sort of like, you know, we're coming up with the words that we're saying. They're coming from our brain. Something triggers us that makes us respond and make up words and then make the body do stuff to make things happen. But then there's also memorized communication that's like you're trying to tell a joke that you heard before, or you're repeating something somebody said or something like that, or you know, could be lines, but it's something stored in the hippocampus in the brain where you're. It's a different brain process getting to it. Something stimulates, triggers you.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

And your brain, your hippocampus goes back to an additional place where an answer for that is stored. This would be a great time to say, you know, I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He said, stop going to those places. You know, there's a place in my brain where that's stored. And thy brain said, there's a place to go to that. And then there's read out loud conversation, which people don't think is real, but you know, oh, can I go over this email with you before I send it? And you know, oh, let me read you this article or this poem. So beautiful. Let me read it. Or even reading jokes. I'm a kind of a nerd about reading jokes off the, you know, so. But these are all perfectly natural forms of communication and they all have different brain processes. When we look at words on a page, we don't actually see words. We see images that trigger the hippocampus. That goes back to a whole bunch of places where the rhythm of the word is stored, where the meaning, where the pronunciation in that context is stored. What's behind it? So the only thing through all of these forms of communication that you are actually going to generate that's going to come solely from your psyche is your personality. That area of your brain where your personality is stored. And the way your brain manifests personality and how you feel beyond words is usually physical. You know, it's like if I say something outrageous, you'll be, what are you talking about? You know, or if I've said something 500 times, you're gonna be like, dude, I don't care anymore. Just whatever, it's just pizza, just order it. You know, so when I feel like when we embrace the physical, unless we force it, like, it shouldn't be something like, hey, why don't you and I go for a drink after the podcast? You know, I mean, if it's like that movement, you never do. Yes. But if it's allowing it, making a simple choice, having. Allowing you to have access to your body physically, I find, you know, that almost always. I think anyone who says always is wrong, at least sometimes. But. But that almost always, it makes it fuller because your communication brain is like, oh, yeah, I get. I've been here before.

[A]

It's one of those little hacks that you. I mean, you feel it make a big difference. Right. And so. So the moral of the story is build a bigger booth.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. But also. No, I mean, so not everybody can do that, but yeah, I mean, I would love. I like these really big booths in the studio.

[A]

Give yourself room to breathe and room to move.

[B]

And also know that your brain has a way of compensating. Sometimes you're just in a small booth and you can't do this, but your body has a way.

[A]

There's other ways that you can feel.

[B]

It for it that do accommodate the space. And if you absolutely can't do that, then, yes, absolutely, get a bigger.

[A]

I love that. Andy, this has been awesome.

[B]

This is great.

[A]

Tell me about what you've got going on. I know you do classes and different things like that. Have you got anything coming up? Where. Where can we keep an eye out for you?

[B]

Well, I mean, I do list most of my classes on my website.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I do have a classes page. I am going to be at VO Atlanta for people that are going to be there. I am going to be at the get out of your booth conference in Pennsylvania. So those are both out there. But, yeah, I'm teaching at the SAG foundation on February 12th in New York, on, I think, March 7th in LA for anybody who's there for that. Yeah. And I don't know when this is going to air, so, you know, that's.

[A]

All right. Well, we'll put that into the show notes. We'll put your website into the show notes so people can look up classes and get connected with you that way. And we'll get connected with you on social media because, yes, you like to be connected on social media and build those relationships. So we'll make sure to include Instagram, LinkedIn, you know, whatever. Whatever the social media channels are that you use. So we can. We can lift you up there. And we're going to do that instead of Sending demos because we're listening and we're following directions.

[B]

And if somebody wants to send me a message with a link to their demo on their website, great, you know, great. I can't always guarantee I'm gonna if I'm not working on that stage of a project, you know, but it, it's always good to know it's there. And you know what, it's contact, it's communication.

[A]

So.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to share with us from your wisdom, your generosity with your time and. And the experience that you bring to the table. It's. There are certain things that you hear, you know, I've had a few casting directors on now, and there are certain things that are like, okay, yep, they all feel that way about that particular issue. But then there are other things that, you know, you do differently from somebody else based on your experience or what you're casting and learning. Those little. Picking up those little nuggets and those little nuances along the way, I think are all little things that help. But really, at the end of the day, so much of it is just about us relaxing, having confidence, not overthinking, and being genuinely and authentically ourselves. I mean, that's. That's what I feel like I take away from every one of these casting director conversations. Sounds so simple. Apparently not always so easy in the execution, though.

[B]

Well, yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I guess it's hard when you are trying to incorporate 500 things at once that you learned classes to get back to what you are. Anyway.

[A]

Yeah. Yep.

[B]

So, yeah.

[A]

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. I certainly do appreciate it.

[B]

Thank you. Thank you. This is great. This is really great. I had a blast. Thank you so much.

[A]

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