Casting is a window to other possible futures

Judy and I had a casting session for my new movie and it was an amazing and eye opening experience. If you have never had a casting session I think you should because it brings a completely new view to all of the things you hold to be sacred about the movies you love. When you see a number of talented actors and start to picture them in your film, possibillities start to shine in front of you. It is like WHAT IF I PICK THIS ACTOR? Or WHAT IF I PICK THAT ACTOR? You see the ways each actor could start to shape the final product and how they could make you change your mind about this character or that character or this scene or that scene.

I have been thinking a lot of quality writing techniques and sci-fi lately so here is a neat way of thinking about it = every actor is a possible choice and there are thousands of actors in the world. If you have two actors in your movie you could pick a thousand different actors for both of those! So you have thousands of options to do your one movie.

Then think about all of the movies you have scene and all of the actors in them like Vin Desel or Merol Streep. The movies would be totally different if the dad from HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS or the mom from HOME ALONE were in them instead! All of the movies you know and love could be completely different movies right!? It is a mind blowing idea and one that is very rearely discussed.

So when you go to a casting session and see all of the possibile choices, every one of those actors could be in it and they would make different results. Choosing an actor is one possibiliity from a list of choices and every other option would be a different future.

Casing is a window to see that future.