Actress Speaks Up Against Absurd Hollywood Casting Conventions

Posted on March 27, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Cheers to the understandably anonymous “Miss L,” an actress in Hollywood, for her Tumblr posting real-life casting information that shows how limited and misogynistic Hollywood casting is.  Casting Call Woe shows actual casting call notices, most of which require actresses to be hot (no matter what the character).  Here’s an example: “We need women comfortable dressing in revealing clothes, for the scenery.”  And “She might not be the most beautiful woman in the room, like only a 7 on the typical hotness scale.”

A touch of almost Beckett-ian irony in this one: “Single mom desperate to pay her bills. Salary: no pay.”

And these: “Her scene will include being screamed at by a clown and being gagged briefly.”  “Involves some leather clothing to attract YouTube fans.”

Of course it is fair to expect that performers will be attractive.  But Miss L is absolutely right to call out these demeaning casting notices and I hope the existence of this Tumblr will mean there will be fewer of them.

 

Related Tags:

 

Actors Commentary Gender and Diversity Understanding Media and Pop Culture

One Reply to “Actress Speaks Up Against Absurd Hollywood Casting Conventions”

  1. People go to movies for various reasons, action, drama, humor, violence, you name it. It’s reasonable to expect that some go to movies for a little vicarious sex, hence the prevalence of attractive women in little or no clothing. Movies are expensive to make, and the bottom line is profit. Often the producers are simply trying to appeal to as many demographic groups as possible. It would seem that the best way to rise above this sort of thing, if one is an actress, is to first be incredibly good at the craft and then be very selective about which movies one chooses to appear in since the industry is unlikely to change its tactics.

Comments are closed.

THE MOVIE MOM® is a registered trademark of Nell Minow. Use of the mark without express consent from Nell Minow constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws. All material © Nell Minow 1995-2024, all rights reserved, and no use or republication is permitted without explicit permission. This site hosts Nell Minow’s Movie Mom® archive, with material that originally appeared on Yahoo! Movies, Beliefnet, and other sources. Much of her new material can be found at Rogerebert.com, Huffington Post, and WheretoWatch. Her books include The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies and 101 Must-See Movie Moments, and she can be heard each week on radio stations across the country.

Website Designed by Max LaZebnik