About me
1. Online profile
Your online profile is one of the best tools you can use to find work with Central Casting. Casting Directors use the information in your profile when booking their shows; the more accurate information you add, the easier it is for them to determine the types of roles you can portray. We recommend uploading current photos every six months or any time your look changes to ensure we always have an accurate photo of what you look like right now.
If you need technical help with your online profile, you can contact our tech support team at helpme@centralcasting.com, 855.500.2055, or through tech support chat.
2. Sizes and measurements
Your sizes are often used when production provides wardrobe and when booking Stand-Ins and doubles. If you do not have sizes in your profile or if your measurements are inaccurate, you may be missing out on jobs you’re perfect for. Learn more about how to determine your sizes and why they’re important in our article Why Updating Your Sizes is Essential for Background Actors.
3. Availability inquiry
If you fit the look for a role, a Casting Director may send you an availability inquiry through our casting platform. This message will include information about the role, work dates, and filming location. It’s important to read these messages completely and carefully before responding. We ask that you respond as quickly as possible to all availability inquiries, even if the answer is no. This lets Casting Directors know if they need to reach out to additional Background Actors.
When Central Casting checks your availability, we are not offering or guaranteeing work, we are only asking if you can work without time restrictions on a specific date or date range. “Without time restrictions” means that there are no possible conflicts that would prevent you from working that day.
My interests
4. First avail
If you confirm availability, but the Casting Director cannot book you right away (often because they are waiting on additional requirements from production), they may follow up with a first avail message. First avail does not mean you are booked nor is it a guarantee of work and you can still respond as available to other availability inquires.
If you’re on first avail, but are offered a job on a different project for the same date, please call your Central Casting office to explain the situation. The first avail project may opt to hire you first.
5. Look
In casting terms, your look refers to your appearance and your ability to portray a role. Your look can depend on a variety of factors, including hairstyle, facial hair, piercings, and tattoos. We recommend uploading additional photos of unique and distinct looks to your online profile to show Casting Directors the types of looks you can portray.
6. Portray
Your look determines the roles you can convincingly portray. In job posts, you’ll see phrases like “portrayable age” and “portrayable ethnicity.” That’s because Background Actors are cast based on how well their look fits with a production’s vision. So even if you’re a doctor in real life, you may not fit that production’s idea of a doctor.
7. 18tly (eighteen to look younger)
Someone who is 18tly is at least 18 years old, but can portray younger looks, which is often needed for high school student roles.
8. Union and non-union
There are many unions and guilds in the entertainment industry, but as a Background Actor looking for work through Central Casting, the term “union” refers to the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). Non-union Background Actors are those who are not members of SAG-AFTRA.
9. Recall
A recall is when you work a day on set, then are booked to come back on another day. Recalls happen for a variety of reasons, including production needing more time to film or for reshoots.
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