This will be integral— and it’s a process we should start right away.
I am excited to become extremely involved in this process. Every audition, every conversation, every tape is an opportunity to learn something about the people we're inviting into this campaign, and begin that process of trust and connection from the get-go.
I want to spend time talking with them. What are they passionate about? What does their day actually look like? What are they known for? What’s the outfit they wear where they feel the most like themselves?
What I hope we get through this process isn’t just something that excites, but begins to inform the wholistic story of the films themselves. I want to make sure we have a wide variety of people— different bodies, backgrounds, ethnicities, and ages… But beyond that, what I look for while doing this might surprise. I am not seeking the most confident, the most self-expressive, the wackiest, the most comfortable on camera, or the coolest… What I need to see most from them in this process is the willingness to explore oneself. Once we know they have that, everything is gravy.
Another note I might point out, which I haven’t had the chance to do before this, is that we can take advantage of building these campaigns around real centralized communities. Places where the people we cast actually know each other. I'd love for our casting process to reflect that. If we're casting teachers, let's ask them about the other teachers in the school. Who's been there forever? Who organizes every fundraiser? Who's secretly the funniest person on staff? If we're in a small town, let's ask who everybody knows, who's always helping out, who runs the local institution, or who's the first person they'd introduce us to. Rather than treating casting as individual auditions, I'd love it to feel like we're slowly mapping the communities themselves.
As far as directing performances— for me, it all begins with trust. As I mentioned earlier, I'll never ask someone to perform as anyone other than themselves. Instead, our job is to build an environment where people feel comfortable enough to simply be who they are. From there, my role becomes one of gentle guidance rather than performance direction—finding situations, conversations, and moments that allow someone's personality to naturally come forward.
I think if we approach casting this way, by the time we arrive on set we'll be in a position to be invited guests who have been trusted to tell the stories of a community, rather than unknowns dropped into making a commercial.