Ep 63: SOMETHING WILD: Risa & Billy talk Casting over the past 40 years

SOMETHING WILD: Risa & Billy talk Casting over the past 40 years

‍I love talking to Billy about what we care about in our work. We came up together; we partnered for many years as Casting Directors and Producers; we worked alongside each other as directors in the Theatre in NY. We became who we are together. We value the same principles and practices in our long and winding and often wild careers. In this episode of The Acting Podcast, Billy and I reminisce about the good old days and how they were extraordinary. It was a deeply creative time, with its own unique challenges of being in the trenches of preproduction and production. We loved being in the room with actors and directors, writers and producers. We talk about how hard it is now without that intimate partnership, but how we have to find a way to bring collaboration back to the process, no matter what that process has become.

Billy and I also meet regularly on Zoom to talk through the chapters of a book we are crafting together about our Casting adventures in the 80s and 90s. It’s been incredibly revealing and enlightening, emotional and wildly fun. Stay tuned.

So have a listen; we really want to hear from you as to how this impacts you. Also listen to the Casting Director Roundtable episode prior to this one. Billy was a part of that but lost Internet and had to step out, so you get to hear from him one-on-one here.

P.S. The close partnerships you form in your career will sustain you for a lifetime.

- Risa

Watch the video version on the episode webpage; it’s fun!

https://www.bramongarciabraun.com/the-acting-podcast/ep-63-something-wild-risa-billy-talk-casting-over-the-past-40-years

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Learn more about Billy below!

Billy Hopkins is a casting director of film, television, and theatre. His first job was as a casting intern at the off-Broadway Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he met Risa Bramon Garcia. They were hired by Susan Seidelman to cast their first film, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN. They went on to cast many of the most notable films of the 80s and 90s, including Adrian Lyne’s FATAL ATTRACTION, and several films for Oliver Stone, including BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY and JFK, as well as John Hughes CHRISTMAS VACATION. Their first television credit was ROSEANNE. Billy has gone on to cast over 200 films. He received an Emmy for his work on Ava DuVernay’s limited television series, WHEN THEY SEE US. He lives in NYC and continues casting to this day. Check out Billy’s IMDb HERE