Casting Director Andy Juett Gives Insider Tips

Andy Juett is a casting director and actor from Washington, D.C. Recently the Executive Producer of Super Troopers 2, he's produced for major networks like Amazon, TruTV, and more. He's also been featured in dozens of commercials and even the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show. Cool, right? Andy sat down with us to give us insider tips into the world of casting:

Tell us about your casting credits. What projects have you worked on?
Casting, to me, is almost the most important part of producing anything on film that involves telling a story. I have cast everything from TV series, to pilots, to commercials. The key is to put the right people in the right seats on the bus.

What are you working on right now? Anything cool?
My big current project is a TV pilot called OFFLINE where I cast Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Hateful Eight), Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske (3 of the 5 Super Troopers/Broken Lizard comedy troupe) and French actor Mathilde Ollivier (Overlord, Boss Level.) OFFLINE is a dark sci-fi comedy adventure that has each of the big names in the correct character slots, but it also is rounded it with great Denver, CO talent that we booked in a few roles near where the pilot was shot.

What’s your favorite TV show of 2021?
It’s still early in 2021, so the jury’s still out there, but great shows that were also well cast this past year are comedies like Dave on FX/Hulu, Ted Lasso on Apple+ and mindbenders like Devs on FX/Hulu.

This or that 👉 Netflix or Disney+?
Netflix has more of a breadth of what I’m interested in, but Disney+ did deliver hard with The Mandalorian, Wandavision and the Ewok movies are even coming on soon!

What advice do you have for others looking to break into the industry?

1. Try to do a lot of things. If you’re afraid of multi-tasking or learning disciplines you might not otherwise gravitate towards in entertainment and production, it’s going to be a tough road for you. Always understand that all parts of the production are important and if you understand what makes each discipline important, you’ll be able to operate from a much more effective spot when casting and producing

2. Have empathy. If you’re casting something and you think someone “looks” the part, you’re doing a very broad stroke that isn’t getting in to the nitty gritty of what that actor is capable of. If you have the means, figure out what makes actors tick (their training, do they do comedy, do they perform dance, do they have something about their upbringing that changes their qualification level etc.) If you can think about what an actor is capable of in a role by putting yourself in their shoes, your productions will be more successful.

3. More than any other genre, comedy is about casting. Think about how much less funny The Hangover would be without the exact actors in those roles at that exact moment in time. If you’ve got a good script, hire the RIGHT comedic talents and let them loose. They’re dying to give you gold. Let them.

4. You don’t need to know how to do everything, but you should build your rolodex of people who are better than you that do.

What’s one insider tip to success you’d give for others in 2021?
Make your own stuff until people hire you to make their stuff. Sharpen the saw by doing. Don’t wait. Just do it and one thing leads to another. No “things” lead to nothing. Do something and learn.