Speaker 1: Welcome back to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris, and
Speaker 1: on this podcast, I'll be going behind the scenes with
Speaker 1: the biggest players in television today. On the podcast, I
Speaker 1: have a television genius. It's Georgina Harrap, the current IT
Speaker 1: girl in television casting. Georgina has just collaborated with ITV
Speaker 1: Studios and Channel ten with placing the current batch of
Speaker 1: celebrities in the jungle for I'm a Celebrity. We'll also
Speaker 1: find out why her quirky humor and nack for casting
Speaker 1: has everyone in the business clamoring for her services. Georgina
Speaker 1: has kicked more goals in television than you've probably had
Speaker 1: hot Dinners, working as a talent agent, formerly the head
Speaker 1: of casting for Channel seven plus, previously shaping the careers
Speaker 1: of people like Rob Mills, Sam Frost, and currently Ev Jones.
Speaker 1: So what makes today's guest tick, Well, we're about to
Speaker 1: find out. So we should probably get started with some
Speaker 1: exclusive content as we find out how these shows get made.
Speaker 2: The thing is, when you're casting, you have to be
Speaker 2: across everything. Just wait until you see who've round up
Speaker 2: this year? You know, I watch everything. I watch all
Speaker 2: the dramas, I watch all the reality shows.
Speaker 1: You're not going anywhere, girl, You've got great potential.
Speaker 2: You watch them, you think that person's that person's got something.
Speaker 1: Like another celebrities or not.
Speaker 2: You need to get people from all age groups. You
Speaker 2: think you've seen it all, think again. Once you get
Speaker 2: a bunch of really diverse, interesting people. It's riveting. People
Speaker 2: like to watch people.
Speaker 1: Georgina, how are you?
Speaker 2: I am very well, Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Ben, Well, that's good. I'm glad that you're here.
Speaker 2: Does anyone ever say shit out when you ask that question?
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting for it. I think
Speaker 1: it's a good thing to say. I spoke to so
Speaker 1: many people in the industry and just to let you know,
Speaker 1: everyone is obsessed with you, obsessed. So I'd like to
Speaker 1: share with the audience something which hopefully is not too
Speaker 1: embarrassing for you either. But I begged you to do
Speaker 1: this chat.
Speaker 2: You did. You even offered roses, but I've just found
Speaker 2: out was an emoji rose. So I'm a little disappointed
Speaker 2: and I might hang up soon.
Speaker 1: Please don't now. I need to ask you what makes
Speaker 1: you get out of bed when it comes to casting.
Speaker 2: Well, it's really it's the challenge very rarely in TV
Speaker 2: is anything planned too far ahead. So usually when I
Speaker 2: get a phone call, it's someone's been trying to cast
Speaker 2: the show themselves and realize that it actually requires someone
Speaker 2: with a skill set yeah, or that a lot of
Speaker 2: people are quite organized, and go, we're about we're doing
Speaker 2: a show. We've just got the green light from the network,
Speaker 2: and here's the brief. And that's fine because you know
Speaker 2: that it's never the same. It's rarely going to be
Speaker 2: like we've got this show where we just need twelve
Speaker 2: celebrities to sit still in a room for twelve hours
Speaker 2: a day. It's always something a little unusual, and I
Speaker 2: like unusual.
Speaker 1: I prefer to deal with crazy people who genuinely are
Speaker 1: okay with being crazy, then to deal with people who
Speaker 1: are pretending to be something that they're not.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, And you can see through that in a second,
Speaker 2: you know, particularly when you're casting your show and you
Speaker 2: get on the and sometimes you're talking to the manager.
Speaker 2: You might be talking directly to the talent and they're
Speaker 2: trying to sell themselves, and you know, straight away someone
Speaker 2: says they're crazy. They're not. And I've done casting on
Speaker 2: like Big Brother shows, just regular people coming in, you know,
Speaker 2: doing that with a line outside some entertainment center and
Speaker 2: they're coming in, You're asking to do things. You say,
Speaker 2: you know, what's the most interesting thing about you? And
Speaker 2: they say, I've got a tattoo of Elmo and you're like, well,
Speaker 2: that's not exactly going to set someone's world on fire
Speaker 2: when they're watching on TV. We asked for a three
Speaker 2: minute video telling us a bit about themselves. I'm a
Speaker 2: primary school teacher, teach grade three.
Speaker 1: As a part time.
Speaker 3: Jackreu and Peakanto as well.
Speaker 2: I'm a computer technician during the day, but once I
Speaker 2: get that special phone call, I become the dragon. It's
Speaker 2: the quiet ones. It's the ones that often don't say
Speaker 2: much when you're casting a show that's not celebrity base
Speaker 2: that you think, oh this, why is that person standing
Speaker 2: in the corner and there's something about them rather than
Speaker 2: the person trying to jump up in front of you
Speaker 2: and get your attention. Yeah, so, yeah, you're right. It's
Speaker 2: the crazy is good, but it's not always great TV.
Speaker 1: What's the biggest lie that you've caught out someone when
Speaker 1: doing casting where we don't want to say their names,
Speaker 1: but feel free to say them if you want to.
Speaker 1: Will end up in the Daily Mail.
Speaker 2: Oh well, they pretend that they're not scared of heights,
Speaker 2: or that they don't mind eating pigs testicles, and then
Speaker 2: you find out that they're actually terrified of heights. But
Speaker 2: they're doing it because they want the gig, which each
Speaker 2: actually works out really well for the producers of the
Speaker 2: show rather than them. They're the ones that suffer. Yeah, right,
Speaker 2: So as far as lies, I don't think people really,
Speaker 2: you know, most people you're talking to a lot of managers,
Speaker 2: you hope they're not lying because if they do lie,
Speaker 2: they always get caught out.
Speaker 1: You've also you've just been assisting casting with I'm a
Speaker 1: Celebrity and Alex Meverdiker said that you did a fantastic job.
Speaker 1: But what was that experience like for you?
Speaker 2: Look, I love doing that show. It's one of those
Speaker 2: shows I haven't done it before. I've sort of ticked
Speaker 2: off a lot of those shows, like Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 2: you know, like you love doing those big as they
Speaker 2: call them, the shiny floor shows for those ones. But
Speaker 2: I'm a celeb was fun because I've watched the show.
Speaker 2: I know what works and doesn't work, and the great
Speaker 2: thing about it is working with that's a real team
Speaker 2: of people that also know the show really well. I
Speaker 2: mean Alex and Reema and Beth and all you know,
Speaker 2: ben On, all those guys from ITV know that show
Speaker 2: inside out. They know from a casting point of view
Speaker 2: what they need and what they want. And Channel ten
Speaker 2: the same Stephen Tate, it's his baby, it's the protective
Speaker 2: of it, and they know that just a couple of
Speaker 2: crap cast members can let the whole thing down. It's
Speaker 2: one of those TV shows where a lot of people
Speaker 2: sort of turn their eyes up it and go, oh,
Speaker 2: it's I don't watch that show. It's crap, and what
Speaker 2: is that show again? And you think, what a lot
Speaker 2: of crap. You know it and you watch it, but
Speaker 2: you pretend you don't. People often do that, you know
Speaker 2: with reality shows. I like to pretend they don't watch them,
Speaker 2: but they've of course seem to know every character and
Speaker 2: what they do. But for that show, for me, it
Speaker 2: was great because it was incredibly collaborative. So you can't
Speaker 2: come in as a casting producer and start to sort
Speaker 2: of put your hands and hips and tell them this person,
Speaker 2: this person, this person. All you can do is fight
Speaker 2: for the people that you really think are going to
Speaker 2: work on it, and give them a good reason as
Speaker 2: to why, and good producers will listen. And that's when
Speaker 2: it really works. When you're casting a show with really
Speaker 2: good EPs and good producers, they'll listen and they'll, you know,
Speaker 2: take your advice. And the thing is, when you're casting,
Speaker 2: you have to you have to be across everything. You know.
Speaker 2: I watch everything. I watch all the dramas, I watch
Speaker 2: all the reality shows, so I know, and I watch
Speaker 2: you know, I watch ABC, SBS. You know, because a
Speaker 2: lot of people say, oh, you know, working commercial TV,
Speaker 2: you need to know the commercial people. But quite often
Speaker 2: it's the people that are working on other networks that
Speaker 2: you suddenly you watch them. You think that person's that
Speaker 2: person's got something or that'd be interesting in the mix.
Speaker 2: You know. I'm always sort of looking at and that's
Speaker 2: it's really nice and you can just throw them, throw
Speaker 2: them in the mix, and they go, oh god, that's
Speaker 2: a great idea. I hadn't thought about them, wouldn't they
Speaker 2: work well with blah blah blah. So for working on
Speaker 2: that show and watching it, go to wear is great
Speaker 2: fun because watching it at the moment, everyone is pretty
Speaker 2: much behaving how I thought they would. There's always surprises.
Speaker 2: But it is a strange thing sitting back and watching
Speaker 2: the edit because I'm nothing to do with the edit
Speaker 2: and a lot of the people sitting in the jungle
Speaker 2: don't even know that I'm the person that made the
Speaker 2: phone call to the manager. It is one of those
Speaker 2: things where I've done a lot of shows like that
Speaker 2: where the show's been to wear and it's gone and
Speaker 2: I run into someone at some sort of industry event
Speaker 2: and I've walked on said hi, and Georgina, I actually sorry,
Speaker 2: but the one who made you take your pants off
Speaker 2: from the Full Monty. I never thought I'd actually be
Speaker 2: asked to take my top off and get my boobs
Speaker 2: out on national television. And then they go oh, and
Speaker 2: then they go, oh, no thanks. I love doing that show.
Speaker 2: And so it's actually, really it's a nice It's always
Speaker 2: you know, I don't really walk up to people and
Speaker 2: I know they had a terrible experience. You know, I
Speaker 2: don't go to zigzag through the room to seek out
Speaker 2: those people. But yeah, I'm a celeb is I think
Speaker 2: it's a great show. You know, it makes you laugh.
Speaker 2: And I was sitting at home watching it the other
Speaker 2: night and I cried and I texted the guys on
Speaker 2: the show and I said, all right, you cracked me.
Speaker 2: You know, you made me cry. And it really was
Speaker 2: one of those moments where I didn't expect. I was like, damn.
Speaker 2: I thought it was hard enough, you know, to sort
Speaker 2: of go, this is just TV, you know, but but
Speaker 2: you know, it's once you get once you get a
Speaker 2: bunch of really diverse, interesting people, you know, confined in
Speaker 2: the space. It's riveting. People like to watch people, and
Speaker 2: there was every chance to that she pulled Terri. She
Speaker 2: might not even remember any of us, which was quite heartbreaking,
Speaker 2: you know, one of the toughest times.
Speaker 1: And how old was she? Twenty seven? It's so fascinating.
Speaker 1: And you know, the interesting thing is the ratings are
Speaker 1: so high for this season, like it's the highest I
Speaker 1: think that they've had. And I think that has a
Speaker 1: lot to do with casting. But why do you think
Speaker 1: that this mix now that they're in there have connected
Speaker 1: with audiences, Because you can get a fantastic show that
Speaker 1: you go, oh, this is great. I've cast this really
Speaker 1: well and it's working for us, but then the audiences
Speaker 1: don't love it, you know what I mean, why do
Speaker 1: you think that this cast has resonated with its audience
Speaker 1: so much.
Speaker 2: Ah. Look, it's always hard to figure out what they do.
Speaker 2: I mean, if you knew the formula, then every show
Speaker 2: you cast you just sort of make the phone calls
Speaker 2: and tick them off and sit back with your feet up.
Speaker 2: I mean it's often hard to predict it, you know
Speaker 2: in your heart, like you know that there's certain people
Speaker 2: that are going to be warm and friendly, and other
Speaker 2: people are going to be a bit prickly and other
Speaker 2: people sometimes not so much with this show, but other
Speaker 2: shows have done that. You know, you've got to tick
Speaker 2: off the AFL player and the rugby player so you
Speaker 2: get the Sydney audiences and the Melbourne audiences.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's a formula that you use because you need
Speaker 2: to get people from all age groups that can sit
Speaker 2: down with their family. There's very few shows that people
Speaker 2: sit down with their family and watch anymore, a show
Speaker 2: where you know that your sixteen year old daughter like
Speaker 2: mine will sit down and go, I know two of
Speaker 2: the people on the show, but who are those other
Speaker 2: people that they get to discover them? Or their parents
Speaker 2: at home go oh, we grew up with Tony Perron,
Speaker 2: you know, she used to be the person we watched
Speaker 2: on TV. So a lot of it is that sort
Speaker 2: of sharing experience when you've got generations watching your show
Speaker 2: like that, and that's important. You can't just put a
Speaker 2: show like I'm a cleb full of people of one
Speaker 2: age group from one place. It just it's not interesting. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it just doesn't work.
Speaker 1: So when you're running things past the cast and you're
Speaker 1: trying to get them on the show, because there's going
Speaker 1: to be people out there that don't want to do
Speaker 1: these shows, you go, oh, come and do I'm a celebrity.
Speaker 1: Was it being in Australia a selling point over Africa?
Speaker 1: Or were people like, yes, I want to do the
Speaker 1: show and they were disappointed that they didn't get to
Speaker 1: go to Africa, Like was it a change this year
Speaker 1: being that it was being filmed at home?
Speaker 2: You know what. I think that people were a bit
Speaker 2: relieved because no one wanted to. I think even if
Speaker 2: there was the opportunity to get on a plane to
Speaker 2: go to Africa, I think that people would have been frightened,
Speaker 2: you know, and I think it people would have felt unsafe.
Speaker 2: So I just think that it made sense. It wasn't
Speaker 2: one of those phone calls where I was making to
Speaker 2: either the managers or talent where they were like, oh, well,
Speaker 2: I'm not doing it because it's not in Africa. And
Speaker 2: I think that for a lot of people, it's an extra,
Speaker 2: you know, added thing they need to think about when
Speaker 2: they're going to Africa because they're so far away from
Speaker 2: their family. You know, even though in the in the
Speaker 2: Australian jungle as they call it, it's they're still not
Speaker 2: seeing their family, but they know they're not far away.
Speaker 2: It felt like it was probably easier to get some
Speaker 2: people because of that, because they didn't feel though too
Speaker 2: far away from their family.
Speaker 1: When you put out a call to say some of
Speaker 1: these celebrities, you're like, I saw them on SBS or
Speaker 1: however you've come across them and you call them and
Speaker 1: they go, oh, I don't know. Do you scratch them
Speaker 1: off the list? And they never get another shot? Like
Speaker 1: what happens to those people?
Speaker 2: If there's some people that are deluded, we love the
Speaker 2: deluted where they think they're going to get another crack
Speaker 2: at it, and what they need to understand and what
Speaker 2: their manager needs to understand, is that they're hot right now,
Speaker 2: or they've just come off a show and the audiences
Speaker 2: are interested, so they're not going to be as valuable
Speaker 2: in a year's time or even for the next series,
Speaker 2: which could be at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: So what sort of personality archetype is the best suited
Speaker 1: to reality television in your mind?
Speaker 2: A big dickhead. I don't think there is any one type.
Speaker 2: You can't just say, oh that, you know, it just
Speaker 2: doesn't work like that, you know. That's the magic of it.
Speaker 2: It's you know, you can't just say they need to be,
Speaker 2: you know, a sports person that can walk and talk
Speaker 2: on camera and read an aud a cube it also
Speaker 2: be funny. It's like it depends on the show and
Speaker 2: what you're putting them in, you know. It's like, sometimes
Speaker 2: you want people to be vulnerable. Sometimes you want them
Speaker 2: to be larger than life. You want that character. It's
Speaker 2: a bit like Brant Jenu at the moment on I'm
Speaker 2: a Celeb, he's just on. He's so used to being
Speaker 2: on TV and on that he's just he's not sitting
Speaker 2: there quietly watching people in the corner.
Speaker 1: What do you think the audience wants most, because like
Speaker 1: when you watch reality television, there's different things that connect.
Speaker 1: But there's a word I can think of that. I
Speaker 1: think audiences want most and that's the currency between being
Speaker 1: on screen and the audience falling in love with you.
Speaker 1: What do you think that is?
Speaker 2: You know, I think people like seeing people fail. I
Speaker 2: think people like seeing people being triumphant. You know. That's
Speaker 2: why I think Dancing with the Stars is always a show.
Speaker 2: When I talk to people about doing that show, it's like,
Speaker 2: no one ever comes out of that show badly because
Speaker 2: you know, they're having a crack and it's really hard,
Speaker 2: they're having to learn and something. They're being a living
Speaker 2: amount of time to do it, and most people seeing
Speaker 2: on the couch going god, I couldn't do that. So
Speaker 2: they like seeing people succeed and they like I think
Speaker 2: people like connecting and people like crying. You know, people
Speaker 2: like sitting at home going oh god, like I did
Speaker 2: the other day I was caught out myself. People go like,
Speaker 2: I really, that was a really raw moment and you know,
Speaker 2: a really beautiful moment of TV. People like that and
Speaker 2: people talk about that afterwards, did you see that thing?
Speaker 2: But they also love seeing someone, you know, slap someone
Speaker 2: or throat drinking someone's face on Housewives or something. So
Speaker 2: who knows we're all people, and we all you know,
Speaker 2: we all love a bitch, we love a bit of
Speaker 2: a cat fight. We're love a little bit of a
Speaker 2: punch up.
Speaker 3: And when you get home, get your husband to review
Speaker 3: your medication because medication dosterone level needs to come down
Speaker 3: and everything else needs to come up.
Speaker 2: Good luck with your deck of cards for.
Speaker 3: Your life, because that's all you've got is a deck
Speaker 3: of cards that are back to Topple in the Lind.
Speaker 1: I think what's amazing is you can be a good
Speaker 1: person and you can be a bad person. But as
Speaker 1: long as you're authentic, I think audiences will relate because
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, that's a real person, and that's I
Speaker 1: think that's the currency.
Speaker 2: For me.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, as soon as I connected believing that
Speaker 1: that person is going through something and it's a human moment,
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's the cash. That's the ding ding ding
Speaker 1: moment for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But then you've got someone like Frez Durrani, who
Speaker 2: I love. When he did sas you know, did he
Speaker 2: come out of that well, I don't know. I mean
Speaker 2: I thought he was brilliant television. I loved watch him
Speaker 2: on that because I was thinking, yeah, I'd tell him
Speaker 2: to get stuff too. Someone's told me to do four
Speaker 2: hundred push ups and tell me to jump in the mud,
Speaker 2: So you kind of and I think that was him
Speaker 2: being himself. But did the audience like that or did
Speaker 2: they like the way he was edited? Probably not?
Speaker 1: Number ten Merrick is fit up unleashing on number eleven
Speaker 1: for us who has proven himself to be incapable of
Speaker 1: keeping his mouth.
Speaker 2: Shut three in a row.
Speaker 1: But we're all done with.
Speaker 2: What are you done with? We're done with?
Speaker 1: You? Govin off to the yes, mate, don't say anything,
Speaker 1: don't say shit to us, get through the course.
Speaker 2: What are you screaming about?
Speaker 1: Mate? I think it was good television. It was interesting
Speaker 1: for me. What I think is also interesting is the
Speaker 1: media loves to grab onto something and then villainize someone.
Speaker 1: And I think that Sas was so popular and they
Speaker 1: were getting so many clicks in the industry about Sas.
Speaker 1: They were like, just keep talking about how awful this
Speaker 1: man is on this show.
Speaker 2: I did feel for him.
Speaker 1: What do you say to him? Though? After the experience?
Speaker 1: Did he say? Oh God, I wish I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: done that. I mean, what do you say when someone
Speaker 1: comes out of reality? Television and they don't get the
Speaker 1: experience they wanted.
Speaker 2: Well, I didn't cast that show, so I didn't cast
Speaker 2: him on it. But I had cast him on the
Speaker 2: Real Dirty Dancing, which was fun. It was where they
Speaker 2: all went to the lake resort where they did the
Speaker 2: film Dirty Dancing, and was a really fun TV show
Speaker 2: where they got to where you really saw who he was.
Speaker 2: You know, he's a show off, he's got a good
Speaker 2: sense of humor, he loves to give you everyone a cuddle,
Speaker 2: and he was a lovely guy. And then suddenly he
Speaker 2: does this other show and he's portrayed as someone that,
Speaker 2: like you said, you know, the media wanted to jump
Speaker 2: onto something, which is fine. You know that's what they're
Speaker 2: going to do because it's there has to be something
Speaker 2: to talk about. But look, I haven't really I haven't
Speaker 2: actually had anyone call me afterwards and have a crack, said,
Speaker 2: I wish I hadn't have done it, even the real
Speaker 2: full Monty shows, which I loved casting that. I love
Speaker 2: those shows. They I mean you're asking people to take
Speaker 2: their gear off. You know. I always think that after
Speaker 2: doing those shows, every casting job should be easy. So
Speaker 2: it's like, yeah, yeah, sure, I've got people of table
Speaker 2: pants and you know, girls to flash their boobs. But
Speaker 2: it was a messaging. It was one of those shows
Speaker 2: where literally people did the show. People walked on the
Speaker 2: street after the show had been to where and said,
Speaker 2: you know what, I watched that show went and got checked.
Speaker 2: You know, I had prostate cancer. I got onto it early. Thanks.
Speaker 2: I'm not, you know, And I haven't cast the shows
Speaker 2: where you're putting regular people on TV, like the Bachelorettes
Speaker 2: and those sort of shows where you literally thrown people
Speaker 2: in who don't really understand TV. And I'm sure there's
Speaker 2: plenty of those people, you know, if married at first
Speaker 2: sight all those sort of shows, who probably walk out
Speaker 2: and think, God almighty, what just happened? But I think
Speaker 2: the shows that I'm casting a celebrity based and they
Speaker 2: know what they're getting themselves into. And so no, I
Speaker 2: you know, I haven't had any horses heads left on
Speaker 2: the end of my bed yet.
Speaker 1: You know, what sort of framing do you do for
Speaker 1: your people to say do the show or don't do
Speaker 1: this show, or do this show? But it could be this,
Speaker 1: like what kind of framing are you doing?
Speaker 2: Look, you have to I always say that because I
Speaker 2: do manage a few people, and I always say to them,
Speaker 2: it's this is like a business relationship, so take my advice.
Speaker 2: But in the end, it's you. It's your head on
Speaker 2: the on the screen, or it's you know, it's your reputation.
Speaker 2: But I'd like to think that I've been on both
Speaker 2: sides and done enough more of many hats in this
Speaker 2: industry to know, you know what's going to work and
Speaker 2: what isn't going to work, and what's going to be
Speaker 2: of benefit, and sometimes their heart like sometimes they might
Speaker 2: be a show where you know someone's a crap dancer
Speaker 2: and you know they're going to be a crap dancer,
Speaker 2: and you know that they're not going to like win
Speaker 2: the show, but it's going to be a good experience
Speaker 2: for them. More people are going to know who they are.
Speaker 2: So is it such a bad thing for you to
Speaker 2: do if the worst thing that's going to happen is
Speaker 2: that you're not going to be seen as the world's
Speaker 2: best answer, Is that going to really ruin your reputation?
Speaker 2: I don't think so. So it's more like just explaining
Speaker 2: to people what they're getting themselves into, and then also
Speaker 2: going is the money good enough? You know it's like,
Speaker 2: sometimes it gets down to that, you know, it's a
Speaker 2: money conversation. It's like, well, I'm I kind of I'm
Speaker 2: thinking I might do it, but you know, it doesn't
Speaker 2: feel like it's paying enough. So if it gets down
Speaker 2: to that, then it's just a conversation of well, we
Speaker 2: can go and ask for more money.
Speaker 1: Or no, it's more money, this is my price, and
Speaker 1: this is how it happens.
Speaker 2: I'm also into always taking to talent the offer because
Speaker 2: I know from being on the other end of casting
Speaker 2: that I can talk to managers and I know that
Speaker 2: they're not telling the talent that they're even offer the job.
Speaker 2: And it's happened to me where you know, I've run
Speaker 2: into people at events and things, so be careful managers,
Speaker 2: because I'm everywhere. But you know, I've run into people,
Speaker 2: you know, offering to people that said men's leather truths
Speaker 2: and I've said, it's such a shame that you didn't
Speaker 2: do you know, blah blah, and they go, we didn't
Speaker 2: even know we're offered it. I love that show.
Speaker 1: Is it easier or harder to cast shows once the
Speaker 1: show is then popular? So we're going to use a
Speaker 1: really good example of sas when says was being cast,
Speaker 1: you know, no one really knew what it was going
Speaker 1: to be. There was no expectations, and it was a
Speaker 1: little bit harder to cast because there wasn't as many
Speaker 1: people wanting to do it. The show got it's really
Speaker 1: really strong cult following, and there's more people now wanting
Speaker 1: to do it. What's an easier series to cast? A
Speaker 1: good cast too, a show that's extremely popular or a
Speaker 1: show that less people know about and you can take
Speaker 1: your time.
Speaker 2: Oh no, you always want the show that everyone knows
Speaker 2: what it is, because it's really hard to sell a
Speaker 2: concept of a show that doesn't exist, because people are wary,
Speaker 2: as they should be, because it could be a big stinker.
Speaker 2: It's much easier to cast a show. Look, I was luckier.
Speaker 2: I came in to do the full Monty shows after
Speaker 2: the first one had been to Wear and I didn't
Speaker 2: cast the first one. I came and did all the
Speaker 2: ones after that, so and it had raided really well
Speaker 2: and it had a good reaction. It was a much
Speaker 2: easier show. Even though while asking people to take their
Speaker 2: pants and tops off, you know, people had seen it
Speaker 2: go to where the managers were aware of it. There
Speaker 2: were some people that still had no idea. There were
Speaker 2: some brilliant people that said, so you didn't tell me
Speaker 2: that they're going to have to take their clothes off?
Speaker 2: And I said, what do you think the full Monty means?
Speaker 2: Which bitter you not understand? Here? And look, it all
Speaker 2: always helps when you're ringing from a network. If you're
Speaker 2: just ringing sort of a random randomly ringing people, if
Speaker 2: they know it's coming from the network, they'll ring your back.
Speaker 2: I always find that it's better to not give people
Speaker 2: to too many details when you're doing the first call
Speaker 2: because quite often, look, they might say no, but you
Speaker 2: want to get them on the phone to explain what
Speaker 2: the show is, because that's the other thing with casting.
Speaker 2: It's important to pick the phone up and make phone calls.
Speaker 2: Don't send email emails. People sit there and see an email.
Speaker 2: It's really easy just to say no, thanks and see
Speaker 2: you later. But getting on the phone and be able
Speaker 2: to sell the show and sell what their role is
Speaker 2: is really important. So it's just lazy casting, you know.
Speaker 2: And some people just sort of say, oh, I've contacted
Speaker 2: them and they said no, And all I've done is
Speaker 2: sent five emails off to someone and got to know that,
Speaker 2: and it's amazing the a matter. People will say no
Speaker 2: when you on the phone to them, and by the
Speaker 2: end of the call, you've got them. Yeah, which is
Speaker 2: what it is. You're selling them an idea and you're
Speaker 2: casting them, and it's why have you chosen them? And
Speaker 2: why do you want them to be on the show?
Speaker 1: You know this is? Is it true? I don't know
Speaker 1: if you heard this one. This might be an open legend.
Speaker 1: What about these myths that are out there about some shows.
Speaker 1: I heard that to get onto sas you have to
Speaker 1: run with a bag of bricks for ten kilometers and
Speaker 1: there's all these celebs running along with these bricks. Are
Speaker 1: there any trials beforehand that these celebrities have to go
Speaker 1: through to get these jobs?
Speaker 2: Most shows there's a medical involved, which makes sense because
Speaker 2: you know, you have to know if someone's allergic to
Speaker 2: something or you know, you don't want them to drop
Speaker 2: out of a heart attack doing something.
Speaker 1: No, I don't know why I'm laughing.
Speaker 2: But yeah, or do you? But you know? But what
Speaker 2: are you going to do with bachelor? Get into a
Speaker 2: start pashing in a room? See how good without pashing
Speaker 2: or flirting when they're drunk? I don't know, it's not
Speaker 2: something I've asked anyone to do. It's more like, this
Speaker 2: is what we require you to do. He's the show's
Speaker 2: the times, here's the dates, here's the money, here's the contract.
Speaker 2: Now you've given me a really good idea. It's like
Speaker 2: what you could do to people that you really don't like.
Speaker 2: You don't want them on the show, but you can
Speaker 2: just humiliate them.
Speaker 1: Can Yeah, just tell them to go go home, set
Speaker 1: up a little video camera and film yourself pouring some
Speaker 1: fire ants on yourself. Yeah, send it back to me.
Speaker 1: And then they do it, and you go, it's a no.
Speaker 1: It was great and highly entertaining. Yeah, And then flashing
Speaker 1: to Georgina's sitting there at nighttime, drinking a glass I've
Speaker 1: red with all of her friends.
Speaker 2: You're roaring with laughter.
Speaker 1: One of those footy players that's been in a footy scandal,
Speaker 1: just sitting back with your girlfriends, laughing as they've poured
Speaker 1: fire ants on themselves. I'm going to help.
Speaker 2: What is it with the footy guys and their scandals?
Speaker 2: Whenever I'm casting a show, there's always like, you know,
Speaker 2: we go through all the football plays and seriously, at
Speaker 2: one show I was working on I got the production
Speaker 2: assistant who thought I was joking, but I was deadly serious.
Speaker 2: I was quite annoyed when she thought I was joking.
Speaker 2: I did have the list. At the end of the
Speaker 2: two weeks, I said to her, can you please just
Speaker 2: write a list of all these people that I know,
Speaker 2: like a rattle off a bunch of mainly in their
Speaker 2: old players, and just tell me what they've done that
Speaker 2: might be a little bit too grubby so that we
Speaker 2: couldn't possibly put them on the show. And seriously, it's
Speaker 2: like I could sit here now and just rattle off
Speaker 2: ten at the top of my head. Where you go, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: I think they did they not? It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Do you move away as soon as you hear something
Speaker 1: like even if it's not true. Let's just say you're
Speaker 1: casting Fred McInerney. Who's you know, North Melbourne footy players,
Speaker 1: champion of champions Is he real? No? He's not real.
Speaker 1: You ask a gay man about a football player's real name.
Speaker 1: You're joking.
Speaker 2: I was thinking, I think, who's he? Do I need
Speaker 2: to get him? He sounds great.
Speaker 1: So you find out that there's just a rumor that
Speaker 1: Frank McInerney. I think that was his name, he has
Speaker 1: been rumored to have, you know, done something salacious in
Speaker 1: his in his private life.
Speaker 2: No. Look, if it can't rule people out because of rumors,
Speaker 2: it pretty much has to be they've been convicted of
Speaker 2: something or they've done something you know, pretty unsavory. That's it's,
Speaker 2: you know, because I mean this rumors about everyone. Everyone's
Speaker 2: got a rumor.
Speaker 1: So you know, there was a rumor that went around
Speaker 1: last year that someone who was on a reality TV
Speaker 1: show had a checkered past the surface while the show
Speaker 1: was on, and then there was a question about did
Speaker 1: this person do it? And should they edit that person
Speaker 1: out of the show or give them less screen time?
Speaker 1: But yet the conviction wasn't really they didn't know whether
Speaker 1: it was true. What do you think they should do
Speaker 1: in that regard? Do you reckon that they edit that
Speaker 1: person out?
Speaker 2: Well, I just think that's a mistake. In casting, you've
Speaker 2: really got to You've got to do your research. You've
Speaker 2: got to know who you're putting on camera. That's you know,
Speaker 2: part of my job too. You know, when people are
Speaker 2: asking me to cast and I'm giving them names. If
Speaker 2: I'm giving them a name of a couple of people
Speaker 2: who who've got criminal charges that I didn't know about
Speaker 2: because I haven't bothered asking questions or researching them. Then
Speaker 2: it reflects badly on me. That's the other thing. When
Speaker 2: you've been doing it long enough, you know all the rumors,
Speaker 2: you know all the stories, and usually it's a question
Speaker 2: to ask the manager. You're read the manager and you
Speaker 2: go listen, I've heard that they're being convicted for blasting
Speaker 2: a policewoman or whatever some hideous thing. Is this true
Speaker 2: or is they going to court? Or is it you know,
Speaker 2: is this some mad ex girlfriend or you know, whatever
Speaker 2: it is. They need to they need to be honest
Speaker 2: with you. You know, the managers need to tee what's
Speaker 2: going on. And managers also have a reputation, so they
Speaker 2: don't want to They know they're going to screw up.
Speaker 2: They lie to you about something like that. It's that
Speaker 2: the person's going to be pulled off the show and
Speaker 2: they're not going to get paid, so they tend to
Speaker 2: be pretty upfront with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good result. Sorry, you lied to us,
Speaker 1: You had this big, dark secret. It was a nightmare
Speaker 1: for us. You're not getting your cash, tough titties.
Speaker 2: And you know what, it's a small town. We all
Speaker 2: know everyone's secrets. Let's face it, there's very few. You know,
Speaker 2: everyone loves everyone loves goss. People know something about so
Speaker 2: synergym As soon as this is a little sniff of
Speaker 2: it out there, people go, have you heard? Have you heard?
Speaker 2: You know, I'm always getting the phone cause have you heard?
Speaker 2: You heard? And you're like, by the time it's got
Speaker 2: to you think, really has this? You know, you end
Speaker 2: up ringing the person yourself and they go what so
Speaker 2: you know, yeah, I love it that.
Speaker 1: It's so funny. I love the way that it passes around. Now.
Speaker 1: Diversity is such a big buzzword, and diversity is something
Speaker 1: we you know, like all the heads of the networks
Speaker 1: are saying, of course we're trying to be diverse. But then,
Speaker 1: if you think about it, what point does diversity and
Speaker 1: casting a person of color or an LGBTI person, When
Speaker 1: does that land on your table as a casting person?
Speaker 1: Are you halfway through the casting process?
Speaker 2: I like to think that when I'm casting something, I'm
Speaker 2: always thinking broadly, and by saying broadly, I'm thinking of
Speaker 2: I'm not actually thinking, oh, I need a cast of
Speaker 2: white middle class men. You know, I don't think like
Speaker 2: that it's more like, I know that this person's great
Speaker 2: and fun and blah blah blah. So I then present
Speaker 2: those people to whoever I'm working with, and then I
Speaker 2: like to think that I'm always putting a bunch of
Speaker 2: diverse people in there, because I think that's an important
Speaker 2: role of the casting person, because if you're not doing it,
Speaker 2: it doesn't start with the casting person, then it's almost
Speaker 2: a bit too late because you're then relying on someone
Speaker 2: at the network mainly to say where's the diversity? Now?
Speaker 2: If that person's not asking that question, this thing can
Speaker 2: just go on and suddenly it's on air, and then
Speaker 2: you've been the show's being criticized and the network's been criticized.
Speaker 2: But in saying that, some networks are more immediately asking
Speaker 2: where's the diversity in the cast? Straight away? Which is nice,
Speaker 2: it's great, and that hasn't always been how it's been.
Speaker 2: I mean, let's look at a Strain TV. It just
Speaker 2: hasn't been like that. I remember, you know, when I
Speaker 2: was doing the Real Dirty Dancing and I was watching
Speaker 2: the hilarious Lebanese family on goggle Box, and that again
Speaker 2: when Fras came up and they went for it's the lad.
Speaker 2: We love him, you know, And at that moment I
Speaker 2: thought I hadn't even thought about him like that. I
Speaker 2: just thought he was a spunk with a good torsie.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me who the best person you've ever
Speaker 1: cast in your entire life that you've literally basically cut
Speaker 1: out a picture of them and framed them on the
Speaker 1: wall because he's so proud of them being cast on
Speaker 1: a show. And this is no disrespect to everyone that
Speaker 1: you've ever cast, But is there someone that sticks out
Speaker 1: in your mind that you go that just worked.
Speaker 2: I did enjoy Patty Newton immediately saying yes to the
Speaker 2: full Monty. I think she called her breasts Patty and
Speaker 2: Bert she and it was just it was just the
Speaker 2: brilliance of someone that you've known since you were a
Speaker 2: kid suddenly going I'm up for that. And also, you
Speaker 2: know she's not young, and she was like she was
Speaker 2: fitter and faster and vibe than most of the other cast.
Speaker 1: The question I always ask everyone on this show is
Speaker 1: really important. What is your favorite story? So your go
Speaker 1: to story, Say, when you're sitting around the dinner table
Speaker 1: for dinner conversation and someone goes, oh, that's right, you're
Speaker 1: the casting person, you do that, what's your go to
Speaker 1: story sitting around the dinner table.
Speaker 2: Like all the fun stories were when I was working
Speaker 2: on Channel V. You know, Courtney loved. That was a
Speaker 2: great one where we'd been told that unless she has
Speaker 2: a monitor and she can see herself, she won't do
Speaker 2: the interview. Now, this was someone who the last time
Speaker 2: that she was at the big day out that we
Speaker 2: were filming at, had got up on stage. I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean almost dead. You know. She was that battling
Speaker 2: into drugs and she was playing with the top off,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean she had There were not many
Speaker 2: standards there about how she was looking. Fast forward like
Speaker 2: three years and she's demanding a monitor, you know. So
Speaker 2: I've been tipped off that this is you know, this
Speaker 2: is what she needed. So we just got this monitor
Speaker 2: and plugged it in and we actually lit We lit
Speaker 2: it so the monitor looked really good. We just tweaked
Speaker 2: all the buttons on the monitor so that actually didn't
Speaker 2: we were shooting was we didn't have time and had
Speaker 2: one life, so we just did this. I remember sitting
Speaker 2: in the chair and the cameraman sort of tweaking it
Speaker 2: to make it look good in the monitor. And pretending
Speaker 2: I was caught in them. Anyway, she sat down and
Speaker 2: she goes, well, you guys now had to meet me.
Speaker 2: Look fucking good. I'll do this interview and she blew
Speaker 2: off everyone else's the rest of the day.
Speaker 1: And that's how you do it. I just want to
Speaker 1: say thank you so much for being able to join us.
Speaker 1: You are hilarious, you have so many fun stories. I'm
Speaker 1: sure that everyone's gonna love this. Thank you for joining
Speaker 1: me today.
Speaker 2: All Right, I'mus Levs butt. Come on, I gotta thanks
Speaker 2: lovely Bye,