Patience and Persistence - A Leadership Talk with Patricia DiCerto

Patricia DiCerto has built an impressive career as a casting director on forty-two films, including Blue Jasmine, for which Cate Blanchett won the Academy Award in 2014. But before she ever imagined a career in casting, DiCerto had planned on attending law school to become an entertainment lawyer. She changed course entirely after taking a film production class at The New School, which led to an internship at the office of legendary casting director Bonnie Timmermann.

There, she greeted the likes of Brian De Palma, Al Pacino, and Sean Penn as they worked on De Palma’s film Carlito’s Way. “I think you fall in love with the actor first, and that's such a driving force of why you want to become a casting director. You have to love actors,” she said.

As her role grew, DiCerto was able to sit in the audition room and “hear the conversation between the casting director and the director, and those conversations are so incredible… just the collaborative conversations that they’re having.”

It wasn’t long before DiCerto knew she had found her dream job. “I knew at the age of twenty-one that I was home, and… I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

She began by sorting the mail as a casting assistant and spent years working with Juliet Taylor, eventually working her way to casting director for Woody Allen’s film Everyone Says I Love You.

But what, exactly, does a casting director do? It’s far more complex than simply calling up an actor and asking their availability. It begins with a script. 

“The writing is everything,” DiCerto said. With good writing, even an independent film like Fangirl can attract someone like Meg Ryan, who was hired after DiCerto made a call to Ryan’s manager. 

Once she reads the script, DiCerto breaks it down—making a list of every character who speaks, “from the lead to someone yelling out as they walk by,” noting what page they appear on, and giving a brief description. Once this is done, DiCerto sends the breakdown to agents and posts it on online casting boards such as Breakdown Express.

Then it’s time for the auditions, which usually consist of prepared “sides,” which are a selection of scenes from the movie. DiCerto prefers in-person auditions as it lets her see the actor’s response to direction. In particular, she wants to see the actor reveal “a piece of the character...whether or not it’s a vulnerability, or a sense of comic timing, or a heightened piece of drama.” 

She explains that the best actors will understand their character backwards and forwards, and their auditions may even tell her something new about that character that she had not considered.

Some bigger films come with stars already attached, like Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, where DiCerto was a casting associate. Other times, casting directors are brought on to help attach talent to receive financing for the film. 

“You bring a casting director on because they have relationships with the agents, they hopefully have some sort of understanding of what actors are looking for projects at the time, what actors would hopefully be very valuable for the project to bring on to them for financing,” DiCerto explained. 

She loves the thrill of discovering new talent. “I really do try to find actors that would be interesting to cast that no one has ever seen before,” DiCerto said. 

Agents get DiCerto’s breakdowns and pass them on to their clients. “It’s very rare that I’m… looking outside [of agencies], other than going to a lot of the drama programs,” she admitted. 

For actors without representation, DiCerto emphasizes the importance of having strong, polished material and encourages creating original work, such as web series or short films. Even actors with agents, she notes, must stay proactive by keeping their headshots and demo reels—concise showcases of their work in film, television, or other media—current and competitive.

For aspiring casting directors, DiCerto notes that many casting offices have internships and entry-level roles available. She also recommends they watch the documentary Casting By, about the iconic casting director Marion Dougherty, whose work includes Midnight Cowboy, Grease, and the 1989 Batman movie. 

Speaking from experience, DiCerto advises that freelancers “have a lot of downtime,” so one has to be proactive about finding the next opportunity. She also emphasizes that good casting directors have a “nurturing quality” and strong emotional intelligence as they are constantly building relationships with actors, directors, and producers. 

“You’re part mom, you’re part psychologist,” she joked. “You get the best work out of someone when they’re more comfortable, and they’re more conversational with you, and they can joke with you a little bit.” If an actor is nervous in the audition room, DiCerto will “shoot the breeze a little bit” to get them to relax. 

Sharing some final words of wisdom, she opines, “You have to be patient [and] persistent.” Send that follow-up email. Create your own work. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”