Casting and Working with Actors

In a novel, you control every pause, every tone of voice, every shade of feeling. The moment you hand the script to actors, that control is gone. Your characters stop being ink on paper. They now live in the breath, the voices, and the instincts of real people.

For an independent author, the work with actors usually takes one of two forms:

You run the room yourself.
At an informal read-through, you may lead the session. Your job is not to play director. It’s to keep things moving, listen for clumsy dialog, and let the actors explore the script without being micromanaged.
You hire a director.
For a reading before an audience, like the one in this guide, an experienced director takes charge, and you step back to listen. A director knows how to translate your intentions into terms actors can use. If you step in between them, you confuse the cast and undercut the director.

Either way, working with actors means giving up some solitary habits. Novelists often cast for looks, or hope an actor will reproduce the voice they hear in their head. In a play for voices, looks don’t matter. Cast for voices that contrast with each other, for stamina, and for the ability to read a script well on first sight.

Casting for the Ear: Voices That Work Together

When the audience can’t rely on faces, the voices have to tell the characters apart:

Contrast high and low, quick and slow.
Never cast two main characters whose voices sit at the same pitch. If both male leads have gravelly bass voices, or both female leads have light, quick, high voices, listeners will lose track of who is talking within a few lines. Pair a deep, rich voice with a sharp, dry, higher one. In The Light in Washington, Peter Doyle is cast specifically to contrast with Fred Vaughan in pitch and pace.
Look for understanding, not imitation.
Don’t hunt for someone who sounds like your idea of a historical figure. Look for actors who instinctively grasp what’s going on beneath the words. An actor who knows how to leave an ache in a pause is worth ten impressionists.
Let actors double small parts.
Radio actors routinely play two roles. One performer can be a stiff clerk in the first act and a rowdy innkeeper in the third, just by changing posture, accent, and distance from the microphone. Doubling saves money and gives good actors a chance to show their range — as long as the two characters never appear in the same scene.
Describe the ideal, and say what’s acceptable.
If an accent would be ideal but isn’t essential, say so in your casting notice. Our notice describes the ideal accent for each part and then says plainly that an honest, natural voice is acceptable. That widens the pool of actors without giving up your vision.

In the Rehearsal Room: How Writers Can Help

Whether you’re sitting beside a director or leading the session yourself, rehearsal is for tuning the play by ear, not for lecturing:

Explain what the character wants; never act out the line.
Saying “Stress the word tonight and sound sadder” freezes an actor. If you’re running the session yourself, describe what’s going on underneath: “You’re trying to warn him without admitting you stole the ledger.” If there’s a director, give that note to the director during a break and let the director pass it on.
Listen with your eyes closed — then with the script.
Don’t watch the actors’ faces. Close your eyes, or turn away from the table, for at least part of the reading. If a moment works only because an actor grimaces or leans forward, the line itself isn’t working; in a play for voices, everything has to come through the ears. Then, during rehearsal, follow along in the script and mark where the trouble is.
Cut what trips the tongue.
If a good actor stumbles over the same phrase three times, the fault isn’t the actor’s. The line has awkward clusters of sounds or unnatural word order. Fix it with a pencil on the spot.

Working Together: Author Habits and Better Practice

How to handle the room with grace and discipline:

The Trap	The Author’s Habit	What to Do Instead
Lecturing about the character	A twenty-minute talk on history, philosophy, and backstory.	Stay in the scene. Make clear what the characters want from each other, right now, in this room.
Fussing over every line	Interrupting each sentence to correct small changes in tone.	Let whole passages run. Let the actors find their rhythm before you offer a few specific notes.
Guarding every word	Treating every comma and preposition as sacred.	Respect the tongue. Allow natural contractions and small trims if they keep the pace lively.
Two people giving directions	Calling out notes across the table that contradict the director.	One voice in charge. Talk to the director privately between run-throughs; never split the cast’s attention.