Backroom Casting Couch - They're Real And They're Spectacular

They] said "[William] gave me the strength to find my mother and I found her. And that's what makes him so great. So many times African American males and females have been put into that particular category. They are the soul of this show and the backbone of the Black Pearsons. I could listen to Ron all day. The role of Carl, played by Tim Kniffin, is a big juicy plum for local casting.

I couldn't stop crying. "When I was first learning acting, I was told that the most important person on stage is not you, it's your partner, " Maxson says. Whether they see Randall and Beth as couple goals, whether they see themselves in Lyric or in Eris or in Faithe, just that they see the humanity in it all and can identify with it in whatever way touches them, but also specifically for the Black culture. And literally, after I finished, I said, "Yeah, put me on a plane. My mom remembers sitting by Eris and she doesn't normally talk to any kids at an audition. This is an oral history of the Black Pearsons, the show's best part. Olds was entrenched, and couldn't get time to rent a space and hold the ensemble-type auditions he sometimes does. And I remember work that went into that because we were really so fully aware of what the consequences of what they were going through might be. And then he walked away again. That's why she still wants to talk about what theater means and why she needs to make art at all, as opposed to name-dropping.

And I'm like, "What am I supposed to do with this? " I think we were just playing it as honestly as we could and we just kept finding who [Randall and Beth] were. Ooh, that was hard to watch. A lot of people went looking for their biological parents.

Kelechi Watson: I just wanted them to be real. I don't think I ever told Lyric this by the way, I don't want to hype her up [laughs]. That's enough to just make me bawl, just start crying. They parent with care instead of an iron fist. Naturally, since Randall is adopted, the show chose to have Beth and Randall become foster parents. Here, the cast talk about Sterling K. Brown behind his back (only good things, promise), and Niles Fitch explains what it's like to tackle a role also played by one of the greatest actors of our generation. There were no cattle calls. Ross: We're real sisters and it's hard that we won't be seeing each other like that anymore now that the show is done because we really grew up together. I had to call Susan the B word and I was 13 [laughs].

I hadn't read the script yet and I went home and read it. Susan Kelechi Watson, 40, Ron Cephas Jones, 65, Lyric Ross, 18, Eris Baker, 16, Faithe Herman, 14, and Niles Fitch, 20 (who plays teen Randall) remember their auditions and how they landed the roles of a lifetime. Hashtag Protect Black women. Every time we're on set, we're always laughing. Kelechi Watson: I realised as [Sterling and I] were doing it, I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is our last scene, just you and I. " And just to have that, to have pretty much a blueprint in your family of what a man should be and what a relationship shouldn't be. Far from the power-plays or squabbling of my preconceived notions, the casting director describes the day-to-day of her work in terms of empathy, cooperation, observation -- and email. It really felt like we were just somewhere in Brooklyn at Marcus Garvey park and Harlem or something, just kicking it, smoking a joint together or whatever, and laughing and really bonding. But it's that perfectionism that at times is his downfall — from panic attacks to a bit of a saviour complex to constantly pushing to perfect his identity, Randall is one of the most complicated, yet steady, Black fathers we've ever seen on TV. And I had just finished doing Luke Cage. And people were like, "He probably walked away to cry. " It took me aback — I didn't realise how it put my name and my image on the map as an actor in Los Angeles and Hollywood.