Casting Actors Cast

By Jeffrey Dreisbach & Broadway Podcast NetworkEducation Arts Performing Arts How To

Casting Actors Cast episodes

January 29Five Ways to Network with Industry Pros
Hello, fellow actors.
Welcome back to Casting Actors Cast — the podcast for actors, from a casting
director, who wants you to stop doing weird things in the name of “networking.”
Today’s episode is called:
“Five Ways to Network with Industry Pros.”
And before you tense up — no, this is
not an episode about:
Because real networking — the kind that
actually works — looks nothing like what most actors imagine.
Let’s begin with a truth that might
surprise you:
Most industry professionals are not
looking to be impressed.
They’re looking to feel comfortable.
So today, I’m going to walk you through
five realistic, humane, repeatable ways to network — without selling your soul
or losing your dignity.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
28 min
January 22Getting Fired by Your Agent-What Next?
Today’s episode is called:
“Getting Fired by Your Agent… What Next?”
And if that title made your stomach drop
just a little — congratulations. You’re human.
Also, you’re not alone.
Let me start by saying something right
up front, because I want to take the sting out of this immediately:
Getting dropped by an agent is not a
career-ending event.
In fact — and I know this may sound wild — for many actors, it turns out to be
a career-clarifying moment.
Now, before you throw your phone across
the room, stay with me.
Because today we’re going to talk about:
This is not a “rah-rah, everything
happens for a reason” episode.
This is a practical, calm, grown-up conversation — the kind I would have
wanted when I was starting out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
28 min
January 15 400 Episodes-A Celebration of you!
Some people can’t even commit to a gym
membership for four weeks — and you and I have been meeting here since 2020. Through lockdowns, through self-tape explosions, through new technology disrupting our industry faster than we can say “AI voice clone,” we have been learning together, laughing together, and building the kind of creative courage that keeps actors moving forward.
So today isn’t about a new technique or a tough-love lecture. Today is a
celebration. Today is a reflection. Today is a thank you to YOU — for being the kind of artist who keeps showing up. Because this podcast exists because of you!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
15 min
January 08 The Self-tape Trap-Are Your Choices Helping or Hurting You
Self-tapes are where careers happen today. They’re the front door of the business. And like any front door — there’s a welcome mat… and there are also banana peels hidden right under the surface waiting to trip you up.
Today, we are shining a big bright spotlight on The Self-Tape Trap. Those choices actors make with good intentions — really good intentions — that accidentally sabotage the performance. These traps are sneaky. They can feel like “extra effort” or “smart choices” or “making it real” — but casting directors are watching self-tapes with a totally different lens. Find out much more on this episode of Casting Actors Cast!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 min
January 01 Stop Overthinking the Moment-Start Owning it
We’re talking about overthinking.
That mental spiral where suddenly your
brain is narrating your audition like it’s doing play-by-play commentary during the Super Bowl. “Here comes the second line — careful, careful — don’t mess this up — oof, eyebrow twitch — bad eyebrow! Reset! Reset!”
Overthinking is the enemy of presence. The enemy of impulse. The enemy of surprise. It’s like having a backseat driver take over your brain while you’re trying to actually drive the car.
So let me ask you a question: When you’re really living a moment — like REALLY living it — do you think about it while you’re in it? No! You just live it. You notice the other person. You feel the emotion. You react like a human — not like a student trying to pass a finalexam.
That’s the shift we’re going to make today:
from thinking the moment… to owning the moment.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
17 min
December 25, 2025 How to be the Actor Everyone Wants to Work With
Hey my amazing,
wonderful actor friends! Welcome back to Casting Actors Cast — where you and I get to hang out, learn a little, laugh a little, and uncover the real tools that help you prepare smarter, act better, and book more. I’m your host, Jeff Dreisbach — casting director, teacher, actor, and your industry friend who is in your corner, rooting for you every step of the way.
Today’s episode is one I wish I could just loop on a monitor in every waiting room at every audition everywhere. You know, like a public service announcement but with less fear and fewer warnings about shampoo recalls. It’s called: How to Be the Actor Everyone Wants to Work With — and I promise, this is the episode that
will change your career faster than any new headshot or acting class ever
could. Because the truth is this: the actor everyone wants to work with is the actor who gets opportunities again and again and again. They get recommended. They get remembered. They get rehired. They don’t just book… they build.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
16 min
December 18, 2025 The Confidence Gap: What Casting Directors Wish You Knew
Have you ever walked into an audition and thought, “Okay… I’m confident. I’m confident. I’m confident,” while your body is screaming, “We’re absolutely not confident!”
Meanwhile, casting directors are looking at you like, “Are they… are they okay?”
Confidence is one of those weird acting ingredients you can’t fake, can’t force, but absolutely need— even though most actors have no idea what real confidence looks like.
Well, today we’re pulling back the curtain.
Because what you think
confidence is…and what casting directors actually see as confidence…
are two completely different things.
Let’s fix the gap.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
18 min
December 11, 2025 Your Acting Career Called...It Wants You to Relax
You ever notice
that actors can make anything stressful?
Audition? Stressful.
Callback? Stressful.
Self-tape? Stressful.
Meeting someone who might know someone in the industry?
Oh, that’s a full-blown cardio event.
Actors are the only people who can turn reading two pages of dialogue in their own living room into a scene from “Mission Impossible.”
Meanwhile, your
acting career just left you a voicemail:
“Hi… yeah, it’s me… could you just… relax?”
Let’s talk about it.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
18 min
December 04, 2025 The Myth of the Perfect Take-(and Other Fairy Tales)
Today’s episode
is part pep-talk, part reality check, and part comedic intervention.
Actors obsess over getting it right — especially on self-tapes. You know
this. You’ve lived this.
But here’s the kicker:
Casting directors aren’t looking for perfect.
We’re looking for alive.
So today, we’re
going to shatter the myth of the perfect take, unpack how perfectionism
sabotages your work, and give you a step-by-step guide to capturing the kind of take that makes us go, “Oh! I didn’t expect that. Yes. Callback.”
Let’s get started with the truth bomb at the center of this whole episode.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
19 min
November 27, 2025 What Your Self-Tape Says About You
First Impressions in a Digital World
When your self-tape hits my inbox, it’s your first — and sometimes only — chance to make an impression. Before I even hit play, I’ve already learned something about you from your file name, your slate, your frame, your lighting. That’s right — your tape speaks volumes before you do. Find out how in this episode!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
15 min

About Casting Actors Cast

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to ”CASTING ACTORS CAST ” the podcast with an inside look at acting as a profession from master teacher and casting director, Jeffrey Dreisbach, a casting partner for McCorkle Casting Ltd in…