I’ve only been voice acting for a few years now, but in that time, I’ve seen some very weird and very bad casting calls. It’s a talent of mine, finding them. There’s no one right way to write a casting call, but there’s a lot of ways to not do it – and we’re going to touch on some of them. These examples run the gamut from hilarious to awful in every way; some of them are simply odd, while others are just offensive. 

I’ve included screenshots for some of these and while I’ve done my best to remove identifiable information, sometimes the podcast name and/or character names are visible. If you recognize a show, I implore you to not harass the creator in any way. We all make mistakes! My intention is not to publicly shame anyone, but merely to create a listicle of the wildest casting calls I’ve come across. With that out of the way, let’s take a dive into some nonsense.

As a note, the final three items in this list include transphobia, transmisogyny, and anti-Indigenous racism.

1. Starting casting calls with, “Well, this is gonna be awkward.”

You probably want to put your best foot forward when asking people to join your project, and that isn’t how to do it. If your casting call is gonna be awkward, then I simply won’t participate. I don’t like awkward! 

2. Requesting a “fit-sounding” voice.

What does this mean? Your guess is as good as mine.

Casting calls Screenshot: "Looking for a friendly and clear speaker actor/ess. Sounding in the late 20s to late 30s. Fit sounding."

3. Writing “She has been trained to use her body to seduce men, but not gay men” as part of the character information.

I’ll admit, I did laugh out loud at this one, but it’s not helpful character information. It says more about the writer than anything else.

Screenshot: "A German spy in her early 20's. She is impersonating a British citizen. She is a member of the Axis. She is, quite literally, one of the worst spies in the world. She has been trained to use her body to seduce men, but not gay men. She a bit [sic] of an airhead."

Read more: Black History Month: Integrated Diversity in Podcasting

4. Looking for voice actors to participate in an unpaid project for “2 hours a day.”

That’s a really big ask for anything, and if you’re expecting people to put in 14 hours of work a week on your project you should consider paying them. 

Screenshot: "Hoi [sic] I'm working on a new series but we don't have enough voice actors plz dm me if you can help thank [sic]! Male/female voice actors Be able to help for 2 hours a day If you want to talk to our director ask in my dm's And same for our casting call club"

5. Describing the entire plot of the project as “It’s a game.”

I’ll give the producer this – I usually only audition for audio dramas, so I knew to count this one out. But even if I wanted to audition for a game, I’d want to know a little more about it.

Screenshot: "Plot Summary Its [sic] a game Character Name: Henry Character Description: More upon request"

6. Making a “podcast series about kidnapping” where the first rule was “you can’t leave.”

It just seems a little suspicious. This call also required voice actors to use their full name when auditioning, and I’m still not fully convinced this was a fiction show. 

Casting calls Screenshot: "About Captivity || A podcast series about kidnapping || 13+ Hello everyone! This is a project about 2 sisters who find themselves kidnapped. Alissa is [screenshot cutoff] I won't spoil too much as I don't want to ruin the entire story. ONCE YOU AUDITION YOU AUTOMATICALLY SIGN THIS CONTRACT -You can't leave -You must give your real name (last name included) and age Rules -Never miss a deadline -Be nice to your team -You need to be good and sound real -You need to be okay with screaming,crying,yelling, [sic] etc. AND SOUND CONVINCING"

7. Also, just saying “you can’t quit!!” for unpaid projects in general.

I see this a lot on casting calls for Casting Call Club for some reason. If you’re not paying people, you can’t stop them from quitting a project. (Even if you are paying people, you still can’t really stop them!)

Screenshot: "Rules: 1. You must have discord 2. Have a good quality mic 3. Be respectful 4. If you get cast make sure you are responsive 5. This is a long term project, meaning you CANNOT quit 6.Have fun"

8. Requiring all voice actors to submit their audition by putting it in a public google drive folder and writing out their contact information on a publicly editable google sheet.

In addition to being inefficient (a google form is a better way to get this information), it’s also bad practice for privacy reasons. Additionally, anyone could edit anyone else’s contact information or delete their auditions. Seems like a bad idea.

9. Providing audition information via a 3-part video series.

I’m not going to watch three different videos to get the information I need to audition for a podcast. I’m a big fan of respecting people’s time, and I felt like this was asking a lot.

Screenshot: "Thank you ver much for your interest in auditioning as a voice actor for The Heap! For more information, first please click on "VIDEOS" in the main menu and watch our 3-part video series for actors. You will find all the information you need to know (hopefully) here, including what to include in the submission form below."

10. Describing a character as “homosexual, but it is not obvious.”

What is this? Unhelpful and rather homophobic character information, that’s what. 

Screenshot: "A Russian in his late 20's. He is Captain in the Russian military. He is a member of the Allies. He is homosexual, but it is not obvious."

11. Including 5 characters on casting calls with only 1 line in the whole show.

For each character, the information provided was two or three times the length of the line, and the last two pages of the call were dedicated entirely to these characters. This felt like an unnecessary level of specificity, as well as asking for a lot of work up front for the chance to say a single line in an unpaid podcast. 

12. Listing the weight of each character in casting calls for an audio drama.

I don’t care if a character is slim or average weight or overweight, and reading build notes for each character of this podcast just made me uncomfortable. 

13. Looking for “masculine voices” or “feminine voices” or “androgynous voices.”

Voices don’t have a gender. There are men with high voices, women with low voices, and people who sit outside the gender binary with all different pitches. If you want characters to have a specific voice pitch, then say so.

Two screenshots of casting calls next to each other: "He's a retired police officer who may [screenshot cutoff] power. He's terrible to his daughter, Tiff[screenshot cutoff] Megan, like the golden child. Looking for masculine voices." "Megan is Chad's daughter who speaks [screenshot cutoff] materialistic, but she does have a soul [screenshot cutoff] Looking for feminine voices."

14. Describing a LGBTQ+ character as “hetero-centric” in the casting call.

This is a very bizarre way to describe a queer character, and furthermore is a meaningless and thus unhelpful term. Don’t get me started on xenophobic as a descriptor either.

Screenshot: "Male, Caucasian, LGBTQ+ 40's. No-nonsense, though [sic?] xenophobic and hetero-centric, head of security." If any of y'all ever call an ell gee bee tee "hetero-centric" I (Wil Williams) am going to kick you into the sun.

15. Saying a character has a “slang-heavy” voice.

What does this mean? I know not. The whole thing felt like a bad stereotype.

Screenshot: "Voice: Androgynous, slang-heavy, flippant (Imposing. empathetic, slang-heavy, androgynous, cagey about emotions)"

16. Having a “fashionable and effeminate” character, with another “flamboyant” character that has “a sweet spot” for him.

Just call them gay! It’s okay, I promise. You can avoid stereotypes and get the character information across.

Screenshot: "Prince Imsep Imsep (pron: Imm-sep) is King Starbringer's son, referred to openly as 'the broken prince.' He is fashionable and effeminate, and disdainful of this father and sister. He enjoys the finer things, and outwardly doesn't like to waste too much time doing princely things. Like his father, he wears his emotions on is [sic] sleeve, and often plays victim. Sides: Imsep, Sophrosyne, and King Starbringer Josquin Josquin (pron: Joss-quin) is an alderman of a nearby province who appears to demand justice for being sidelined during peace negotiations with the Rau. He is also the charismatic ringleader of an underground political movement comprised mostly of wealthy young people. He is flamboyant, a rabble rouser, and one of Yoba's nemeses. But also he has a sweet spot for Prince Imsep. Sides: Yoba and Josquin"

17. Having one trans character of color on the call and describing them as a “scumbag.”

Now, I love playing terrible characters as much as the next voice actor, but it’s important to look at your cast as a whole and see if you’re playing into negative stereotypes of marginalized groups.

The next three items in this list include transphobia, transmisogyny, and anti-Indigenous racism.

18. Providing the deadname of a trans character on a casting call.

Deadnaming should never be done lightly, and II don’t ever need to know the deadname of a character in a casting call. This shows either ignorance or intentional disrespect to trans people, and I don’t want to work with a creator who does something like that.

Read more: How to Audio Drama 202: Writing Trans Characters

19. Saying a trans woman character as a “male” voice.

We’ve already covered that voices don’t have genders, but this goes the extra mile into being outright terrible.

Casting calls Screenshot: "This is a trans woman who is still in the closet, which unfortunately was not an option under "Gender." 25 years old American with Korean immigrant parents. AMAB girl. Kind, but not quite soft-spoken. Loves video games. Midwestern/Michigan accent. I'd strongly prefer having an actual trans girl VA for this for representation purposes, but anyone can try out. EDIT: Because it seems I wasn't clear enough in the original bio, [REDACTED] has a 'male' voice. She was assigned male at birth. Her 'deadname' is [REDACTED]. Unless you've been on HRT, please don't apply for this role if you were assigned female at birth. Thank you."

20. Requesting a “Native American Accent” for a character.

The character was also named a literal slur. Please don’t make me describe how awful this is; it should be obvious. The editor won’t even include the screenshot.

Thanks for joining me on this ride! If you’re planning casting calls in the near future, please don’t do any of this. We’re begging you.

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