I was watching a movie the other day…can’t remember what…where there was a stereotypically ugly, awkward (unknown as far as I could tell) actress cast in a minor role simply to be the ugly, awkward person in the movie.
How do movies cast for these people who are only there because their ugliness/fatness/weird feature will get a laugh from the audience…?
Do the movie people contact talent agencies or put up ads saying “if you’re ugly and want to be in a movie, come on down”? Do talent agencies keep a pool of ugly/fat/weird people around just for these occasions?
What about with minors? Do parents actually see such ads and say “Yep, Johnny, you’re damn ugly. Let’s go make some money!”
I’m reminded of the first Lexx movie; I’ve often wondered what the actress who portrayed Fat Ugly Zev before her transformation thought about being picked for the role.
Yes, there are actors who are specifically noted by their talent agencies for being unattractive (or fat, or short, or whatever). It’s no different from the talent agencies keeping track of other physical characteristics of their actors (e.g., tall, or blonde, or Asian, or whatever).
So, when the casting director for a movie sends out a casting call for “big ugly guys”, the talent agencies know who to send for auditions.
Professional prankster Joey Skaggs accidentally entered this market when he startedBad Guys Talent Management Agency to help out a friend. There’s a longer write-up in the RE/Search: Pranks book. The upshot: not only do studios request ugly folk, and not only do agents keep a pool of ugly folk, but agencies may specialize in it.
Reminds me of an interview with Margaret Hamilton who played the Wicked Witch of The West in The Wizard of Oz.
She said, her agent came to her and said, they are casting for a movie of the book and Margaret said, “Oh great, I love that book, what part am I up for?” Then she said, her agent gave her a funny look and said, “Well…the witch,” as if that should’ve been obvious.
The King of the Ugly Actors was Rondo Hatton, who suffered from acromegaly. He got his start in movies while working as a reporter in Tampa in 1930 and Henry King noticed him while filming “Hell Harbor”. Eventually Hatton moved to Hollywood to play similar roles. Sadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondo_Hattonly, the disease contributed to his early death at age 51.
I doubt many agencies will specialize in it, since character actors of this type are not going to be making big bucks, and big bucks for some clients help keep the agency doors open.
But it takes all types. I don’t remember if the form one fills out when joining SAG has an appearance section, but they do ask if you are skilled at an amazing variety of things. And, while there are actors who are ugly, don’t discount the effect of makeup. I’ve seen the headshots of actresses playing ugly, and there was quite a difference.
As said above, she was probably happy to get work. I’m just wondering how someone like Brian Downey (Stanley) decides to become an actor and then gets cast for a major rôle.
Sorry to see he’s died, I enjoyed his appearance in The Rocketeer.
Danny Trejo is also well-known for portraying hideous bad guys. He’s also made appearances on Pit Bulls & Parolees when he showed up as a working volunteer to shovel snow in a freak storm, and another time when he saved a dog being abused and brought it to the shelter.
Just like every other bit of casting in Hollywood, it’s all about type. I once heard a director remark about a talented but slightly chubby actress “She’s very good. She could have a good career if she loses thirty pounds and plays ingénues or gains thirty pounds and plays the fat best friend.”
You might be familiar with Gainey as “Swamp Thing” from “Con Air” (the convict pilot). There’s enough call for menacing stereotypical rednecks to keep him busy.
Shelly Winters was a beautiful actress when she was young. there were so many of them that she decided to gain weight. It kept her in character roles for many years.
I read that when Weird Al Yankovic was casting for his “Fat” music video, he advertised in a trade magazine for “very fat dancers,” and sure enough got plenty of responses.
There are plenty of people who just love to act and will do it no matter what. They may or may not pay the rent that way, but they are not going to let height, weight, appearance, speech impediments, etc. stop them.
Furthermore, you can point to many heavy or unattractive actors who have nevertheless had successful careers. They may not ever get to the $20 million a movie level like your typical pretty faces, but they’ve got careers plenty of actors would envy. Think of John Goodman or John Candy in the overweight category. Then there’s Jason Alexander and Ron Perlman. Despite a certain episode on Seinfeld, these guys are not exactly pin-up material.
