What Bonnie Timmermann, the Legendary Casting Director of ‘Miami Vice’ and ‘Heat,’ Taught Me About Stardom and Recognizing True Talent (Guest Column)
05.03.2024 - 18:19
/ variety.com
Shannon Plumb There’s two things that make a star shine — the light they emit, and the inevitability of being seen. I called my mom and yelled into the phone, “The lady who cast Ralph Macchio in ‘Karate Kid’ wants to meet me!” I met Bonnie Timmermann, the legendary casting agent, at a dinner with my husband Derek Cianfrance. They worked together on the HBO series “I Know This Much is True.” She said she liked my work — the super 8 films I put myself in, the comedy show I put myself in, the feature film I put myself in.
I heard that people in the entertainment business tried to lure Bonnie to their performances with gifts of flowers, candy, snowmen made out of wax. I heard that if she likes your work that means you’re gonna be a star. I’d been putting myself in my own movies for 25 years now.
I didn’t choose the auditioning route as most actors do. I wrote and directed my material so I could be cast in everything and all the time. I wanted to perform, to practice, to create as much as possible.
I had a problem with authority. I needed to execute my own ideas. I didn’t want to wait for someone else to decide if my teeth were straight enough, face pretty enough, voice man enough, figure curvy enough.
Here I was, twisting my fork in a pile of pasta carbonara, wondering if I’d finally get noticed. Was I good enough? I sat across from a woman who made things happen for actors. She could see the ones who possessed a spark.
She recognized talent. She pushed actors who would go onto become movie stars. Would I become a star? The definition of a star is…an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity.
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