Producers whos self cast themselves

[nikko14]

Do you mind if producers self cast themselves in their own project? For me I don't mind if its a 1 line minor character. But if its a character who speaks like the whole time, I kinda get annoyed because thats 1 less main character you can audition for.

[Sheepmage]

Well, I think that that honestly depends. Right now, I'm actually working on a radio play project myself, and I have what sound in mind for every single character to a Tee. Sometimes you don't get that in the first casting, or even the second or third, and you really need to get the project going; that's when usually a producer will either self-cast, or cast someone outside that they personally know. When it's a big project like that, it can be a little annoying when producers self-cast, but you see it all the time.

However, there are some instances in which people are just looking for a few roles to fill in for clips, in which they cast themselves as a certain character and look for others to fill the gaps so to speak. This honestly I don't at all mind. I suppose that when people don't give another person a chance in bigger projects is when I get iffy. I have a character from my project that I know I really want to voice, but at the same time I've designed it as an open role; I have no objection of casting it to someone who is better than me.

I guess it's all just a matter of personal opinion. I say if the need calls for it, then it's fine. Otherwise, no.

[Kitty]

I think that it's fine to self cast a main character, as long as you're being real with yourself. If you feel confident that you can portray the character to the best of your abilities, then go ahead. But if you know that the character is out of your range, then I'd not advise self-casting the main part. I always try not to self cast roles, just taking little minor characters or so. But it really is your choice.

The only thing I would say is that if you're going to self cast the main/lead role, please be open to constructive critiques. ;3

[Sheepmage]

lol, I think Kitty and I actually had this conversation last night.

[Kitty]

lol, I think Kitty and I actually had this conversation last night.

Oh my God, I think we did. X3 That WAS a long Skype chat.

[Sheepmage]

Yeah, it really was. But it was a lot of fun, too. I don't get to talk to other VAs very often, so it was kind of nice getting to know a little bit about the people here.

[Erica]

I don't know about everyone else, but I mostly selfcast in roles that I normally can't seem to get during audition processes. Or I'll start a dub on a specific series just so I can play as a specific character simply because there are no audition for that specific series OR because everyone else always seems to selfcast as that character.

If you're taking the time to mix everything yourself, I think you have a right to selfcast.

[Sheepmage]

I don't know about everyone else, but I mostly selfcast in roles that I normally can't seem to get during audition processes. Or I'll start a dub on a specific series just so I can play as a specific character simply because there are no audition for that specific series OR because everyone else always seems to selfcast as that character.

If you're taking the time to mix everything yourself, I think you have a right to selfcast.

Within reason. I've had a few auditions that I've run (nothing took off, foo) where I would cast myself in a role I felt I could play, however opened the auditions to other people in the chance circumstance that someone had a better voice or acting ability (not hard, heh) than me. I'd also listen for the voice quality in other auditions that I received to.

What I'm saying is that you shouldn't necessarily close off certain roles just because you want to play them. As a producer, you should be looking for the best person to portray the role; sometimes that won't always be you.

[ichigo_m]

i think this is fine to sometimes if the really want to be this carater in a dub but no one is hosting auditions they may make their own so they could do that part but if in all of you productions you self cast i think that is a little overboard ya' know

[Shintarou Inuzuka]

I don't really see anything wrong with it, particularly if you either are looking to do a clip and just looking for one or two actors or if there are tons of characters, but only if you are absolutely sure that you can do the role. You have to be honest with yourself and ask yourself if you can seriously do a good job with the role, because if you self-cast a role that you clearly cannot do well, the production will turn out bad. If you are sure that you can, then great, go ahead and self-cast. In some cases, it may be the only way you'll get to play that role (especially if there aren't any other projects where you can audition for that character, particularly in more obscure anime series that don't get done that often, though often this happens with more popular series that just aren't the "flavour of the month"). If you're good for the role, why not play it? If you're not good for the role and you self-cast yourself anyway, you have no one to blame but yourself when no one likes your performance. Either way, it's a risk. You need to, in a sense, let yourself audition for the role before you decide to self-cast, and you need to be honest with your own performance -- if, when you take off the rose-coloured glasses of "I'm going to get to play this role," you honestly can't see it fitting very well, open auditions for that role and let someone who DOES fit play the role. (Of course, if you've been cast before in that role, and lots of people liked it, then in a sense you've already got proof you can do it.) The biggest question is, will it work? If so, then there's no problem, but if it won't, then it's a good idea to let someone else who DOES fit the role do it. It doesn't matter if it's self-casting or not -- bad casting leads to a bad production.

Personally, in my opinion, if you're going to self-cast, unless it's a small clip or something -- or the characters are supposed to be played by the same person (identical twins, for example) or are just small roles, you should limit yourself to one character unless you plan on double-casting others or otherwise need to fill in holes in your cast list left by not enough people auditioning for a role.

However, if you have made the decision to self-cast, I find it deceptive to post auditions for that role, even for an understudy. Chances are unless you lose your voice permanently or something, you won't be using the understudy, and if you're asking for auditions to compete with yourself, of course you're going to pick yourself over someone else, so why waste others' time asking for auditions for a role it's pretty much a sure thing they won't get to play?

Basically, you need to be very careful if you're going to self-cast -- if so, you need to only self-cast yourself in a role that you can do.