{"id":176883,"date":"2023-11-07T10:45:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T18:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailyactor.com\/?p=176883"},"modified":"2023-11-07T10:49:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T18:49:58","slug":"barry-casting-director-sherry-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailyactor.com\/actor-tips\/barry-casting-director-sherry-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Barry’ Casting Director: “I think actors sometimes need to be nurtured, and I like nurturing people”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Barry<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emmy Award-nominated casting director Sherry Thomas<\/strong><\/a> has received acclaim for her casting of series like Breaking Bad<\/em>, The Handmaid’s Tale<\/em>, and, most recently, Barry<\/em>. Speaking with Below the Line<\/a> about how she cast Barry<\/em>, Thomas explains that her casting decisions to changes in the series and how she works with actors to unveil new approaches to characters in auditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas explains that when they were in conversations about possibly casting the series, they presented the idea of casting Henry Winkler<\/strong><\/a> as Gene. She explains, “When we go into an audition for a job, we go in with a few ideas to share our aesthetic. […] There were a few suspect names that we spoke about. I said, ‘I got one that might be really crazy, but I\u2019m just going to say it because it will define who Gene Cousineau is, and I think it could very much mirror who this person is. Henry Winkler.’ It was very much a meeting of the minds, and he said, ‘Wow. I was kind of thinking along those lines as well.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired the Winkler suggestion was that the character and Winkler had similar careers. She continues, “I felt that he (Winkler) had been a star as Gene Cousineau had been a star. He had been out of the picture for seemingly a long time on a regular basis with audiences. Not in a way that I think was a staple; he had sort of come in and out. He\u2019s the nicest guy, but there was also an air where I just sort of felt like he would really have some fun with this.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span>
I think that if people can come in and be open and let their egos be put aside for a little bit, I love the trust. I love the creativity. I love what I learned from them about a scene and their take on it, and I\u2019m leaning in; I\u2019m engaged.<\/div>