11.30.17 • BACKSTAGE.COM FOR YOUR SAG CONSIDERATION Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role JUDI DENCH “ A ROYAL TRIUMPH INDEED. JUDI DENCH GIVES A TOUCHING, MAJESTIC PERFORMANCE.” NEW YORK OBSERVER “ J UDI DENCH GIVES A CAREER-HIGH TURN.” THE TIMES For more on this film, go to www.FocusFeaturesGuilds2017.com © 2017 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. VICTORIA & ABDUL - BACKSTAGE - Final (BONUS) SAG LEADING FILM & TV DRAMA November 21, 2017 12:53 PM PST COVER 1, 4C VAB_Bckstge_11-29_Cvr1_1F STREET: 11/29/17 DUE: 11/21/17 BLEED: 9.5" X 11.25" • TRIM: 9" X 10.75" • SAFETY: .25" FROM TRIM FOR YOUR SAG CONSIDERATION OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A M A L E A C T O R I N A L E A D I N G R O L E DANIEL DAY-LEWIS OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A F E M A L E A C T O R I N A L E A D I N G R O L E VICKY KRIEPS © 2017 PHANTOM THREAD, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PHANTOM THREAD - BACKSTAGE - Final (BONUS) SAG LEADING FILM & TV DRAMA November 21, 2017 12:30 PM PST COVER 2, 4C PT_Bckstge_11-29_Cvr2_1F STREET: 11/29/17 DUE: 11/21/17 BLEED: 9.5" X 11.25" • TRIM: 9" X 10.75" • SAFETY: .25" FROM TRIM 11.30.17 • BACKSTAGE.COM Why screenwriter Steven Rogers cast Allison Janney as his “I, Tonya” villain How to land a spot on a film crew Comedian Aasif Mandvi serves up the drama for Hulu’s “Shut Eye” REALITY CHECK AND: 10+ PAGES OF Lilli Cooper and Ethan Slater on CASTING NOTICES realizing their dream of taking “SpongeBob SquarePants” to Broadway CONTENTS vol. 58, no. 48 | 11.30.17 NEWS 7 This year’s Film Independent Spirit Award nominations 8 This week’s roundup of who’s casting what starring whom 9 Andy Serkis on directing his first feature ADVICE 11 NOTE FROM THE CD You scratch my back… 11 #IGOTCAST Robert Holik 12 SECRET AGENT MAN Be a joiner 13 #IGOTCAST Constanza Villanueva FEATURES 6 BACKSTAGE 5 WITH... Aasif Mandvi 10 MEET THE MAKER Steven Rogers, “I, Tonya” 12 THE ESSENTIALISTS John Petaja, editor 13 INSIDE JOB Kristin Damrow, founder of Kristin Damrow & Company 18 THE OTHER SIDE OF SCENE WORK Crew members are essential to any scene. Here’s how to become one 32 ASK AN EXPERT Tammy Hunt on when (and why) to seek out a manager CASTING 20 New York Tristate COVER STORY 24 California PAGE 14 28 National/Regional BEYOND Ethan Slater and Lilli Cooper photographed by Emily Assiran on Oct. 30 on location at 340 E. 64th St., Apt. 7D, by Nick BIKINI BOTTOM Gross of Triplemint in NYC. On Slater: sweater by David Hart, pants by William Rast. On Cooper: top by Rag & Bone. Cover How Ethan Slater and Lilli Cooper are reimagining designed by Jessica Balaschak. “SpongeBob SquarePants” for the Broadway stage EMILY ASSIRAN EMILY 2 backstage 11.30.17 BACKSTAGE.COM “A STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT. WRITER-DIRECTOR DEE REES GETS INDELIBLE, IN-DEPTH PERFORMANCES FROM THE ACTORS. ‘MUDBOUND’ GRABS YOU AND WON’T LET GO.” “ᗂᗂᗂᗂ.” “ᗂᗂᗂᗂ.” “ᗂᗂᗂᗂ.” “THE BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING OF THE YEAR. ONE OF THE BEST PICTURES OF THE YEAR.” “A SWEEPING, SUPERBLY ACTED EPIC. AN ENORMOUS VISION. MAGNIFICENT.” LOS ANGELES TIMES CAREY JASON JASON MARY J. ROB JONATHAN AND GARRETT MULLIGAN CLARKE MITCHELL BLIGE MORGAN BANKS HEDLUND WINNER WINNER WINNER WINNER BEST ENSEMBLE BEST ENSEMBLE BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE AUDIENCE FAVORITE 2017 GOTHAM AWARDS HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS MARY J. BLIGE MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS IN SELECT THEATERS AND ON BACKSTAGE NETFLIX MUDBOUND PUB DATE: 11/30/17 TRIM: 9” X 10.75” BLEED: 9.5” X 11.25” SAFETY: .25” Executive Chairman Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Technology Vice President, Casting Peter Rappaport Joshua Ellstein Michael Felman & Product Officer Luke Crowe James G. Reynolds Chief Marketing Officer Corporate Controller & David Grossman Vice President, Finance Michael Madia EDITORIAL ART CASTING PRODUCT TEAM CUSTOMER SERVICE Editor-in-Chief Design Director Managing Casting Editor Lead Product Designer Customer Experience Manager Rawaan Alkhatib Jessica Balaschak Melinda Loewenstein Jeff Lilley Chris Knowles Managing Editor Art Director Supervising Casting Editor Engineering Lead Customer Service Manager Briana Rodriguez Margaret Ruling V eronika Daddona Noemi Millman Richard Burridge Digital Managing Editor Senior Casting Editor Engineer Lead Customer Service Associate Allie White Elijah Cornell Tom Achtemichuk Danny Camporeale PRODUCTION Stephanie Chung Senior Editor, Casting Production Manager Film & TV Casting Editors Full Stack Engineer Anna Szatkowski and Industry News Mark Stinson Riley Fee Sam Newbold Elyse Roth Lisa Hamil Associate Editor Theater & Performing Data Engineer Zac Wentzell ADVERTISING SALES Benjamin Lindsay SOCIAL MEDIA Arts Casting Editor Executive Director Film, Social Media Manager Anna Paone Awards Editor Television, & Theater Francis Ramos Jack Smart Regional Casting Editor Kasey Howe Associate Social Byron Karlevics Staff Writer Advertising Sales Director Media Manager Casey Mink Casting Specialist Stephen Lampshire Stephanie Hoffmann Kaitlyn Mills Senior Copy Editor Brandy Colbert Research & MARKETING Call Sheet Editor Copy Editors Senior Associate, Rebecca Welch Allison Boron Customer Acquisition Regan Hofmann Ryan Remstad Contributing Writers Marketing Associate Alex Ates Gail Cardozo Manuel Betancourt Arnold Wayne Jones Marci Liroff Allie Volpe Backstage was founded in 1960 by Ira Eaker and Allen Zwerdling EDITORIAL OFFICES CASTING DEPARTMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE PERMISSION 45 Main St. [email protected] 917-725-6367 For one-time use of our content, as a Brooklyn, NY 11201 [email protected] full article, excerpt, or production prop, [email protected] DISPLAY ADVERTISING contact [email protected] [email protected] BACKSTAGE, VOL. 58, NO. 48 (ISSN#53635 USPS#39740) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY (except the fourth week of December) by Backstage LLC, 45 Main St., Brooklyn, NY 11201, $3.99 per copy, $99 per year. 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JANUARY WINTER SESSION PROGRAMS MUSICAL THEATRE WINTER IMMERSION 2 Weeks, January 8-20, 2018 The Musical Theatre Winter Immersion is an eective two-week training program that prepares actors for the 2018 Summer Stock Audition Circuit and upcoming professional auditions. BLACK ARTS THEATER WINTER IMMERSION 1 Week, January 16-20, 2018 Led by a world-class faculty including Stephen McKinley Henderson, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Michelle Shay and Phylicia Rashad, the Black Arts Theater Winter Immersion is a week-long comprehensive exploration of the history of the contemporary black theater tradition. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting/Art of Acting Studio is a 501(c)3 not-for-prot organization and is accredited with the National Association of Schools of Theatre. LOS ANGELES ARTOFACTINGSTUDIO.COM 323-601-5310 1017 N ORANGE DR LOS ANGELES, CA 90038 [email protected] by: AK47 Division BACKSTAGE 5 WITH... Aasif Mandvi By Allie Volpe What has working on ‘Shut Eye’ added to your acting skills? I can see the appeal of being a spiritual guru, even though I was just playing one. There’s kind of an aphrodisiac quality to it. It was great to inhabit that role, which is larger than life, but he’s also a complicated character. He’s dealing with a lot of his own demons. What was your most memorable survival job? I was working as a paralegal. They gave me a 180-page document about valves and I had to condense it down to 20 pages. You spend a whole day reading about valves—how one valve connects to another valve—all connected to this legal case. So I condensed it down and they were like, “It’s not short enough, you need to make it shorter.” I almost started crying because I was like, “I can’t.” So I quit. What was the next audition you booked right after that? Probably some very low-paying regional theater gig. I probably would’ve made more being a paralegal, but I couldn’t do it. What advice would you give your younger self? To keep on creating stuff. For me, that was the big takeaway from a lot of my career. It was when I created content—that’s when all The former “Daily Show” correspondent kinds of things started happening for me. Creating content is set to make his debut as Pazhani “Paz” and constantly creating stuff is the way to deal with the insanity of this business. Things are so accessible in that Kapoor, a spiritual healer, on Hulu’s “Shut way now. I put auditions on tape on my iPhone. Things have Eye.” The show’s second season premieres changed a lot. Dec. 6 and sees Mandvi’s Paz helping Charlie Haverford (Jeffrey Donovan) What is your worst audition story? There’s always the audition unpack his newfound psychic visions. where you go in and you’re like, I didn’t prepare enough, or thought I could wing it.