A couple of weeks ago, I was cast as "Grand Central Commuter #24" in a TV show. This job was from a mid-sized casting company that books me a few times a year, and they have never cast me as a hooker, or as an "LGBT Type." To them, I'm just another actress. It was an overnight shoot where we filmed in the real Grand Central Station until 5:00 am. The station closes to the public at 4:00 am, so I had the chance to see this landmark without any civilians running around. I even got to explore the secret “Employees Only” sections. That’s right, I’ve used the employee Ladies room beneath 42nd street. How many New Yorkers can claim that honor?
It was a scene with 200 extras. For the first few hours, we were mixed in with real commuters who were running for their trains. As the night wore on, and the last trains to Long Island were about to leave at 2:00, there was a flood of people heading home from nightclubs and their Friday night outings. The scene was set in winter, but it was a hot day, so girls in skimpy summer nightclub outfits ran past us actors in our warm coats.
There was plenty of downtime as we shot the scene over and over from different angles.
Between shots, the other actors were talking about what else they were cast on. There’s a sci-fi show filming now; it’s about a virus that transforms ordinary people into beautiful people. I can't say the title, but the premise is a little like the Demi Moore movie, The Substance.
One of the other actresses asked me if I've been cast on this show about beautiful people yet.
“No,” I replied. Then I explained that I did some Stand-In work for it, but the casting company wouldn’t let me play any On-Camera role.
She seemed surprised. She insisted that I'd be perfect for it, "They’re always looking for beautiful people," she said.
"Aw shucks..." I thought.
People say things like that to me often. I usually assume they’re just expressing their support for transgender people. Other trans women say the same thing happens to them too. But I do hear it a lot on movie sets, as I’ve mentioned previously on this blog.
I didn’t want to sound haughty, or vain. After all, beauty is subjective. The other people at the table seemed to agree that I was so beautiful that the casting company would surely have cast me.
But this was Waldorf Casting, one of the casting companies that I believe is biased against transgender people. So I just clarified that I had worked as a Stand In for a beautiful actress in a couple of shots, but I was never allowed to portray the role of "Beautiful Woman #8" on screen.
I was worried that I might come across as spiteful, and envious of the actresses who did get cast as beauties. But…
But the show is also looking for normal people! Ordinary actors to play characters who haven’t been transformed by the beautiful virus yet. I hadn’t even been cast as one of the normal people!
Most of the main characters have one actor to portray them before they transform, and another actor to portray the “Post transformation” version.
And almost every day Waldorf Casting was looking for dozens of extras to play ordinary people in the background.
But I was never cast as anything!
This raised an important question: How do these casting companies see me? They don't think I'm beautiful. But they don’t think I’m normal either.
This show even had casting ads for people who are waiting in a cosmetic surgeon’s office. As well as people who look like they’ve had plastic surgery. A few adds specifically wanted “Women with too much Botox/plastic surgery.”
That raises another question: Do I look like I’ve “Had Work Done”? or like I might be considering getting cosmetic surgery?
I won’t provide the answers but, surely, I must fit somewhere in the range between “Normal Person” and “Surgically Enhanced Beauty.”
The show even has a subplot about a transgender character who is transformed by the virus. And they used two different transwomen for the role; one as pre-transformation, and one as the post-transformation. I worked as a Stand-In for both roles!
“Surely,” I say! Surely, the casting company should have been able to find a spot for me somewhere in the vast spectrum of character types in this show!
But, alas, this never happened.
The same casting company did manage squeeze me into another show as a theater-goer back in May. Which might be them making a gesture of good faith.
In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for being “Beautiful Grand Central Commuter #24.”
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