[School Plays] Stereotypical Casting :|

[Conservative,]

OK this REALLY bugs me...

I've been at my school for 4 years, been in 4 productions and here are my roles:

Hamlet
The White Rabbit
"Brainiac"
A member of the "Salvation Army"

The two in bold are the two that particularly annoy me...

My teacher knows I'm a good actor - he's predicted me an A* for Drama GCSE, so I can't be that bad...but yet I get cast into this role, stereotyping me because I wear glasses and (had) braces?

I think it's unfair that people get cast on what they look like rather than how good they are at acting. Another teacher even said if I didn't have glasses I would probably have bigger parts...

some of the kids getting the main roles in this years play - Guys & Dolls - cannot act/sing/dance to save their life, but because they're "gangsters" they get the good parts?

I hate it when people are cast due to their look/attitude rather than acting skills. I'm actually not that nerdy, I do a lot of music/sport and that...I just don't get in trouble like the "cool" kids.


So yeah back to the point, I'm really annoyed at the Drama department at the moment for casting me in these "nerdy" roles, because I have glasses? Does anyone else get this?


Just to add: I found out that this kid - who failed his singing Grade 1 because he was so bad, failed his drama GCSE and has two left feet has one of the main parts?

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|

[matt$]

Drama isnt a real qualification anyway.

[Conservative,]

Drama isnt a real qualification anyway.

Lol. Harsh. Lots of essay writing actually.

[Nemo]

Lol. Harsh. Lots of essay writing actually.

I wouldnt try and defend it. Its a sad truth, for you atleast. Im terrible at drama

[Conservative,]

I wouldnt try and defend it. Its a sad truth, for you atleast. Im terrible at drama

Lol, I took it because my Drama teacher sent my parents a letter saying I'm Gifted & Talented in it and I could (if I wanted to) pass it easily. I should've taken computing though. Oh well.

[myke]

Sorry to be so insensitive but I am really confused... you say you're in a wheelchair but you're saying you do lots of sport and dance..?
so whats actually wrong..?

the way the world works is that what you look like gets the part, if a character is decided to be fat then a fat person has to play them, you cant have a skinny person!!

good luck with the production

[Conservative,]

Sorry to be so insensitive but I am really confused... you say you're in a wheelchair but you're saying you do lots of sport and dance..?
so whats actually wrong..?

the way the world works is that what you look like gets the part, if a character is decided to be fat then a fat person has to play them, you cant have a skinny person!!

good luck with the production

I use a wheelchair - yes. I don't do much dance...but I do sport such as skiing. I have a wheelchair when I need it - not often.

Anyway, yes some parts are what you look like, but a generic part like "crapshooter" as the part I wanted in Guys & Dolls is basically a gangster. There is no defined look for it. There is also no defined look for Salvation Army. I understand why you would want people to look like their part, but the main girl character (who is blonde in the real play/film) is ginger in our version? That's hardly going with what they look like.

I think they should do it on actual skill then, if there are two people fighting for the same part, physical looks.

[Ed.]

To be fair, in the real world, most plays etc are cast because of what people look like and what their real life character is like.

[Conservative,]

To be fair, in the real world, most plays etc are cast because of what people look like and what their real life character is like.

But they're not going to cast someone who looks identical to the original actor if they can't act for ****?

[chantellehugs]

Isn't you saying a person can't act just your opinion? Maybe the people doing the casting feel the person can act.
And when they cast people they take into account different factors, not just whether they're an amazing actor or whether they look good for the part.

But they're not going to cast someone who looks identical to the original actor if they can't act for ****?