EP 402: A Lead Actor and the Casting Director
Julie Harris Oliver: [00:00:00] This is the Catch A Break podcast, the insiders guide to breaking into and navigating the entertainment industry. I'm Julie Harris Oliver. You can find us at catchabreakpodcast.com and all the social media at Catch A Break Pod, as well as all the podcast places.
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We are continuing our Project Greenlight [00:01:00] series where we talk to the cast and crew of Gray Matter and get the real behind the scenes of the behind the scenes.
We're dropping these pretty fast. So if you wanna start at the beginning, go back and start with episode 401. For this episode, I sat down with Jessica Frances Dukes, who plays Ayla in the film and Seth Yanklewitz, the casting director. This was such a juicy conversation. I was still thinking about it days later.
Let me know what you think. You're in for a treat. Okay, have a listen.
Okay guys, welcome to Catch A Break. This is the insider's guide to getting into and navigating the entertainment business, and I'm so excited about talking with the two of you today. We have talked to, in the process of this, tons of people who worked on Gray Matter, which is a film inside of Project Greenlight, and now we get to talk to the casting director and one of the leads. I'm so excited about it. So let me introduce you really quick and then we'll get into it. Okay.
Let's start with Jessica Frances Dukes plays one of the leading roles on the upcoming film, Gray Matter, the making of which is the subject of this season of HBO's Project Greenlight. You may also know [00:02:00] her from where she plays Special Agent Maya Miller on Netflix's Ozark. Miss Dukes also is known for Marvel's Jessica Jones, New Amsterdam, NCIS New Orleans, The Good Wife, and many more. A theater veteran, Miss Dukes just finished playing Millie Davis in Trouble in Mind on Broadway and is an Obie award winner for Bootycandy at Playwrights Horizons off Broadway, and a Delco winner and a Drama League Awards Distinguished Performance nominee for the role of Vera in, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark at the Signature Theater off Broadway and more. And we should say you are nominated for two SAG awards with the ensemble of the cast of Ozark.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yay.
Julie Harris Oliver: Welcome.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
Julie Harris Oliver: Seth Yanklewitz is an Emmy nominated casting director whose award-winning body of work spans across film and television. After most recently, serving as Executive Vice President of Casting and Talent for MGM Films, Television, and Epics Network, Yanklewitz returned to his independent casting roots. He formed Yanklewitz Pollack Casting, and his most recent [00:03:00] projects include the first and second season of the Hulu original series, How I Met Your Father from 20th Television, the feature films, D-Day, Dead Point, and Incoming for Spyglass, Hulu original feature Crush from American High, which was recently nominated for a Glad Media Award, and Onyx for a Hulu original series, Deli Boys, produced by Jenni Konner, a new Netflix animated series Captain Fall from the creators of Norsemen on Netflix, the Epics series From created by Jack Bender, the creator of Lost and Billy the Kid from DreamWorks SKG and Donald DeLine. And many, many, many more things. And let's also say that you got, was it an Emmy nomination for casting the pilot of New Girl?
Seth Yanklewitz: Correct.
Julie Harris Oliver: We were, um, fangirling about that before we even started because what a cast!
Seth Yanklewitz: Thank you.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Oh my God.
Julie Harris Oliver: Incredible. I can't even imagine it with different people in it. Every moment was so delicious.
Seth Yanklewitz: It was. It was magic.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah. I mean, they're all our best friends.
Julie Harris Oliver: Totally! I want there to be a reunion show so we can see what happened to our [00:04:00] friends.
Jessica Frances Dukes: As long as I'm invited! I just wanna be like Ferguson's best friend or something like, just a fly on the wall. Just watch it all happen. It's brilliant.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yes!
Seth Yanklewitz: Thank you. Thanks.
Julie Harris Oliver: So welcome both of you.
Seth Yanklewitz: Thank you.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Thank you.
Julie Harris Oliver: So here's how we start our conversation. We ask everybody what was your first job in the business and how did you get it?
Jessica Frances Dukes: My first job was in Guys and Dolls at Cumberland Theatre, and I want to shout out Frostburg State University. It was the community theater that was right outside of our school, and I learned how to tap in two hours.
Julie Harris Oliver: As you do.
Jessica Frances Dukes: As you do, and I was a hot box girl. That was my first job.
Julie Harris Oliver: Amazing! Now tell us how you got your first job in film and television.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Film and television. Uh, my first job I was doing Bootycandy at, at Playwrights Horizons off Broadway, and the casting director from The Good Wife came to see it and then brought me in for the show and I played, it was a really big part. I was so [00:05:00] shocked, and uh, that was the beginning.
Julie Harris Oliver: Fantastic. And you've been going strong ever since?
Jessica Frances Dukes: I've been going strong ever since. Theater, TV, film, all of it. Loving it.
Julie Harris Oliver: And I think if we can say you just moved to Los Angeles.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I did just move to Los Angeles. It's very exciting. No disrespect New York. I'll be back soon.
Julie Harris Oliver: Well, New York you can always go visit.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Exactly, exactly. Broadway will always be home.
Julie Harris Oliver: Exactly.
Seth.
Seth Yanklewitz: So I, my first job, was an internship in commercial casting in New York City. I was studying at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Julie Harris Oliver: Go Violets.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yep. Go Violets. And in your sixth semester you get to do an internship and it quickly turned into the receptionist, and then an assistant, and an associate and sort of like grew and built from there. And then I wound up helping find the kid for the Disney movie, The Kid. We had done a search on the East Coast and I was a bit mouthy and [00:06:00] said to the heads of casting at Disney when they were in town for a callback, um, you're missing the kid.
And they were basically like, who are you? And I was like, he's a year or two young, but he's exactly what we're looking for and you guys passed him up yesterday and they said to me like, well, you better get him back in here for the director tomorrow. And so Spencer got the part. I had put him in commercials.
Julie Harris Oliver: That was nervy.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I didn't know better. Um, but it sort of is who I am for my, my whole career. So, and then my very, very first like true Hollywood job, I was the assistant to Bonnie Timmermann, who's one of like the grand dames of casting who trained me. Uh, I was the West Coast assistant on Pearl Harbor, the movie. Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Wow.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Wow.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Not too shabby.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: I got lucky.
Julie Harris Oliver: That's really good.
Seth Yanklewitz: And then I turned it into a career.
Julie Harris Oliver: So you were an acting major.
Seth Yanklewitz: I did study acting.
Julie Harris Oliver: Which is [00:07:00] actually, what could, could there be better training to become a casting director?
Seth Yanklewitz: You know, it's funny, like a lot of people have this weird idea that casting directors are angry or frustrated or upset that they didn't make it actors, and I spent my whole life, as I'm sure, you know, you did, all I wanted to do was be an actor. I did all the things. I went to Yale's summer program and I was the only high school kid accepted that year. And I did Hotchkiss, which is a boarding school summer theater program, you know, everything.
And the end of first semester, I went to NYU and I was like, I don't wanna be an actor. And they were like, great, just take a math or science class and we'll put you into the school. And I was like, I'm gonna stay in the acting program, because I will not take a math or science class ever again in my life.
Yeah. And that was, you know. But yeah, I mean, the day I went into my first casting studio for a commercial as like the assistant, [00:08:00] or reader, whatever I was, I was like, oh, this is it. This is, I found it.
Julie Harris Oliver: That's amazing.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah, I got lucky. Yeah, I got lucky.
Jessica Frances Dukes: That's awesome.
Julie Harris Oliver: It's like, wow, that's my jam.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Okay, so let's talk about this Project Greenlight project and getting the call to audition, I assume. What went into your thinking of, yes, of course I'm gonna audition for that film, but also I'm gonna be in a reality show? Like, what, what was that for you?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Are you ready for this? So I didn't ... sometimes you get an audition in, and you, you look at the people and you go, yes, yes, yes, yes, I wanna work with that casting director. I wanna work with that director. I wanna work with these producers. This is great. And then let me read the script. Oh, this script is awesome. And then you forget to see that it's also a TV show called Project Greenlight. And so when I sent in the audition, I was just so in love with this script. I had no, for some reason, it just went right over my head of everything else that it was. And so my audition was strictly to get the role in the film, [00:09:00] because I loved it so much. I'm a sci-fi freak.
Um, and it was just like, it was right up my alley. And it was one of those scripts that you read and you're like, this can't be anybody but me.
Julie Harris Oliver: Like this is mine!
Jessica Frances Dukes: This is mine. You know? There's so many characters. This is a theater girl's dream. This is it. And then when I got the offer, my agents were like, yeah, so this is gonna be this and you're gonna do that.
And I'm like, wait what? It's a reality show? And so I was completely shocked and, and, but I was gained because technically being in theater, like you're always on. So this was, it was fun.
Julie Harris Oliver: Seth, how was it for you?
Seth Yanklewitz: So I got recommended by someone to the producers to interview for the job and for me, I was like, I've been doing this so long, it didn't bother me that there would potentially be a reality sort of feature to it.
I just knew what I would have to do. But the [00:10:00] idea of working for Issa, you know, and her company, was like first and foremost, a priority to me, just because of what she's doing and sort of her message and the script. Like, I, I got the job and still hadn't even met Meko.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh, wow.
Seth Yanklewitz: So I like, literally they were like, it's yours, and come in today and meet Meko!
So, I, I was excited by the idea and part of, or a big part of my business, I love working with first time directors, new-ish directors, right. Because they're so appreciative of the process and they're, they're, they put trust in you that others don't, right. But I loved, like, you know, Jeanette and Yolanda, the sort of film producers, like the minute I met them and I was like, it just like felt right.
And then the script. I was like oh, this is amazing. Like this is awesome. And the, like, this mother-daughter relationship, like just [00:11:00] needs to be told. So I, it didn't, like, I knew I could handle, if that's the right word the reality side. Also, I knew I wasn't really the star of the reality show. Like sure, they were gonna take a lot of footage and I could wind up being in it for three minutes, like, and I was like, okay.
Julie Harris Oliver: Well depending on how dramatic you wanna be.
Seth Yanklewitz: Well, I just, you know.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I don't know. That table read.
Seth Yanklewitz: True.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh, we will get to the table. Don't you worry about that.
Jessica Frances Dukes: The table read.
Seth Yanklewitz: The table read and the aftermath.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I mean, if there's an Emmy for a table read.
Julie Harris Oliver: I can't wait to dig into the table.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I mean, you did that.
Julie Harris Oliver: But let's work our way up there. Let's work our way up. So did it affect how you did your job? I'm gonna ask both of you this, but Seth, did it affect how you did the job knowing you had camera and mic on you all the time?
Seth Yanklewitz: You know, you're acutely aware of a camera literally in your face, right? And look, I have sort of like made a career of coloring just outside the lines sometimes, right? And so, I knew that I just had to be me. [00:12:00] Um, you know, look, casting is one of those parts of our business that if the curtain was truly, truly pulled back, it could be a little scary to hear because we are, we're talking about humans, right? And emotional beings and artists and you know, sometimes we just have to talk in scientific terms about artists and it comes off a little rough.
Julie Harris Oliver: Did you censor how, how you talked about it?
Seth Yanklewitz: No, I, I, I didn't, I think I just was like nice honest, you know, like, I, I didn't, I didn't have to censor, you know? I mean, certainly there were a couple moments-- the table read aftermath-- like, you know, and stuff with that where I was just like, the me, the true me of like, this is not how it's gonna happen.
Like, you know, but, but no, and, and everyone, you know, there was never like true, true high level drama, which sometimes you [00:13:00] can get, and especially when you're dealing with studios and networks and different producers, like, you know, you just have to navigate people. Again, like I feel like I've been doing it a long time and when you're an executive, you learn how to navigate people politically on the inside and as a casting director. So like you just in that moment, I just married the two.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah. Jessica, how is it for you to have the camera on you all the time when normally you'd have your quiet, private time to prepare and to do all those things. How was that?
Jessica Frances Dukes: You know, I, I kind of wanna go back for a second to the people involved and when I look up everybody and I saw who everybody was, you know, I don't know people by names, but the minute I saw New Girl, I saw Issa and I love Insecure and everything she does. I saw, you know, different people that were involved in different things that I love, and so I was just like, I trust already these people, you know, like I've seen interviews with them, like they're my people. And so also coming from theater, the curtain is drawn. You know, there is no [00:14:00] cut, there is no stop. There is no, it is you the minute the curtain goes up and the minute the audience leaves, you know? Um, so for me, it, it was just this time the character was me. You know, there was no cut. It was just, you're always on. And I think also knowing that I was gonna be an example for other people that wanna do what we do, it kind of every day you just had to check your, you know, ego and your pride and what you think you need and what you think you, you know, are used to, whatever, and you just go, this is for a huge purpose. And if I was coming up looking at this, what would I wanna see? And so the job was just to be authentically me as, I don't know how it's gonna come out or what it's gonna look like. Knock on wood!
But, uh, it, it was, it was awesome. There were moments where I was like, oh God, I hope I don't look like a diva in this moment because I asked for that, or asked for this. But at the same time, you know, we're all there to get a job done and sometimes it's [00:15:00] different parts of you that need to get the job done.
Julie Harris Oliver: Well, and you need to have what you need.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: To be supported, feel safe and do your work.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I can't tell you how my, my mind has been rolling. I'm like, what moments are they gonna pick? But I'm excited.
Seth Yanklewitz: I also think, you know, like, Meko being a first time feature director was sort of it, the, the everyone was sort of a level playing field, right?
Because even though Jessica's acted before, or I've cast before, like we, none of us had done a reality show based on this. So in that aspect, we were all trying to figure out how to like do that and the job, which we had to do. Like, at the end of the day, like, I needed to get the best cast possible. Period. The end.
So, you know, we were all like in it together in a way. And, um, you know, I know people worked tirelessly to protect each other, [00:16:00] whether known or unknown. So, yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Was it an additional layer for you? Because you had to keep a studio happy for a reality show.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: And cast a film. How did you balance those things?
Seth Yanklewitz: You know, look, for me, my job was to cast the best movie possible with limited resources and time. Like, I don't know if anyone realizes, but we cast that movie I think in five weeks.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh my God.
Seth Yanklewitz: And maybe six max. Normally a casting job is 10 to 12 and that's, you know, on the short side. So, I...
Jessica Frances Dukes: It was the fastest I had ever found out about anything.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, we also knew. Do you know what I mean?
Julie Harris Oliver: They knew before you knew.
Seth Yanklewitz: I mean, well, for sure we knew before she did, but, but it was very apparent and we can certainly get into that. But yeah, we all navigated it and did it.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah. Let's talk for a minute just about the COVID of it all, cause it was, I understand casting was over [00:17:00] Zoom and then your chemistry reads are on Zoom and you're preparing on Zoom.
How has that kind of changed kind of everything in the last few years?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Uh, I think for us it's, hmm, I can only speak for myself. It has actually made things a little bit easier as an actor to create. Sitting out in the lobby with everybody, um, even though that is the game, sometimes that can be a little, you know, distracting. And you know, you have your characters and, and and, and actors and to shut all of that out is very hard. So when it's just you in your apartment with the script, it's so much easier. Um, and then of course when you're doing a self tape, you're in control of the lens. You're in control of this, you're in control of that.
But the horrible thing is you're also in control of which take you pick. And once you do 15 and you pick the first one, then it's like, you know, that's, so it's kind of easier and harder at the same time. Um, chemistry reads was, I'd never done a chemistry read before, so I didn't have anything to go [00:18:00] off of.
Seth Yanklewitz: At all?
Jessica Frances Dukes: No. No. I didn't even get a call back for Ozark. I thought it was
Seth Yanklewitz: Just got the job.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Out the bag and then all of a sudden they were like, you gotta be in Georgia in two weeks.
Seth Yanklewitz: And that's how amazing she is.
Jessica Frances Dukes: But that was my first chemistry read, so it was great.
Julie Harris Oliver: And how do, how do you do it? Do you do it on Zoom with the split screen? Like what do you?
Seth Yanklewitz: So the technical aspect of it was, um, we were all on Zoom. Everyone's on Zoom and Jessica pins, the, let's say Mia cause she got the part, right? So from our angle, you're looking at Jessica and Mia on two boxes, but they are looking at each other only.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: On like their full, their full screen.
Um, and you know, to go back to answer your question, I I, by the time I did Greenlight, I had done I think three TV shows and a movie on Zoom, and [00:19:00] except for How I Met Your Father, which at the very, very end, we live chemistry read only like the top choice opposite Hillary for a couple roles because the ensemble and their chemistry, really, for, especially for these showrunners, was so important to see it live.
You know, I mean, but in a weird way, like with all the COVID restrictions, like we're all in masks. We're, we're on a sound stage cause they had another show that let us use it. Like Hillary and Chris come in and like they're both in masks until, like, you can literally say, okay, action, and then they take 'em off quickly.
It was so, the COVID restrictions guy was there, like literally in our faces checking. I mean, I don't even know if like that was better or worse than the actual Zoom. But um, yeah, it was, it [00:20:00] sort of, it, it has changed.
And again, to what Jessica said, I keep saying and keep telling young actors cause it's going around like actors, like to do a self tape as an audition to me, like you get to put forward your best take. No more shitting the bed in a room.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah. Lucky.
Seth Yanklewitz: Like think about like, you know,
Jessica Frances Dukes: No feeling like, oh God, you got 10 people out there. Lemme just, that's fine. Just leave that one. This one.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah. Or like, oh my god, I was five minutes late and now I ran and I'm sweating and I had got called right into the room and I'm like, wet.
And like, I just like wish, I know actors want the human contact with their casting director, but I assure you, the same is coming from what we see. And like you've now done your best first work, so.
Julie Harris Oliver: Do you think this is the way it's gonna be going forward? We're gonna hang onto it?
Seth Yanklewitz: Well, we will see after the negotiations this summer.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh yeah. Okay. [00:21:00]
Seth Yanklewitz: Like the contract negotiations. But I know casing directors would be fine, or many of them. I mean, I think eventually sort of the, the older class of producers and directors will really push to get back in a room. But again, and not to sort of steal the time here, but like on my show, I can see 50 more people for a co-star.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: Like so many actors who necessarily wouldn't get a shot are getting shots.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yes.
Seth Yanklewitz: Because I can just watch the tapes at night.
Julie Harris Oliver: Right.
Seth Yanklewitz: You know, and I.
Jessica Frances Dukes: And we don't have to freak out and be like, oh my God, I can't go anywhere. I can't, I have to be right here just in case. And now it's like,
Julie Harris Oliver: You don't have to drive across town.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I can be anywhere. I can be in Puerto Rico and send in my tape.
Seth Yanklewitz: Right. You can do like, you know, five auditions for, I just, I just want actors to calm down a little and realize that maybe this could help everyone sort of get a start faster. [00:22:00]
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: So just calm down everyone.
Seth Yanklewitz: Just a little.
Julie Harris Oliver: It's gonna be fun.
Seth Yanklewitz: Just a little. Just a little. And like everyone, please don't strike.
Julie Harris Oliver: Right. Right.
Seth Yanklewitz: Fight for what you need, but please don't strike.
Julie Harris Oliver: Also, please don't strike.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Let's talk about your character Ayla.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I fell in love with her the minute, I think I was on page two. There are a lot of times when we read a role and we figure out who this person is, and there were so many parts of her that were me and the me that I needed work on.
And so it was so easy to fall into her, especially in the middle of a pandemic, uh, where we're, so, we're just, we feel so vulnerable, you know? Um, it was just, yeah, I, I just, it, she was like my skin. It felt great to read it. It felt great to do it. It felt great to drop into it.
And then once we started shooting, I was like, oh, oh, this is gonna be hard. But it was, it was great. It was so [00:23:00] fulfilling.
Julie Harris Oliver: What do you mean she shared the parts of you that you need to work on?
Jessica Frances Dukes: I always like to look at a character and find out, um, what is the most, what is the part of the character that I would never want to expose of myself, if that makes sense. Um, the things that are private to me and the parts of Ayla that keep them protected, that have kept her secluded, that have kept her, you know, away from what she feels is harm, I think is also something that I do. Um, and the pandemic even made that even worse. I was one of those people that I had no problem leaving, not leaving my house. And people would go, girl, you gotta just come on over. I'm, I'm fine. You can leave it outside the door. I don't want nothing to do with.
You know, so there's, there was so many things about her that I just found so beautifully, authentically dark and at the same time light. Um, and I see that in myself, so I, I, I really, really, really felt her. [00:24:00]
Julie Harris Oliver: How like terrifying and thrilling that is at the same time.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yes. It's exposing.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah.
Jessica Frances Dukes: And I, I remember thinking what's her secret and what's, you know, what's my secret, and all those things. And, and who is her daughter really for her, you know?
Um, and for me it was just kind of like a, a deep dive into the soul. And I also was in a space that I felt safe to do that in. Meko made it very, very safe. And, uh, Mia also made it very, very safe to go there. And it was just, with Ayla, I got a chance to go to the darkest parts of me, the lightest parts of me, the funnest parts of me, all of it.
Julie Harris Oliver: Now, I haven't seen it yet, so forgive the naivete in my question. Didn't she have to play multiple characters? Or did you have to play multiple characters, or you as her playing multiple? How did that work?
Jessica Frances Dukes: All of that. She's, she plays well, mm. She appears in multiple forms of herself, if that makes sense.
Um, she [00:25:00] comes to her daughter in multiple versions of herself. It's almost used as a, a tool, um, to bring her into her daughter's psyche in multiple ways. So I got a chance to play, uh, her in many lights and, and myself in many lights, you know, and in a 1980 sitcom, or a 1950s Leave It to Beaver, or a complete, you know, horror film, and all these things.
So it was, it was, like I said, in the first part of this, it was a theater girl's dream.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah. Now I've interviewed a lot of the crew people. Every single one of them cannot stop talking about that sitcom scene and how great you were. What, and I imagine that's a completely different kind of acting, so to be playing a character who then is acting in a sitcom, like what did you have to go through to get there?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Well, I think it's like when we audition, you know, we look at the, the script we go, is it multi-cam? Is it single cam? You know, who are the producers? Is this like, you know, is this New Girl? Or is this, you know, something a little darker? What, what is this?
And for [00:26:00] me, I love campy sitcom. So the minute I saw that it was gonna be multi-cam, I thought that, I knew that the camera was gonna be moving and shaking. And I was like, oh, I can completely go wild here. Um, and I just thought about my favorite sitcoms and, and a lot of that character you see in the 1980 sitcom though is my mom. It's really bad.
Sorry, mom.
So yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Let the record show.
Now you talked about how they created such a safe space for you to work. Uh, the question for both of you really, how did you establish that relationship with Meko? Cause I know Meko got told she was the director and the next day, you know, you're late. Let's get on with it.
How did you, uh, how did you establish that relationship?
Seth Yanklewitz: So, I mean, it literally was like that fast of a, you know, she, she got told the night before and I came in, I think at like noon, um, to, to meet with her. You know, I, [00:27:00] first off we knew someone in common, randomly, um, who had vouched for me to her. So I think that immediately put her at slight ease.
But you know, I just like looked at her and I think I said something like, we're gonna like just get you the best cast ever. You know, like you need to worry about so many departments, you know, cause certainly in casting we like to think we're the most important, but, but the truth is we are at the very, very beginning, right?
Like, and then all of a sudden, like, the production designers coming in with curtains and you know, like the other stuff to build the world becomes so much more important. But like I just said to her, like, I will fight for you to get the best cast. That's my job. Like I will not stop fighting for you to have the best cast.
And I think, you [00:28:00] know, for a first time director to hear that, like I didn't have an ulterior motive. I didn't have an agenda. Like I wasn't in cahoots with the studio like, right?
Julie Harris Oliver: Right, like who has the power in this room right now?
Seth Yanklewitz: I just want you to leave going, I have an amazing cast, and then my job's done.
So, you know, we just built on that notion and I think we did it.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah, I bet that goes a long way for you to go in and say, I am here for you to fight for you.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Okay, great.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: How about you?
Jessica Frances Dukes: You know, it's, what I love, what I love about Meko that I saw immediately, we had a Zoom meeting, just the two of us to get to know each other for a little bit and, and, um, she was so chill and nerdy and awkward. And I was like, yay, you're one of us! And it's, it was just so easy to kinda like fall into a, a comfortability with her. I, I saw [00:29:00] myself in her, you know, and so I was like, oh, this is gonna be easy. Uh, and the, we were just both two awkward Black girls, no pun intended, um, you know, sharing our love for sci-fi and all, everything Blerd.
So it was, um, Black nerd for those who dunno what a Blerd is. Everything Blerd and it was just, it was wonderful.
Julie Harris Oliver: Now, shall we talk about that table read?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Let's do it.
Julie Harris Oliver: Um, why don't, why don't you, why don't you tell me what happened the day of the table read?
Jessica Frances Dukes: I had no clue the cameras were gonna start right away. Um, I, again, I think all of it was like I was learning as I was going because it happened so fast.
I think my audition was on a Monday. My callback with director and producers was on a Friday. My table read was, I mean, uh, my chemistry read was that next Monday, and then I had a premiere for the fourth season of Ozark. And literally that night they were like, you need to be in LA [00:30:00] tomorrow. And I was like, I gotta go to my premiere!
And then the next day, I flew to LA and it was like boom, boom, boom. And it was like every day I got new information about what was next. And I was like, okay, okay.
And then I remember getting out the car, getting ready to go to the studio for my first table read, cause I'd never even done a table read before. Cause we don't do table reads for Ozark. And so,
Julie Harris Oliver: And you haven't met these people yet?
Jessica Frances Dukes: No, no, no.
Seth Yanklewitz: Nobody met. Nobody had met anyone except they did the chemistry read.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Uh huh. And so I walk in and they're like, can you go back out? And then we need you to walk back in,
Julie Harris Oliver: Back to one before you even walk in.
Jessica Frances Dukes: You know? And but don't speak to anybody cause we wanna get it on. And I was like, oh my God, it's starting. I called my mom and I was like, it already started.
Um, and so I think for me, I'm a big goober, so the whole, I was just like this the whole time, like okay. And, uh, once we started. And we started the table read. [00:31:00] I realized, I was like, oh my God, this is gonna be like, this is, they're, they're gonna film our first time together as a cast and all these people here watching.
I remember also being in the room and being like, oh my God, look at all these Black women that are in charge in here. And I'd never seen that before. And there was just so many things that day where I was just like, oh my God. And then the casting director of your favorite show is just sitting right there and then the director, it was nuts.
Julie Harris Oliver: It's a lot.
Jessica Frances Dukes: It was a lot. And then we did the table read.
Julie Harris Oliver: But also hold, if I may, so you haven't had a chance to really talk to Meko yet about your character or what-- you're just table read, camera on?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh God. How'd that feel?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Well, here we go.
Seth Yanklewitz: Just to like give background too, to like your viewers, but also like exactly what Jessica's referring to.
So, normally in a table read.
Julie Harris Oliver: Thank you.
Seth Yanklewitz: The director would talk to their actors, or there would be a pre table read to, so the cast could [00:32:00] meet for the first time, right? And like they could try in, in a, in a movie, potentially. Not necessarily a TV show. There's no like pre table reads, but like in movies oftentimes there's pre table reads, so that didn't happen.
Then also, when we all arrived to, like, wherever it was being held, everybody was like siphoned off quickly and mic'd, and, and literally separated. And like we, I was like, yeah. And they were like, don't talk to her.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Don't speak to each other.
Seth Yanklewitz: They were like, don't talk to, because they wanted to... Look where I appreciate they wanted like natural reactions. They didn't want anything fake. So like, I was like, okay.
And so the casting director comes in, we set up the room, we get everybody ready. And normally like we go, we, our jobs as casting people, we introduce everybody to each other. We make the room warm, we get everyone excited and we couldn't have any of it.
So like it felt sterile. Everybody was like on high alert. Some of the [00:33:00] actors I, I, not to bash agents, but some of the agents did not share with the actors that we were recording the table read. So like some people didn't know that. Right, right, right. So there were things that like everyone was sort of like, what's going on? You know?
So anyway, to go back then, yeah. They didn't get their moments with their director prior.
Julie Harris Oliver: I heard you didn't get one after either.
Jessica Frances Dukes: No, that was it. It was over.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah. When, when it was over it was over. And, and usually what happens is if it's being recorded, like they'll send it around, people will watch it, or like they immediately go for notes to sort of figure out like what worked, what didn't work, what in the script, what are they, you know, and how are performances and the notes.
Like Issa had Zoomed in to watch and she was on a big screen, you know, and the naturally, like you had many voices. And this is when the, the sort of nuts and [00:34:00] bolts of like how stuff gets made, um, starts to, you know, happen and different points of views and different opinions and things get discussed and you know, so yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Well, I hope we get to see all that.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah. Oh, I'm sure you will. I'm sure you, I'm sure you will.
Julie Harris Oliver: So then after that, how long before like you really got to have some time with Meko and talk about?
Jessica Frances Dukes: The next day.
Julie Harris Oliver: Okay. So then you were in it and onward.
Seth Yanklewitz: Oh yeah.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I'm pretty sure it was the next day.
Uh, we had lunch and just sort of, just Meko, Mia, and myself and just sort of talked through some really important moments in the script and some notes that came from the table read, and she was like, you need to like your daughter. And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. It was too much, too intense.
And just, you know, she talked through some thoughts that she had, and Mia and I got a chance to really like talk for the first time, like [00:35:00] just about what we thought about the script and what we thought about our characters.
It was a lot of fun. Um, and then we were immediately in the fire.
Julie Harris Oliver: And then how did you form your relationship with Mia?
Jessica Frances Dukes: They gave me the two names of the girls that I was reading with for the chemistry read, and I immediately looked them up and I saw my face and I was like, we look alike. And there was so much
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh, excellent casting. Sorry. Excellent casting.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Good job.
And I was like, she looks, like that looks like that's my daughter. Um, and I was like, I mean, both of 'em did, but she really looked like my daughter and I was just like, oh, this is gonna be great. Um, and then when I met her, she was so much more mature than I was expecting, and she was just so chill and so calm and so,
Seth Yanklewitz: So calm.
Jessica Frances Dukes: It was, it was so, it was a breath of fresh air and there was no ego about her. It was just like she was just Ro [00:36:00] immediately, you know. Um, and I'm already a nurturing person and I'm, I'm mama bear among my friends. And so it just, it fell right in for me.
Julie Harris Oliver: And how old is she supposed to be playing in the movie?
Seth Yanklewitz: I think 16 or 17. And she had just literally days before or days after we were gonna start, was turning 18. So like, oh no, it was days before because we could do like adult hours, I think. So, but it was like days before, like so.
Julie Harris Oliver: So she's walked in fully formed, self-possessed adult?
Seth Yanklewitz: Oh yeah. I mean, basically.
Jessica Frances Dukes: She was more mature than me at moments. I was like, okay, that joke wasn't funny to you. It was great. It was great.
Julie Harris Oliver: I also wanted to ask you, Seth, about casting for the sitcom.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: And how that was different from casting from the film part and kind of what you drew on to gather those people.
Seth Yanklewitz: So, I mean, I did, I, I've done so much comedy that, you know, it was really just like, okay, this is like a multi-cam and like a 50s multi-cam. Like, so we're really [00:37:00] playing like the, like the stereotypical old sitcom. So it was really, I mean, that was almost easier than
Julie Harris Oliver: Just going this file over here instead of this file over here.
Seth Yanklewitz: To simplify it, yes, exactly. Like, it's just like, okay.
But you know, there were so many factors of, again, budget and timing and location and like, you know, so you sort of just have to go on like your instincts and like, who do you know? And like Wendy Braun, who's in it, you know, she's like actually a mom at my kid's school too. And there were, there were just like things, you know, that were quite easy.
But the art of being a multi-cam actor is very different than a single cam television actor. And usually like, you know, theater actors translate to multi-cam very easily, cause they're used to like the stage and performing live and et cetera, et cetera.
Bigger. Yeah.
Jessica Frances Dukes: And the audience.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yes. And having the [00:38:00] audience.
So, so it wasn't, it wasn't necessarily hard, it was just, you know, we had to get it very right and quickly.
Julie Harris Oliver: What was your favorite memory that happened on this show? A thing that will stick with you.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Oh wow. That's, that's a hard one for me. I think you'll see when you watch it's, it's a hard one.
There were-- every day was awesome. I don't know if I have an answer. Every day was awesome.
I mean, of course like any show you have your, you know, days where you're tired, you have this or that, the night shoots and all that other stuff. But, there was something about this particular project, this particular character, working for the people I was working for, uh, just every day was a dream.
Julie Harris Oliver: You loved it.
Jessica Frances Dukes: I loved every second of it. Including the moments that I was like, I'm exhausted. But it was just awesome.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah. How hard is that to switch to, I mean, it's gotta be hard enough to work night, night shifts, but as an actor, you really have to be on.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah. It's treacherous. It, it plays with your mind. [00:39:00] Um, but it also was great for the character, you know? It really messes with your mind when you're sitting in a house in the middle of the night, but it looks like day, you know, because of the lighting and everything. And you walk out and it's pitch black, but then you're getting home at 7:00 AM.
I know everybody in that hotel thought I was a prostitute. I know they did because the people at the front desk, every time I would walk in at 7, they'd be like, "hey."
But then you're sleeping during the day and it's if, if you can, and it was, it was a lot. So you, you, you, you lose out on a lot of sleep.
Julie Harris Oliver: How do you take care of yourself? And your instrument while you're doing that?
Jessica Frances Dukes: I'm a massive fitness freak, as you'll probably see during this. Um, so I worked out pretty heavy during, while I was doing it. Uh, and I kept myself on a very specific eating regiment that I knew would keep my energy going, uh, as well as my body going.
Do you have
Julie Harris Oliver: a team that helps you with that?
Jessica Frances Dukes: No, but they were wonderful on set and, um, everyone, the producers and everybody made sure they had my [00:40:00] meal plan and all that other stuff to just make sure that I didn't crash.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah. Important.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Seth, what's your favorite memory takeaway?
Seth Yanklewitz: There were like two or three moments where, you know, I had to sort of stick to my guns for Mia, and like with Mia. And I'm glad we did because you know, although I haven't seen the movie, I can pretty much guarantee like the ensemble is spot on together, right?
Like, and, and I, I'm not saying that cause like that was my job on it. I truly, like, I can say honestly, like my one superpower as a casting person is when I really dig in, it's cause like I know that I'm right. Like I just do. Like, I like it's, I can't do a lot of things in life. Like I cannot, right? But I know that, like, when I feel it in my soul and my guts that like, you have to go with this person and like, the [00:41:00] truth is Jessica was sort of like a no-brainer. Like once we like got auditions, so like it happened, right? But like the two girls, there was a lot of back and forth, a lot of back and forth. And we just like said like I am telling you, it is Mia. She is a star. Like, and the other girl was amazing.
And then I personally think like Garret Dillahunt was just-- to have gotten him in such a low budget, like sort of with a first time director, you know, all the things that actors are scared of sometimes, he was just like, I love it. Like I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm into it.
And you know, it was one of those things like, however it comes out, like again, I just feel like we got the right cast. Everyone, like everyone, together. Like this ensemble to me, and I'm glad, you know, I fought where I thought I needed to fight and I use the word fight, but you know, it's [00:42:00] just strong conversation.
Julie Harris Oliver: In a very polite politically...
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.. And not real fighting. It's just like, it's the good fight, you know. The artistic like, like fight that we all in this business have when we're in these jobs.
Julie Harris Oliver: So what I'm getting is you can really read the people.
Seth Yanklewitz: Well,
Julie Harris Oliver: Like there's some intuition that goes with it.
Seth Yanklewitz: I mean yes. I think innately as a casting person, like our job is to read people, right?
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: But like, again, and I don't know if this sounds pompous and I really don't mean it to at all, or egotistical at all. Like I feel like, like with New Girl, I knew it was Max Greenfield. Nobody, nobody knew who, I mean, not that they didn't know who he was, but like I was working with very high level comedy people. He hadn't done like that type of comedy, and I like, I was like, I am telling you he is this part. But he had never done anything to show that he was this part until he came in and auditioned.
And like, so like that, like [00:43:00] those moments, like I've had a lot of those moments where like the director's been like, I don't think we found it. And I'm like, she's coming in next. And then the person gets the part and it goes back to like the way I said about like that kid for the movie, The Kid, I didn't necessarily know what I was feeling at that time, but it's like, you know, I knew it was Mia and Jessica. I knew it was Garret, right? And again, I haven't seen the final product and like, you know. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.
Jessica Frances Dukes: It was also pretty cool to like, you're not just getting cast as the role. I don't know if you saw this or not, but it's like it was pretty awesome to have somebody also trust that you're not gonna be an asshole in the reality show. Excuse me. Can I say that? Sorry.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah, you can say that.
Jessica Frances Dukes: You know, because there is, the camera is on you the whole time. It's like, do you pick the person that's great for the role and also gonna be annoying on set? Or you know, it's like, I don't know how you did that, but I was just like, can he see that I'm a good person? Is that what it is? Like I don't, you know, I think it was really cool that all this [00:44:00] kind of came together, that it was a great cast to work with.
Julie Harris Oliver: Okay. I think this brings us to our martini shop.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Ooh.
Julie Harris Oliver: Which is our last shot of the day. So what I wanna ask you is, what is your advice for people who want to do what you do in the business? And Seth, you also get the bonus of what advice do you give to actors wanting to get in from, from where you sit.
So, since I'm asking you twice, why don't you tell us first your piece of advice for people who wanna be casting directors.
Seth Yanklewitz: Oh, I mean, there's so much work now. Like, you know, I, I, I say just, you know, go for it. Like there's training programs now, which never existed through Casting Society of America. Um, you know, come out here, get in an office, you know, and for sure, just start watching and seeing everything and, you know, developing like your taste in actors.
Julie Harris Oliver: Is it traditionally an apprenticeship type of thing?
Seth Yanklewitz: Well, in the old days you started as an intern, unpaid intern. That obviously doesn't exist anymore. The training program and the [00:45:00] mentor-mentee program set up through Casting Society of America, it, it basically is an education program, like they teach you this stuff that I had to learn on my hands and knees.
Julie Harris Oliver: The hard way.
Seth Yanklewitz: Literally. And being yelled at with staplers being thrown at me.
Julie Harris Oliver: Oh, the good old days. Oh yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but, but yeah, I mean, again, like, you know, there's so much work. So much work that there's so much more opportunity for people and, um, you know, go for it.
Julie Harris Oliver: Do you also have to watch everything?
Seth Yanklewitz: Um, It's funny. So I like to. I have very, very, very eclectic taste. Like I, when I was a Fox executive, Kevin Reilly was the president of the network and he used to, like in big meetings, he would be like, there would be a question and or something and I'd like raise my hand and he'd be like, you have the weirdest taste Seth, but I love it. Because I literally would be watching like some obscure sci-fi something. And then I'd be watching, you know, what [00:46:00] everyone was watching, you know.
And it's funny, when I did Billy the Kid for Epics, we were looking for Billy's mother. It was three episodes. It had to be an Irish woman. And that weekend I had just watched on Netflix, I don't know if it's The Unusuals, but it was basically like kids in England who were like, you know, discarded but working the underground for not Hitchcock, um, oh God. Who's the famous detective?
Julie Harris Oliver: Sherlock Holmes.
Seth Yanklewitz: Sherlock Holmes. And, he had a girl, Holmes had a girlfriend, and she, I like, I was like, who is this woman?
Found out who she was. She's an Irish actress. Happened to be. She was available. I literally like came back and I was like, I found who she is. She auditioned like in Ireland in her parents' house on tape and then like, you know, a director session and everything. Later she got the part.
So like I do watch [00:47:00] everything because like even commercials, like obviously the Super Bowl for me was a Rihanna concert and commercials.
Julie Harris Oliver: Yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: You know.
Julie Harris Oliver: Of course. Of course.
Seth Yanklewitz: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Okay. Jessica, what is your advice for people who want to do what you do?
Jessica Frances Dukes: Be fearless. Know yourself, um, and why you're special and authentic and different. Um, I do think you should watch everything, especially the people that you wanna work with, everything that they're doing. Every YouTube interview, every masterclass, um, everything. I, I think you need to absorb it all.
And I always tell, you know, my students and, and, and other people that come to me. I say, you know, have the end. Like have the people who, at the end of the day you're gonna say, this was the end game... I wanted to do this, this, that, that, and that. And then connect the dots.
You know, find out what their journey was, find out where they went to school, find out where they trained. Cause you [00:48:00] can be happy working in Texas doing regional theater all your life and teaching at a university and you're an artist. But if you're saying, you know, I wanna be Issa Rae, then you need to take writing classes. You need to learn how to produce. You need to start building content. You need to, you know, build your team. You need to find everything that, that she's done and how she did it and everything. But know what other people's paths have been, uh, in order for you to make your blueprint, and then you connect the dots and you work. Tirelessly. Um, and, uh, every show that you book or, you know, job that you get, it's the icing on the cake, but that is not the job.
The job is actually like the work that you do on yourself to get better every single day, so that by the time the audition comes, there's no thought. It's just do. Um, so that's
Julie Harris Oliver: You're always ready.
Jessica Frances Dukes: You're always ready. You have to be always ready and, and you cannot, um, sell yourself short. Uh, know who you are, [00:49:00] know what you're capable of, and dare to be that. That's my advice.
Julie Harris Oliver: That is so good. Just the, having the vision of what you wanna be and working backwards.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yep.
Julie Harris Oliver: I mean, Seth, we both went to school with so many people who wanted to be actors who didn't do that and are not actors today. Who, cause there's so much like, oh, I hope and wish that something will happen and it's all gonna be magical. No, it's that what you just said.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah. I remember graduating and my teacher being like, what do you wanna be? I said, I wanna be the Black female Robert De Niro. And I was like, great. Figure out what that journey was. Or, or, or, you know. Or like there were other people involved that I, that I looked up to, um, other careers that I looked up to, and I, it's shocking how things happen.
I remember being on a bus with friends and they, I, I was like doing this game. I was like, top three people you wanna work with. And Laura Linney was one of mine, and two weeks later, I got the audition for Ozark.[00:50:00]
And so it's like, dare
Julie Harris Oliver: I just got chills.
To make the
Jessica Frances Dukes: dreams come true.
You know, they can. It's, you gotta do the damn work though.
Seth Yanklewitz: Right.
Julie Harris Oliver: Be specific.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah.
Julie Harris Oliver: Alright. Do you have more advice for actors?
Seth Yanklewitz: I mean, I think Jessica really, really, really said it, you know, so beautifully.
I, I, I think it really is the work. Do you know what I mean? Um, and I actually say the same thing. I'm like, If you don't know who you are, right, and if you're not honest with yourself, it is impossible for your work to feel authentic, grounded, beautiful, like, you know, figure out what's not working and figure out how to fix it so that when you go in or when you audition or when it's a producer session and you have to like play, like everything else is you know, setting you free.
Julie Harris Oliver: Okay. I, I hear all the up and coming actors asking how, how do [00:51:00] you get so clear so you can say it in a sentence, who you are, what you have to bring. I think cause actors are so malleable sometimes, you know, just, I can be anything. What. Throw me in. I can that, that Justin Hoffman scene.
I can be shorter. I can be taller.
Seth Yanklewitz: Here's the thing.
Julie Harris Oliver: You want somebody else.
Seth Yanklewitz: You, not every job is for every person.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Exactly.
Seth Yanklewitz: I don't get every job that I audition for, right? Like I lost a job two weeks ago. Like.
Julie Harris Oliver: Well, they were fools.
Seth Yanklewitz: But my point is like, if you are not honest with, you know, your limitations as a person, you know, you are going to be disappointed because you're chasing something that isn't realistic, right?
And that does not mean it won't become a reality. You just have to do the work. Whether it's physical work, psychological work, getting healthy in other ways, or need more training. I, I'm not saying, look, the world has [00:52:00] changed, right? All different of everything is being accepted to be front and center in the camera. So like no longer do people have to hide, but like just be the healthiest, most capable, hardworking version of what you are. And again, like, you gotta back it up with the work. You just do. You do.
Jessica Frances Dukes: And the work is, there's multiple versions of it. So the how, I think, I can only speak for the actors, you know, you're not booking ,take a class.
And I don't care if you have a master's already, you know, or if you went to the best training school, or if you're not booking, there's something going on right now that maybe you just need to shake it out a little bit and, and, and get in another form of training or do, send some tapes.
I, the other day I was like, I'm feeling a little stale. I wanna send some self tapes to a casting director who was willing to, you know, just watch some self tapes that were all very different and just give me sort of a [00:53:00] refresher. And, you know, I think there are some people out there to be like, well, actually a friend of mine, she was like, yeah, you got a series regular, you got this, you don't need that.
And I'm like, but if I wanna get better, which, if we know everything, then we're done. If I don't wanna get better, I'm done. You know, there's nothing else to do and, and I wanna be the best so that the train is never gonna stop. Um, and that's, that's the work. And I think the self-work, again, like Seth was saying like, it's you know, one of my favorite authors of all time is Don Miguel Ruiz, and he has these amazing books, Mastery of Love and, and the Four Agreements and all these different, like, people quote them as self help books, but they're self get to know books in a way that I just, I love stuff like that, you know, where you're constantly asking yourself the hard questions and, and finding the answer
Julie Harris Oliver: To all the work.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Yeah.
Seth Yanklewitz: I mean, that's what we're here for, right? Like all the other stuff is icing on the cake, as you said. Right? If you [00:54:00] know, you gotta sit and grind. Again, not to be cliche and sort of end on a cliche for me, but like it is a business. A doctor like is constantly like learning new surgeries and equipment and materials, like, you know, uh, uh, if you just are like, I did Stella Adler in 1986 and it's 2023, like, shit has changed. Like the world is different, you know?
Julie Harris Oliver: You're different!
Seth Yanklewitz: I, I, I, and that's, that is actually the key, right? Like people always ask me, like how, how, how many chances do you give an actor before you don't bring them in anymore?
And I'm like, unless they physically come at me in a room, until the day I stop casting. Will you stop getting a chance in my room? Like people have bad days. People, like the role's not for them. I was trying something by bringing them in and they weren't necessarily what was on the page, but I wanted to like, [00:55:00] let's just keep, but like if someone comes in and they're like unprepared, don't care, not showered, like rude, like all the things over and over. Well, then they're not doing the work. And then I need to give it to an actor who wants to do the work. So
Julie Harris Oliver: Thank you both. This was so fun.
Jessica Frances Dukes: Thank you!
Julie Harris Oliver: Jessica, Seth. Thank you.
Seth Yanklewitz: Thank you.
Jessica Frances Dukes: This was awesome. Thank you.
Seth Yanklewitz: Thanks.
Julie Harris Oliver: This has been Catch A Break, Project Greenlight edition.
I'm Julie Harris Oliver. I'd like to thank our guests, Jessica Frances Dukes and Seth Yanklewitz. And special thanks to cruvie.com, a dynamic platform that connects people to productions worldwide.
Please check out our website at catchabreakpodcast.com and follow us on all the social media. Catch A Break is produced in partnership with CatchLight Studios and The Other 50%. Our theme music, Mantra for a Struggling Artist was composed by Andrew Joslyn.
Thanks for listening and be sure to go watch Project Greenlight and then come check us out for the behind the scenes of the behind the scenes. Next up is a quick bonus episode where Meko, Jeanette and Yolanda talk about the [00:56:00] table read from their perspectives. Suffice it to say it did not transpire in a remotely typical way.
In the meantime, I hope this helps you to catch a break.