Behind every unforgettable performance is great casting. Today, we explore this often invisible process that's part intuition, part logistics, and part relentless creative problem-solving.
In this episode of Full Expression, host Dan Imhoff talks with legendary casting director Mindy Marin, whose career spans four decades and more than a hundred films, including Juno, Drive, Nightcrawler, the upcoming Matchbox, and multiple Mission: Impossible projects—along with a long history in television that helped shape the industry from the inside.
Mindy walks us through what casting actually is: breaking down scripts, searching for talent, building trust with directors and producers, and running chemistry tests that determine whether a story truly works on screen. She reflects on how the job has evolved from a fully analog world of in-person auditions and endless binders of headshots to today's Zoom-driven, global casting landscape—and why the core skill is still the same: taste, discernment, deep belief in people and a love of actors and film.
She shares stories from her early days hustling into Hollywood, the art of turning "no" into "yes," and why casting directors and actors are fundamentally on the same side. With casting now becoming eligible for Oscar recognition for the first time, it's a timely look at one of filmmaking's most essential—and least understood—creative roles.
